Here Burns My Candle by Liz Curtis Higgs - REVIEW & GIVE AWAY!

“She was beginning to realize how few things were hers to manage.” (Dowager Lady Marjory Kerr, p.314)


Indeed, Dowager Kerr learned many things were not in her power to control throughout the course of this story. “Not the weather, certainly. Not the furnishings beneath her roof. Not the health of those around her. Not the fate of her sons in battle. And not the faithfulness of the wives they left behind.” (p. 314) For you see, dear reader, this story takes place during the Jacobite Rebellion in Scotland in 1745, and Dowager Lady Kerr discovers that her sons have political leanings of their own. She learns that the soldiers in King George’s service can brutally take anything they want from her home. She has learned that even her own daughter’s-in-law are capable of loving someone besides her sons. Most importantly of all, Dowager Marjory Kerr has learned that only God alone is faithful, even despite the selfish distrust she has shown toward Him most of her married life.


Here Burns My Candle is a complex story, and Marjory Kerr is but one of many memorable characters written within the story. Lady Elizabeth Kerr is an even more prominent character, and this Hilander seamstress has won the heart of Dowager Kerr’s oldest son Donald. However, as she approaches her third anniversary, she learns that faithfulness is something her dear Donald knows little about. By the time he is ready to beg her forgiveness and support her Jacobite cause, Elizabeth finds herself learning that Donald is not the only one who stands in need of mercy. She has secretly followed her mother’s pagan faith amid the Christian faith of her in-laws. When war rages around her and her husband’s faithlessness is still a raw wound in her heart, Elizabeth meets the One who can give her the love and faithfulness she has longed for.


Liz Curtis Higgs can bring the Scottish past to life like no other I know! I devoured her Galloway stories, and cannot begin to tell you how thrilled I am to find another enthralling saga within which to lose myself entirely. Loosely based on the story of Ruth, Here Burns My Candle is a story that makes you realize anew that truly, there is nothing new under the sun. Without the atoning blood of Christ, we are all lost amid the human sinfulness that surrounds and overwhelms us. Yet once grace is introduced, even the darkest of circumstances bear the light of hope, and Elisabeth, Marjory and Janet Kerr are Scottish women who will leave a lasting impression upon your heart.


I am left hungry for more. I will eagerly await Mine Is the Night and the opportunity to learn what becomes of the dear Kerr ladies and their wounded, broken hearts. Ahhhh! This is historic fiction at its finest! Here Burns My Candle…please, indulge yourself!


I have an extra copy of this book to give away! If you will leave a comment on this post and your contact information, you will be entered to win a FREE copy of this amazing story!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Liz Curtis Higgs has been telling tales since she attempted her first novel–handwritten in a marble notebook–at the tender age of ten. Successful careers in broadcasting, public speaking, nonfiction writing, and children's books honed Liz's storytelling talents, bringing her back to her first love–writing fiction–at the turn of the 21st century.


A gifted speaker, Liz Curtis Higgs has presented more than 1,500 inspirational programs for audiences in all 50 United States as well as Germany, England, Canada, Ecuador, France, and Scotland. In 1995, Liz received the highest award in professional speaking, the "Council of Peers Award for Excellence," becoming one of only forty women in the world named to the CPAE-Speaker Hall of Fame by the National Speakers Association.

Her children's Parable Series was awarded the ECPA Gold Medallion for Excellence in 1998, and her book Bad Girls of the Bible received the ECPA Gold Book Award in 2004 for sales of more than 500,000 copies. Her first novel, Mixed Signals, was a Romance Writers of America 2000 Rita Award Finalist for both Best First Novel and Best Inspirational Novel. Liz's second novel, Bookends, was a 2001 Christy Award Finalist for Best Contemporary Fiction. Her third novel, Thorn in My Heart, was a #1 historical fiction Christian bestseller, followed by Fair Is the Rose, which reached best-seller status days after its release. Whence Came a Prince, the final novel in the series, published in March 2005. In addition, Liz is the editor of an annual newsletter, The Graceful Heart, with 20,000 readers world wide, and is a columnist for Today's Christian Woman magazine with her popular back page feature, "Life with Liz." More than 2,000 churches nationwide are using her 2004 video Bible study series, Loved by God.

On the personal side, Liz is married to Bill Higgs, Ph.D., who serves as Director of Operations for her speaking and writing office. Liz and Bill share their 19th-century farmhouse in Kentucky with their two teenagers, Matt and Lilly, and too many cats. For more about Liz, visit her Web site: www.LizCurtisHiggs.com.