The Edge of Light

Title: THE EDGE OF LIGHT
Author: Ann Shorey
Publisher: Revell Publishing Group
January 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3330-8
Genre: Inspirational/historical

Molly McGarvie is anxious for her husband, Samuel, to return to their homestead. He said he’d be gone a month, but when Samuel returns home early, sick, Molly is worried, especially when she learns he has cholera.

When Samuel succumbs to the disease, his brother forces Molly to give up the family business and leaves her to fend for herself, or die trying. Molly gets word to her brother, Matthew, praying that he will come and take her and her children home with him. Matthew comes, but it is a long dangerous journey, and Molly loses another family member enroute.

Can Molly find a way to make a living, restore her faith in God, and fend off certain suitors?

As a rule, I don’t care much for books that begin with a death, and this one did. As a result, it took me a while to get into the story. But once I did, I grew to care for Molly, her slave, Betsy, and other secondary characters.

Molly is a capable heroine, but it is hard to be a single mother with children in 1838 and yet find a job to take care of herself and your children, so she is forced to rely on the men in her life for help. Even though some of the men are huge jerks, there were enough that were willing to help. THE EDGE OF LIGHT is a wonderfully written story of hope that will touch the reader’s heart. $13.99. 318 pages.