Angel Harp

Title: ANGEL HARP
Author: Michael Phillips
Publisher: Faithwords
January 2011
ISBN: 978-0-446-56771-8
Genre: Inspirational/contemporary

Marie Buchan’s husband died when she was in her early thirties. Widowed at such a young age was hard, and Marie pulled herself into a shell rather than to allow herself to get involved with another man. Now, Marie is forty, and she realizes that life is passing her by. It was too late for some dreams—after all, she wouldn’t grow old with her husband by her side, but she couldn’t let other dreams die.

One of the dreams she shared with her husband was a love all Celtic music and books, so Marie books a trip to Scotland, dreaming of playing her harp on some windblown coastal bluff. Marie plans to avoid the cities, visiting instead small villages that catch her interest. But in one of the villages, the music of Marie’s harp catches the residents’ fancy, and she is unexpectedly drawn into a love triangle involving a local curate and the duke.

The two men used to be boyhood friends, but they were estranged over the love of another woman. Now it seems history is about to repeat itself, with Marie in the midst of it. Her involvement leads to a controversy over a death—and Marie must decide—what is the truth, and with who will she cast the lot of her future?

Michael Phillips has been a name I’ve been familiar with for most of my life as he rewrote Victorian novelist George MacDonald’s books. But this is the first book I’ve read by him alone. I was fascinated by the concept of a widowed harpist traveling to the United Kingdom in an effort to live her dream.

Written in first person, I instantly grew to know Marie, and I sympathized with her quickly. I wished I could sit down and listen to her play her harp music, and lose myself in the magic. Mr. Phillips is a master at making settings come alive and he drew me into the story. I could almost feel and smell and taste what Marie did. If you like contemporary fiction, you won’t want to miss ANGEL HARP. $16.99. 440 pages.