Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Margot Hovley's "Glimmering Light"...A Book Review


The story Margot began in Sudden Darkness, the first in her series, continues in Glimmering Light. In the second book, the stakes are raised (no pun intended...) and the adventure they thought was over, has only just begun.

In Book 1 a family and their church congregation begin a trek from southeastern Washington State to Utah. They did this because America was at war and all electronic devices--including all modern cars--no longer worked. Throw in the threat of leaking nuclear radiation and the need to leave was urgent. But when the church members gather in Utah, they find another state in disarray. So they choose to once again began a long walk. This time the destination is not two states away, but halfway across the country. They're going to Independence, Missouri. 

In addition to being a story of survival, it's also a love story. The series's main character, Amélie Hatch, continues her courtship with her childhood friend, Zach, only this time the two cannot make the trip together. Zach joins a newly formed Mormon Legion and is given an assignment to make the trip on horseback with other soldiers. Amélie travels with over 200,000 other saints as a first waive to Missouri.

Sudden Darkness is narrated completely through Amélie's eyes. In this book, we get two perspectives, Amélie's and Zach's. The change is effective to show a bigger world view. In fact, both Amélie's and Zach's stories could have been stand-alone novels, each presented the characters with risks and dangers with which they overcame.

Glimmering Light is a great companion to the first. The story needed this book. We needed to know what happened to the people we've come to know. And we got to know them because of the talented author. These are two fast reads filled with flawed people accomplishing great things.

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