Name: A Light to My Path
ISBN: 9780764211928

Lynn Austin

Lynn Austin takes readers on a dramatic journey through the Civil War years in her award-winning Refiner's Fire series. Told in three unique perspectives--Southern, Northern, and slave--each book offers a riveting and eloquent exploration of a nation and its people grappling with racism and injustice. With writing rich in historical detail, Austin brings to life the compelling journeys of characters confronted with the risks and sacrifices their beliefs entail.

A Light to My Path

"You don't have to go with Missy Claire. She can't make you go with her." Kitty, a house slave, has always obeyed Missy Claire and followed orders. But when word arrives that the Yankees are coming, Kitty is faced with a decision. WiIl she continue serving Missy Claire and her household? Or will she listen to Grady and embrace this chance for freedom? Even wise Delia says Kitty has to decide for herself--that nobody except the Lord can tell her which way to go. Kitty has always lived in a world where authority is not questioned. She never has learned to make up her own mind any more than she has learned to read or write. But now Kitty has a daunting choice: How does she want her story to end?

Jeni Enjaian

**Update** I enjoyed this book the third time around as well. For some reason, whatever makes this book and the rest of the series so special, Austin fails to capture in her other books. This book survives round two of the purge from my personal collection.

I didn't think that I could love any book in this series more than I did the first. Lynn Austin sucked me into the story from the first page and never let go. I absolutely loved this book and cannot fathom why Austin's writing in some of her other books falls so short of the high standard she set with this trilogy. If I didn't know better I'd be tempted to think that someone else wrote these books, that there's another Lynn Austin published by Bethany House.

Austin writes of the slave perspective in stunning color and with striking vibrancy that easily avoids the many stereotype pitfalls that often trip up other writers who attempt to set their story in the midst of the American Civil War. (Margaret Mitchell for one, I'm also reading Gone with the Wind...stay tuned for that review in a few days.)

I have nothing negative to say about this novel. Characters, plot, vocabulary, historical accuracy-all brilliant! Absolutely loved it.

I heartily recommend this book and the entire series. (I also with that Austin's other books were as masterfully crafted as this trilogy. Fiction this well-written feeds the soul. Yes, that's kind of corny/cliché but there really is no better way to say that.)

A Light to My Path

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