ABOUT the BOOK
Book Title: Minding the Light
Author: Suzanne Woods Fisher
Genre: Historical Romance
Release date: July 3, 2018
Six long years ago, Captain Reynolds Macy sailed away from his bride, looking forward to the day when he would return to Nantucket Island with a ship’s hold full of whale oil. But when that momentous day finally arrives, Ren soon discovers that everything has changed in his absence. Everything. “Is nothing on this island as it appears to be?” he whispers in despair.
Unlike most islanders, bold and spirited Daphne Coffin doesn’t defer to Ren as an authoritative whalemaster, but sees through his aloofness to the aching heart beneath. She encourages him to return to his Quaker roots and “mind the Light,” finding solace in God and community. As Ren becomes the man she believes him to be–honorable, wise, faithful–she finds herself falling in love with him.
But how can she, when her heart is spoken for? Tristram Macy is Ren’s business partner, cousin, and best friend–and Daphne’s fiancé. Love always comes at a cost, but when is the price too high?
Suzanne Woods Fisher welcomes readers back to the Quaker community on Nantucket Island for this riveting love story, full of unexpected moments.
Click here to purchase your copy!
MY THOUGHTS
Suzanne Woods Fisher’s novel, Minding the Light, is full of history and tidbits of folklore about Nantucket. Although it is the second book in the Nantucket Legacy series, it can easily be read as a standalone as it is about a different generation of the founding families.
I was fascinated to learn of the history of the early founders of Nantucket. Almost everyone on the island was a Quaker, so I learned a lot of the history of the Quaker religion, too.
There were many heavy, sad details in the story. Surprisingly, some of the details were quite unexpected, such as drug abuse (and possibly addiction), whereas others, such as slavery and bigotry, weren’t as surprising but were still sad.
A captivating and enthralling novel of life in a whaling community, fraught with danger and excitement… Minding the Light is a gripping, authentic representation of life in the 19th Century, further enhanced by the glossary of terms, resources and discussion questions included in the book.
I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher through Celebrate Lit. However, I was under no obligation to post a review.
ABOUT the AUTHOR
Carol-award winner Suzanne Woods Fisher writes untold stories about inspiring people. With over one million copies of her books sold worldwide, she is the bestselling author of fiction and non-fiction, ranging from Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World to the historical novel Anna’s Crossing.
GUEST POST from SUZANNE
8 Curious Facts You Probably Didn’t Know about Nantucket Island
This beautiful island, thirty miles off Cape Cod, is steeped in history. Here are just a few interesting reasons to add a visit to Nantucket to your bucket list.
1) During the first half of the nineteenth century, Nantucket was considered to be the wealthiest port in the world…all because of whale oil.
2) Petticoat Row is a 19th-century nickname for a portion of Centre Street between Main Street and Broad Street. Many shops on Nantucket were run by women while the men were off to sea in whaling ships for years at a time. Quakerism, with its emphasis on equality, provided working women with community respect, value and esteem. The next time you’re visiting Nantucket, be sure to stop by the Petticoat Row Bakery for a morning glory muffin.
3) The use of laudanum (opium) was described by a visiting French as prevalent among the women of Nantucket. Loyal Nantucketers vehemently denied his claim. However, in the 1980s, construction workers digging to Nantucket’s sewer lines found heaps of opium bottles buried in the ground.
For centuries, laudanum was considered to be not only harmless but beneficial. Its very name in Latin is landare, which means to praise. Other names for it: Mother’s Helper (to sedate children), Sea Calm (for seasickness). It was used for all kinds of ailments, from sleeplessness to menstrual cramps to treatment of chronic pain, and available without prescription up until the twentieth century, when it was found to be highly addictive.
4) Nantucket Cent Schools were a carryover from England and the cost was exactly what the name implied. In New England, they were kept by refined, thrifty women who often taught their own or their neighbors’ children until they were old enough to enter schools of a higher grade. I came across a story of a boy whose mother stuck a penny in his mouth each day so that he would remember to pay the teacher.
5) Moby Dick, written by Herman Melville in 1851, was based on a true-life event that occurred in 1820 to the Nantucket whaleship Essex and her crew. You can find out more about this ill-fated voyage if you visit Nantucket’s awesome whaling museum.
6) Speaking of…the whaling museum on Nantucket Island is called the Peter Foulger Whaling Museum. Peter Foulger was one of the early settlers to the island and could be considered a Renaissance Man: inventor, surveyor, teacher, missionary to the Wampanoag Indians. And his grandson was none other than Benjamin Franklin.
7) Nantucketers were, for the most part, related to each other in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. The prosperous island was settled by a small group of families, with less than a dozen surnames: Coffin, Macy, Starbuck, Bunker, Hussey, Gardner, Mayhew, Swain, Barnard, Coleman, Worth, Mitchell. Those names are still common on the island.
8) There’s a good reason those surnames sound familiar to you—many of those early settlers had descendants who started business empires. Recognize these? Macy (retailer) and Folger (coffee).
BLOG STOPS
Carpe Diem, July 3
Livin Lit, July 3
midnightbookaholic, July 3
The Avid Reader, July 4
Margaret Kazmierczak, July 4
The Power of Words, July 4
A Baker’s Perspective, July 5
Blossoms and Blessings, July 5
A Reader’s Brain, July 5
Just the Write Escape, July 6
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, July 6
Bibliophile Reviews, July 7
Mary Hake, July 7
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, July 7
Texas Book-aholic, July 8
Simple Harvest Reads, July 8 (Guest post from Mindy Houng)
Janices book reviews, July 9
Captive Dreams Window, July 9
Book by Book, July 9
Back Porch Reads, July 10
Reading Is My SuperPower, July 10
Splashes of Joy, July 10
The Morning Chapter, July 11
Vicky Sluiter, July 11
Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses, July 11
Among the Reads, July 12
proud to be an autism mom, July 12
Two Points of Interest, July 12
Abbas Prayer Warrior Princess, July 13
Tell Tale Book Reviews, July 13
Blogging With Carol, July 13
Truth and Grace Writing and Life Coaching, July 14
Maureen’s Musings, July 14
Southern Gal Loves to Read, July 14
Godly Book Reviews, July 15
Inklings and notions, July 15
Bigreadersite, July 15
Connie’s History Classroom , July 16
Locks, Hooks and Books, July 16
Pause for Tales, July 16
Have A Wonderful Day, July 16
GIVEAWAY
To celebrate her tour, Suzanne is giving away a $10 Starbucks gift card to five winners!!
Be sure to leave a comment on one of the blog stops for 9 extra entries into the giveaway. Click link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d1c4/minding-the-light-celebration-tour-giveaway
In April 2012, Caryl met Mary Sue Seymour at NETWO’s Spring Conference and wrote her first historical Christian romance set in the 1800s especially for the agent. (Whose maiden name was remarkably ‘McAdoo’!) Mary Sue offered representation in August, and VOW UNBROKEN sold in October to Howard Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. It debuts on March 4, 2014.
