Here Burns My Candle
A new historical novel
from best-selling novelist
Liz Curtis Higgs

     “No moon in sight,” Donald observed, resting his forehead lightly on the glass. 
“No Highlanders either.”
     “They’ll arrive soon enough.” Marjory extinguished the candle by her bed, 
shrouding the room in darkness. “Sleep while you can. And keep that bonny wife 
of yours close at hand.”
     “Aye.” The smile in his voice was unmistakable. “So I shall.”

September 1745 

Edinburgh is a bustling city of fifty thousand inhabitants, the narrow closes and wynds crowded with rich and poor alike. Tongues are wagging over the impending arrival of Charles Edward Stuart—the young pretender to the throne—and his Highland army. Scotland, though bound by English law, is thick with Jacobites, who support the restoration of James and the overthrow of King George II.

Safely ensconced in their well appointed rooms overlooking the High Street are the Kerrs of Selkirk. Landed gentry from the Scottish Borders, the Kerrs have called Edinburgh home for a decade, all but abandoning their quiet country estate in Selkirkshire, turning their back on the simple folk of the Borders in favor of Edinburgh’s heady mix of culture, commerce, and political intrigue.

A spiritual famine has inflicted this family, a waning devotion to God. The Kerrs don’t belong in the city, and instinctively they know it. Edinburgh is foreign, unfamiliar, and even dangerous. Yet, they remain.

Dowager Lady Marjory Kerr is a widow of substantial means, whose two abiding passions in life are maintaining her place in society and coddling her two grown sons, Donald and Andrew. Her late husband, Lord John, succumbed to a weak heart on a cold winter’s morn seven years past, leaving her to weather life’s storms on her own.

Lady Elisabeth Kerr adores her husband, Lord Donald, who treats her as an equal, discussing books and politics and society as if she’d grown up in a gentleman’s household. Despite her present happiness, Elisabeth harbors a dark family secret, and seeks the help of the Nameless One to overcome her shameful legacy.

Mistress Janet Kerr, newly married to Andrew, is a woman of good breeding from an ancient Highland family. Many people of quality call Janet handsome or regal, and rightly so. Her dress and manner are impeccable, her wit sharp. But they do not call Janet beautiful. Or kind.

Bound by marriage, then torn asunder by cruel circumstance, the three Kerr women will soon be forced to depend upon one another. And that's when things will get verra interesting...

A mother who cannot face her future.
A daughter who cannot escape her past.
A timeless tale of loss and redemption,
flickering against the vivid backdrop
of eighteenth-century Edinburgh.

Here Burns My Candle is based on the beloved Old Testament book of Ruth.Och, I can't wait to tell you more as the time draws near. I pray the wait will be worthwhile. Scotland forever, dearie!

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updated 9/22/2008