Once I find an author I like, I read everything I can find by them until I have to move on to a new author or wait for them to come out with a new book. I was very excited when I read and loved the book So Shines the Night by Tracy Higley because now I have a new author's books to devour.
So Shines the Night is set in Bible times in Ephesus, after Jesus has walked the earth. While it is a fictional novel, much of the story is based on biblical writings, the writings of Ephesians. The main character, Daria, is an educated widow, trying to find a way to support herself using that education and her intellect. She faces, not only the challenge of the time period when women were not respected or honored in educational settings, but also the intense darkness that followed her from the last city she fled.
The characters in this book were intense and intriguing, the setting was fascinating, and the story itself drew me in. I love the time period when much of the New Testament was written and I really liked the fact that Higley elaborated on the scriptures in Ephesians to write the story. It gave me a much greater context for what life in that time was like, the culture and what the Ephesian church was facing. The way she portrayed Paul, Timothy, Pricilla and Aquilla and several others helped me to understand better many of the things Paul wrote to the Ephesians.
I have already finished another of Higley's books, Pompeii, and I fully intend to find more of them at my library. I highly recommend her books.
I was provided a copy of So Shines the Night by Booksneeze. My opinions are all my own.
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