By the Light of a Thousand Stars (1999) is another example of excellent writing and intriguing characters. Each of the protagonists has a unique story of brokenness and is at a different stage of her faith walk. Dottie has been a Christian for a long time and is struggling with her faith since the death of her daughter. Della Boyd has lived a life of service to others and can't imagine why anyone would call her a sinner. Catherine is a cantankerous, shallow housewife who criticizes everything and everyone. Barb is the fairly new Christian who is trying her best to share her faith with others. Each woman is likable and believable. I loved the other kooky characters (the poetry club members) that Turner introduces into the story as well.
Turner taught in the English department at BJU for many years and weaves references to poetry and plays throughout her narrative, which I enjoyed. But the book fell short in two areas. First, the excessive teenage banter/humor got old after a while. And the fact that so many people ended up getting saved robbed the book of the sense of authenticity that I so appreciated in Winter Birds.
But I'm still a Jamie Langston Turner fan. Her writing ability is light years ahead of most Christian novelists and I look forward to dipping into her other books.
Blessings,
3 comments:
It's been so long since I read this one that I can't remember much about it. Unfortunately that was before I had a blog, so I don't have any notes to return to. My favorite of hers is Sometimes a Light Surprises.
Thanks for the tip, Barbara. I think I've got that one on my Kindle already.
This book sounds wonderful. I will have to check out her other titles. Thanks for sharing on the #LMMLinkup this week.
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