Lady Elisabeth Kerr, a Highlander and sympathetic of the Jacobite cause, has not hidden her support of Prince Charles and his rebel army. Now her husband, Lord Donald Kerr, has decided the cause is a worthy one and he and his brother have both decided to back the prince. Lady Elisabeth’s widowed mother-in-law, Lady Marjory, is not at all excited about her two sons going into battle, but is caught up in the excitement the prince has stirred within their town of Edinburgh. Lady Marjory makes no secret that she has switched her loyalty and has even financially backed the prince with more than she can really afford. Unfortunately, now that the prince and his army have left town, loyalists to the king shun those they now call traitors, and the king’s dragoons all but destroy businesses and homes of the prince’s supporters. How they will survive and face the fates that await them are yet to be seen.
Readers who enjoy Scottish history will delight in the setting for these unquestionably flawed characters as long held family secrets are revealed in this first of two books. Here Burns My Candle is intricate, expertly woven, lightly based on the first part of the Book of Ruth and a worthy read.