Review: Shine Like The Dawn by Carrie Turansky

Shine Like The Dawn

by Carrie Turansky

In Edwardian England, twenty-something Maggie Lounsbury works with her grandmother in a millinery shop. After her parents and older sister were killed in a tragic boating accident in the 1800s, Maggie has lived with Grandmother over the shop. She’s never been able to forgive the Harcourt family, whom her father worked for, after they turned their backs on the Lounsburys amidst their grief. Now several years later, after the elder Mr. Harcourt has passed, his son Nate comes back to take over the estate. Before Mr. Harcourt passed, he gave Nate instructions to pay the Lounsburys a large sum owed to them that he never paid. Yet when Nate brings up the subject to his old friend, Maggie turns down the money, unwilling to accept anything from the family whom treated her’s so terribly. When tragedy strikes the millinery shop, Maggie and her family are forced to accept Nate Harcourt’s charity. As she visits Morningside, a large manor home she used to spend so much of her time at, she learns secrets that could give her answers about the accident that claimed the lives of her loved ones. She enlists the help of her old friend Lily, whom works at Morningside. Yet Lily can only help so much without endangering her job. Can Maggie put her anger behind her in order to work with Nate to shine a light on the mysteries of her family’s deaths?

I really enjoyed this book. The Edwardian era is one of my favorite periods to read about and this book displays many of the reasons why. I love reading about how things were changing during this era; women were becoming more bold, the gap between the rich and the poor was beginning to close, and people were beginning to drive automobiles while some still clung to the horse drawn carriages that they were used to. But it still feels like the Victorian era that I also love. That’s the feeling I got when I read Shine Like The Dawn; a mix of old and (at the time this story takes place) new. And the characters were endearing, too. Maggie was understandably hurt and angry in the years after the accident. While Nate knew that his family had treated the Lounsburys poorly, he was unaware of many details that surrounded the accident and simply wanted to make amends with the family.

In the beginning, I wondered why sections were written from Lily’s point of view, yet as the story progressed and issues at the factory owned by the Harcourts unfurled, it all tied together. It really gives it that “upstairs, downstairs” air that a lot of people love about this time period.

Overall, Shine Like The Dawn is a good read. Fans of Christian historical fiction who love Downton Abbey will want to read this book.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.