Light of My Heart

This book is number 9 of the Serenade Saga series, an attempt by Zondervan Publishers to break into the historical fiction series romance market in the 1980's. It's too bad the line didn't do better, this book is excellent! Keith Judson, is a lighthouse keeper off the coast of Maine, and has been recently widowed. He "needs a woman around the light" and asks for the hand of Emily Perkins, age 20, daughter of a whaling captain. Emily states later that perhaps her willingness to accept the idea of marriage with Keith was the result being cooped up in the house with her mother and four sisters during the long winter. Judson was a lieutenant in the Union Army, wounded at Gettysburg, and is moody, struggling with memories of his disastrous first marriage, and the lingering results of his wounds. Emily's strength and courage in helping him face his past and her own longings make this book a wonderful read. Definitely a keeper. Karr does a great job with her characters, her setting on the storm swept island makes you feel the bitter February cold. I only wish she had written the stories of Emily's sisters!