LIGHT OF THE MOON

Author: Luanne Rice ISBN: 9780553805116 2/2008 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: BANTAM

Spurred by her mother’s dying wish, Susannah Connolly has traveled from her lifelong home on the Connecticut shoreline to the fabled French Camargue, to see its famous white horses and find a mysterious saint linked to her family’s history. An accomplished anthropologist, Susannah has always been confident of her ability to navigate anywhere on the globe. But in the wake of a failed love affair and grieving the loss of her mother, she is adrift and uncertain, seeking only time alone to dig deeply into the personal archaeology of her own life. American-born Grey Dempsey had come to the Camargue as a journalist, fell in love with a celebrated Romany rider, and suffered a devastating loss of his own. Now he operates a ranch as he struggles to raise his spirited but troubled young daughter who, after a terrible night years ago, fears the horses she once loved. Within their bittersweet private orbit, in the midst of the endless silvered marshlands, Susannah Connolly will find a part of herself she hadn’t known she had lost. And here she will find herself embraced by a circle of strong and passionate women bound together by their abiding faith in the legendary slave-saint Susannah seeks and in the miracles she is said to still perform for those who believe. Yet old secrets swirl within the fog-shrouded landscape, betrayals that may be beyond the power of any saint, or supplicant, to repair.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

There are times in life when strangers converge in such a way that you know there's more at work than just a simple coincidence. Call it fate, call it a miracle, call it the powers of the divine at play, whatever you call it you know that the resulting consequences mean that things were simply meant to be. For Susannah Connolly in Luanne Rice's LIGHT OF THE MOON, the miracle attributed to her very being ends up becoming the miracle for others, a sort of ripple effect that spreads into the lives of Grey, Sari and all those that surround them. It's a wonderful story of wounded hearts, wounded souls, and the miraculous healing power of selflessness, forgiveness and making peace with the past.

Sari's tormented heart is what tugged this reviewer's heartstrings the most. Unable to make peace with her mother's abandonment and her sense of responsibility for it, the emotionally and physically scarred Sari can't help but fear the loss of her father, even though he loves and cares deeply for her and she knows it. When Susannah's arrival threatens Sari's sense of security by capturing her father's affection, she does what any emotionally traumatized young girl would do—she drives away the threat. Her devoted father, in return, cannot move forward to rebuild his life with Susannah and give Sari the mother she desperately needs. Both Sari and Grey are stuck in a situation that neither knows how to move forward from. It's takes Susannah and the inner voice of her mother and mentor to help Sari and Grey—as well as Sari's mother—to confront the past and truly begin to live again.

Luanne Rice writes a powerful story of shattered lives and tormented souls searching for peace they cannot find. Set in the region of historic French Camargue, a land shrouded in mists, magical saints and home to the beautiful Camargue white horses, LIGHT OF THE MOON is also the story of the Romany, the local gypsies who call this place their own and pay homage to the three Mary's who once lived there. The Romany culture, their clannish ways and how it directly effects Sari and her father, only adds to the depth and quick pacing of the storyline. The blossoming of Sari under the loving eyes of her best friend, Laurant, as well as the developing love story between Susannah and Grey, make LIGHT OF THE MOON an alluring love story, as well.

If you are looking for a traumatic and yet uplifting story of love, selflessness and the power of forgiveness, then you will find LIGHT OF THE MOON a perfect fit.

Nancy Davis