THE WIND HARP BY B J HOFF

THE WIND HARP by B J HOFF is set in a mining town called Skingle Creek in 1904. It is the second book in The Mountain Song Legacy series, and after reading it I have ordered the first and third books! Although the novel can be read on its own, I want to read more about the very real characters portrayed in It.
Life in this mining town is hard and the author gives us a real insight into the kind of life that was led by the miners and their families at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Maggie MacAuley is a young woman of Irish descent with flaming red hair and
a vibrant personality. She has come back to Skingle Creek where she grew up in order to help her parents who are trying to make ends meet after her father has been badly injured in a cave-in at the mine. Maggie is a qualified teacher and has been teaching in Chicago since finishing college and is delighted when she is asked to teach the younger children at her old school by her old teacher, Jonathan Stuart. Mr Stuart is a caring teacher and is well loved by everyone in town, but with Maggie it is something more. She has always had a crush on him, but now that she is grown up she finds she is falling in love with him.
Jonathan and Maggie both care deeply for the children they teach and are very worried by the situation in the Lazlo household. We see the contrast of that awful set up with the MacAuley household where there is also very little money but where family affection and godly values are very strong.
The contrast between darkness and light runs throughout the story. We see the light of Christ that is brought into the darkness and abject poverty of the mining town and the people who have been swallowed up by it. The light is brought in by people like Maggie and Jonathan, Dr Gordon, Pastor Ben and his wife Regina, who are willing to lay down their lives by serving others. This light brings hope into even the darkest situations.
B J Hoff has blended her characters and setting into a story that is enjoyable and has a strong message of hope.


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