Olivia Hewes was forced to become independent far sooner than she was properly ready. After her father died, it was she who took over operating Chatham Manor, her familie's home. Things haven't been going well, and unless she's able to turn things around soon, she'll have to enter into a marriage of convenience.

Randolph Sherbourne is the Hewes' neighbor, yet he's never even looked Olivia in the eye. A long-standing family feud keeps them apart, but when they accidentally cross paths in church things begin to change. Yet their familie's pasts harbor secrets they know nothing about, and when they come out in the open, things could get ugly.

Books like this are fun to read, but you know the most important ending within the first couple chapters of the book. Despite that, I still enjoyed Wild Heather. There were several subplots to keep the story interesting.

My favorite part of the story would have to be the theological debate going on within the local church. This book is Christian fiction, and the debate was on whether the Earth had literally been made in six days. It got so bad that the church was going to split unless they came to a solution. It was a pretty silly reason to split, but it did through in a lot of good conversation. Both Olivia and Randolph were staunch believers in a literal six day creation, so the majority of the time that is the view we're shown. I was a bit irked by that because it basically seemed to be a one-sided debate.

However, the man who sparked the debate, an outsider who came to Otley to share his views, did say one interesting statement. "Everything in the Bible is true, yet not everything that is true is in the Bible." Interesting statement, don't you think?

Further Reading:
Wild Heather's Amazon Page*
Catherine Palmer's website
Article firmly supporting a literal six day creation
Article supporting a longer creation period

*Amazon affiliate link

Posted by Melanie at 8:00 AM    

Labels: book review, Catherine Palmer, Christian, Wild Heather