About the Book

Book: Shine Like the Dawn
Author: Carrie Turansky
Genre: Historical

In a quiet corner of northern Edwardian England, Margaret Lounsbury diligently works in her grandmother’s millinery shop, making hats and caring for her young sister. Several years earlier, a terrible tragedy reshaped their family, shattering an idyllic life and their future prospects. But Maggie is resilient and will do what she must to protect her sister Violet. Still, the loss of her parents weighs heavily on her heart and she begins to wonder if what happened that day on the lake…might not have been an accident.

When wealthy inventor and industrialist William Harcourt dies, his son Nathaniel, who is Maggie’s estranged childhood friend, returns from his time in the Royal Navy and inherits his father’s vast estate, Morningside Manor. He also assumes partial control of his father’s engineering company and the duty of repaying an old debt to the Lounsbury family. But years of separation between Nate and Maggie have taken a toll and Maggie struggles to trust her old friend.

Can Maggie let go of the resentment that keeps her from forgiving Nate—and reconciling with God? Will their search for the truth about her parents’ death draw them closer or will it leave them both with broken hearts?

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My Thoughts

Anglophiles and especially fans of Downton Abbey are sure to enjoy Shine Like the Dawn but this novel’s appeal isn’t restricted to its delightful and charming setting. The storyline is an engaging combination of tragedy, mystery, and turmoil sprinkled with sweet recollections of childhood and a budding attraction.

In a sense, Maggie stopped living when tragedy struck her family. The weight of her grief, confusion, and responsibility for her sister’s well-being has seemingly placed her in survival mode. My heart aches for Maggie as she buries her heart deep beneath heaps of work and denial and clings to the pain and blame for the past.

Nate has troubles and tragedies of his own to reconcile as he returns home from his stint in the Navy. His new position as head of the family estate and a member of the board for a mill in turmoil. Yet he is determined to do all he can for Maggie, Violet, and their grandmother, patiently and deliberately rebuilding Maggie’s trust.

Carrie Turansky brings these authentic characters to life and immerses readers in the culture of Edwardian England’s villages and estates. A message of hope and faith shines through in this entertaining story.

I requested the opportunity to read and review this book through Celebrate Lit tours. The opinions expressed are my own.

About the Author

Carrie Turansky is an award-winning author of more than a dozen novels and novellas. She has been the winner of the ACFW Carol Award, the Crystal Globe Award, and the International Digital Award, and a finalist for the Inspirational Readers Choice Award and the Maggie Award of Excellence.

A prolific writer of contemporary and historical romance, women’s fiction, short stories, articles, and devotionals, Carrie lives in central New Jersey with her husband Scott. They have five adult children and four grandchildren.

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Hats, Glorious Hats!

by Carrie Turansky

One fun part of my research for Shine Like the Dawn was learning about hat making in the early 1900s. My heroine, Maggie Lounsbury is a milliner who designs women’s hats. She learned this skill from her grandmother who owns a small shop in the village of Heatherton. Maggie has an artistic eye and she enjoys making stylish hats, but she doesn’t like the overdone designs some of their customers request, so that creates some humorous conflict in the story.

Hats in the Edwardian era were large and often covered with feathers, flowers, lace, netting, berries and bows. The “bird nests,” as Coco Chanel called them, were held on with large hat pins stuck through piles of hair on the crown. These hats were called Gainsborough or Picture hats because of the way they framed a lady’s face. They often featured huge dried flower arrangements and sometimes included real leaves and twigs! No doubt the Garden hat was a fitting name.

1907 The Merry Window hat became very popular after the leading lady in the play by that same name wore a hat that was even taller and wider than usual. Some people complained these hats were too big and obtrusive in public places like the theater or picture shows. But English women loved them and wore them to all kinds of events.

The popularity of using large feathers and stuffed birds on hats caused concern for the welfare of birds. Many protective laws took effect and milliners had to use more ribbon and tulle and only large ostrich feathers to decorate hats. Those ostrich feathers came from birds that were raised on farms and their feathers were collected as they fell out naturally.

The movement toward smaller hats began around 1913 when hats still had high crowns but smaller brims. Straw boaters, small top hats, and mini versions of picture hats were very common.

Motion pictures had the greatest influence on Edwardian hat fashion. After the release of The Three Musketeers many ladies wanted to wear tricorne and bicorne shaped hats. They were still very large but now had shapes other than just round. Hat brims were folded up on the side, at an angle, or all around to create drama. Veils disappeared in the early 1900s only to come back again as a long scarf that wrapped over the hat and under the chin for the new sport called motoring.

I’ve had fun dressing Edwardian style for book launch tea parties and other book events. It made me feel very special to wear these lovely hats. What do you think of Edwardian Hats? Would you like to wear one?

Thanks to friends at the Vintage Dancer website for some of this information.

Join the Celebration

Stop by Carrie Turanksy’s Facebook author page and view her live videos February 21 – 25, 3:00 p.m. Eastern. She’ll be talking about the story behind Shine Like the Dawn and giving away a fun prize each day to one person who leaves a comment. Even if you can’t catch the live video you can still enter for 24 hours after it’s posted.

Carrie is also hosting a book launch celebration and giveaway on her blog February 25 – March 6. Stop by and enter for your chance to win some lovely prizes including a signed copy of Shine Like the Dawn, a journal set, a pen set, and a lovely reading journal.

Scroll down for TWO great giveaways!!!

Tour Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Carrie is giving away all 4 books: Shine Like the Dawn, The Governess of Highland Hall, The Daughter of Highland Hall, and A Refuge at Highland Hall! Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries!

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Bonus Giveaway

Carrie Turansky also joined us yesterday to share five favorite tea party recipes AND an exclusive giveaway of Shine Like the Dawn for Faithfully Bookish readers! Comment on this post then click the picture to claim 5 bonus entries on the form!

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