A Light on the Hill

One of my favorite new genres is biblical fiction. It is taking factual events from the Bible, and creating a bit of a backstory to the characters we know about, but not everything about. It might even use a major biblical event as the setting for the novel, such as Connilyn Cossette has done brilliantly in her series, Cities of Refuge. The first novel in the series is A Light on The Hill, and takes the readers back just after the fall of the walls of Jericho.

Back to the lands filled with the idol worship of false gods, where temples were built to commemorate and worship those idol images. Moriyah was a young girl when she was kidnapped and branded on her face as a temple prostitute even though she never was violated in that manner. It would be a brand she would forever face discrimination and rumors about what those who knew of her perceived her to be. It would also make finding a suitable husband for her, almost an impossibility. What man would want to deal with a wife who had to remain covered by a veil whenever she went out in public. Yet even that did nothing to prevent the stares or public shame she had to endure.

When Moriyah learns that her father has found a suitable match for her, she believes God has finally heard her prayer. She believes the young man she meets on the night of a festival is the same man promised to marry her. However she soon learns that he is simply the youngest of the brothers, her father has arranged to marry her. He is not the one. The man she is forced to marry is the oldest brother and the only desire he has for her, is her dowry that her father has promised to any man who will marry her, vineyards beyond riches. She faces her own challenges dealing with not only her potential future husband, but he has vowed she will remain forever veiled so no one will ever look at her and see who she really is.

I received A Light on The Hill by Connilyn Cossette compliments of Bethany House Publishers. This is such a wonderful novel in that during my own Bible reading, I have read about the horror stories of the people who lived behind the walls of Jericho and the things they did they flew in the face of the God of the Bible. We see glimpses of that with Joshua and how he brought down the walls, and of the prostitute Rahab that hid the men of God who would have been killed had they been discovered. It was the same favor that saved the life of not only her but her family as well. This picks up after that has occurred and shows the fall out of the life of those trapped behind those walls that now have to deal with the repercussions of that lifestyle, even if they didn't agree with it. A wonderful discussion guide is included at the conclusion of this novel that makes for a great book club selection. For me, I can't wait to read the remaining novels that will follow this one, and thus the reason for giving this one a well deserved 5 out of 5 stars in my opinion.

For more information about A Light on The Hill, Connilyn Cossette or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

A Light on The Hill by Connilyn Cossette

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To read more reviews on A Light on The Hill, please visit Bethany House Publisher's website.