The Secret Bridge (A review)

I have not read very many books with the year 1899 printed on them (none in fact), but I do love the look and feel of those old books, and I was happy to receive this book for review from Lamplighter Publishing called The Secret Bridge by Amy LeFeuvre that is a story from the year 1899. It has a hard back cover that mimics an "old book" cover on the spine with a beautiful picture on the front kind of etched into the material. The cover itself is also soft to the touch.

Lamplighter books are edited with a biblical framework, so that the stories can be a way for us to see God and his hand in the life of the character, and therefore a way us to learn and grow through a story that weaves scripture, and God all through it. 

The mission of Lamplighter Ministries is “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord, by building Christ-like character one story at a time.”

The Secret Bridge begins with a young girl who is traveling to England to stay with a family member that has agreed to take her in as her father just died. When she arrives she finds that something has happened and her previous arrangements will not work. She is poor, and without money or a job. No where to live, and unsure what to do. A man who had been watching her through the whole journey on the boat has taken kindly to her. He decides he wants to help her. She is resistant at first to his offer for help and his hand in marriage, but soon accepts. The only trouble is that he is a sailor (or something to that nature, seaman maybe), and will soon be leaving again on another ship. They have only a little time together before he goes. When he leaves she learns of his family's past, and must also keep secrets that she would rather not keep. She also realizes that she "must acquaint herself with God, so that she can love Him and follow Him." This is new for her as she had not considered herself a God fearing woman, or even religious at all previously.  It becomes her quest to learn about God, and through her life's challenges we are encouraged to become closer to Christ ourselves.

I chose to read this book on my own, but I think it would be a great book down through high school age, maybe even older middle school. I kind of struggled with some of the grammar, and unfamiliar words as it was written a long time ago. There is a note at the beginning of the book that states:

"Publisher's Note: The rules of punctuation, spelling, and even sentence structure of the 1800s were different than our present-day standards. We have chosen to keep the original format as much as possible, editing only when deemed necessary." 

I didn't realize this! That explains why it was a little tougher for me in that area, but I was happy to see some footnotes throughout the book for a chosen few vocabulary words and phrases. That is also where scriptures are referenced for biblical ties. 

I enjoyed discovering Lamplighter Publishing, and this book. I am curious to check out some other titles now. If you would like to see what others had to say about this book you can click the banner below: