Good morning Treasures! I wanted to drop in and share this review of The Moonlight School that I read this month. I have been doing an extensive Bible study on the Love of God and I CANNOT wait to sit down and share it all with you girls, (It may end up being too long for one post and end up as a series!). I’m waiting for God to finish teaching me what He’s teaching me so in turn I can share the whole story, but for now I just wanted to let you know there’s excited stuff coming up. Onto the review!
Haunted by her sister’s mysterious disappearance, Lucy Wilson arrives in Rowan County, Kentucky, in the spring of 1911 to work for Cora Wilson Stewart, superintendent of education. When Cora sends Lucy into the hills to act as scribe for the mountain people, she is repelled by the primitive conditions and intellectual poverty she encounters. Few adults can read and write.
Born in those hills, Cora knows the plague of illiteracy. So does Brother Wyatt, a singing schoolmaster who travels through the hills. Involving Lucy and Wyatt, Cora hatches a plan to open the schoolhouses to adults on moonlit nights. The best way to combat poverty, she believes, is to eliminate illiteracy. But will the people come?
As Lucy emerges from a life in the shadows, she finds purpose; or maybe purpose finds her. With purpose comes answers to her questions, and something else she hadn’t expected: love.
The Characters
Lucy is an introverted girl who grew up in luxury. After being thrown into the rough and tumble life of a Rowan County, she begins to blossom, and that blossoming is beautiful. I always have a hard time relating to introverted characters. Usually I can appreciate extroverts, and I can appreciate ambiverts, but introverts are beyond my understanding. Lucy was beautifully done though, and even as being myself, I appreciated her development and character arc.
Wyatt was one of my favorite characters. (Why can’t authors find other names for their characters? Every other male love interest is named Wyatt.) Besides the name, he broke the chains of every other cliche male. His passion for the Lord was inspiring, and his love for the people of the hollers was admirable. His calm temperament, patience, and faith created such depth to his character that even when he was not on screen you couldn’t help remembering him.
Cora was a sight to see. XD She was entertaining and invested in everything she did. She reminded me of who I want to be when I grow up. Let’s through ourselves into accomplishing the impossible, and let’s get it done, against all odds. Like starting the moonlight school for illiterate adults!
Finley James and Angie. I don’t want to spoil anything, but this part of the plot was so much fun to watch and I’m just gonna leave this here
Andrew was not the best, but I love how the author wove him simply as a man doing business in the end. Yes it was unfair, but for some reason I didn’t come away hating the guy for what he’d done. It was a beautiful wrap up of that plotline.
The Plot
The plot was very determined. It was a relaxed story, and I felt like we spilled all over the place, but then kept coming back to the main point. Just like real life. Every thread was given adequate attention and closed up very cleanly.
The ending was the most perfect thing that you can imagine out of a story thats based off reality. It gives so much freedom to take the facts of the actual event, but it gives closure and happiness to the fiction characters as well.
I know that the summary/blurb claims that Lucy finds love, and that the book is all about the moonlight schools, but I’m gonna mention that almost everything that’s mentioned in the blurb is in the last 1/4 of the book. So enjoy the story because it’s super well done! Even if the blurb isn’t really fair to it all.
The Content
The Moonlight School was very good content wise. There were a couple of kisses, but by no means were they sensual. There was no violence and no bad language (heck was used a couple of times).
In Summary
I really enjoyed this historical fiction. It was based in a very interesting time in America’s history. The writing style was beautiful, and it’s the perfect book to cuddle up with a mug of tea and a good candle.
Four stars! The Moonlight School is clean for ALL AGES but may be more enjoyable for girls over 13. Thank you to the publisher and the author for my gifted copy! A positive review was not required and all opinions are my own.
And that’s all for today! I have a very special announcement coming out Monday about Playgrounds and Black Markers, so if I don’t see you until then, toodles my friends!
Would you consider yourself an extrovert or an ambiverts? I assuming that’s why you don’t understand introverts in books as much. I would consider myself an ambivert. :))
Yes I’m definitely an extrovert. I love people! Meeting new people, talking to people, always being around people.
My sister is an ambivert and we’re really good friends. Isn’t it awesome how God made so many different personalities?
Thanks for this review, Libby!