Category: Suzanne-woods-fisher

Celebrate Lit Blog Tour - The Light Before Day by Suzanne Woods Fisher + Review & Guest Post & Giveaway

11/15/2018

“Henry, this . . . fortune, this sudden wealth . . . I fear it will change our lives. And I don’t want my life to change.”

After three years on a whaling voyage, Henry Macy returns to Nantucket to news that his grandmother has passed, bequeathing her vast fortune to him and his sister, Hitty. And it was truly vast. But Lillian Coffin was no fool. The inheritance comes with a steep cost, including when each should marry and whom—a Quaker in good standing, of course. But if they relinquish the inheritance, it all goes to Tristram Macy, their father’s thieving business partner.

As Hitty and Henry seek a way to satisfy the will’s conditions, they’ll be faced with obstacles on every side—and it may be that Lillian Coffin will have the last word after all.

Genre: Historical Fiction
Release Date: October 2, 2018

Click here to purchase your copy!

Find out more about this amazing deal at
http://www.suzannewoodsfisher.com/thelightbeforeday

My Review

Will they make the right decision...?

I have to confess that Nantucket Island is not a place that I have ever given much thought to. But as I've read the Nantucket Legacy series I've found myself enjoying the story and fascinated by the history, the people, and the culture, albeit an odd one at times. And in the spirit of confession I have to admit that I also didn't know much about the Society Of Friends, or Quakers, since the history books that I read for school only touched lightly on them and their history.

The Light Before Day is the final book in the series and I'm a bit sorry to say goodbye to the intertwined and often quirky Macy, Starbuck, Coffin, and Foulger families. I'm especially sorry to say goodbye to Great Mary as we have watched her from girlhood to grandmotherhood. Her wit and wisdom benefiting generations of family members as they face trying times. One must also not forget the hero and heroine of this book, Henry and his twin Hitty, who will leave readers applauding them and shaking their heads as the two find their purpose...and maybe love...

I think one of my favorite elements of the story is how Suzanne Woods Fisher wove a thread of suspense into what otherwise would have simply been a historical romance. Add in the fascinating historical details and some weird and wonderful characters and you have a pretty good story.

If you like to be entertained while learning a little bit about history this book, and series, would be a good one to check out.

Tell Tale Book Reviews gives The Light Before Day by Suzanne Woods Fisher a 4 Bark rating.

(I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.)

Guest Post

from Suzanne Woods Fisher

The Mortgage Button

In each story of the ‘Nantucket Legacy’ series, there’s a reference to a mortgage button in the newel post of a stairway. Phoebe Starbuck, the main character in Phoebe’s Light, made a point to notice it in the captain’s house on Orange Street, the famous residences of sea captains. In Minding the Light, Daphne Coffin touched the mortgage button on the newel post of her horrible mother’s grand house each and every morning. Hitty and Henry Macy were well aware of the absence of their childhood home’s mortgage button—and all that its absence symbolized—in The Light Before Day.

Mortgage buttons meant something to each of those characters. It made a statement to anyone who walked into a house.

Have you ever seen a mortgage button? It’s a very Nantucket-y tradition. In fact, some say the mortgage button originated on Nantucket Island, thirty miles out to sea.

Supposedly, when a house’s mortgage was fully paid and there were no liens against the property, the homeowner drilled a hole in the newel post of the main staircase, rolled up the mortgage document, put it inside, and capped the hole with a decorative plug of scrimshaw.

Scrimshaw is a term for an American folk art developed during the 18th and 19th centuries. Whaling in New England was an industry that lifted Nantucket Island to become the world’s wealthiest port. After a whale’s oil was rendered, the ship’s captain would give his crew the sperm whale’s teeth or bones to carve during long tedious hours at sea. Whaling had its exciting moments, but they were far and few between. As a pastime, sailors carved all kinds of useful gifts to bring home to their loved ones: needles, combs, games, clothespins, busks…and mortgage buttons.

But let’s jump back to the mortgage button. Some legends say that the actual mortgage papers were ceremoniously burned and the ashes stashed inside the drilled hole before sealed with the button. However, as appealing a thought as that might be, it is most likely a myth. There’s never been any evidence of ashes or even hidden mortgages found in salvaged newel posts. Still, mortgage buttons are common among Nantucket homes, and the tradition has spread to other parts of the country. In southern states, for example, they’re called brag buttons. Whether myth or truth, today it’s more a matter of a charming nostalgic custom than a nod to your healthy (or…not so healthy) net worth.

-Suzanne Woods Fisher-

Suzanne Woods Fisher

Suzanne Woods Fisher is an award-winning, bestselling author of more than two dozen novels, including Phoebe’s Light and Minding the Light, as well as the Amish Beginnings, The Bishop’s Family, and The Inn at Eagle Hill series. She has also written several nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace and The Heart of the Amish. Fisher lives in California.
Learn more at www.suzannewoodsfisher.com and follow her on Twitter @suzannewfisher and Facebook @SuzanneWoodsFisherAuthor.

It's Time For A Giveaway!

To celebrate her tour, Suzanne is giving away a grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries!

https://promosimple.com/ps/d773/the-light-before-day-celebration-tour-giveaway

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Celebrate Lit Blog Tour - Minding The Light by Suzanne Woods Fisher + Review & Guest Post & Giveaway

7/13/2018

4 Comments

Six long years ago, Captain Reynolds Macy sailed away from his bride, looking forward to the day when he would return to Nantucket Island with a ship’s hold full of whale oil. But when that momentous day finally arrives, Ren soon discovers that everything has changed in his absence. Everything. “Is nothing on this island as it appears to be?” he whispers in despair.

Unlike most islanders, bold and spirited Daphne Coffin doesn’t defer to Ren as an authoritative whalemaster, but sees through his aloofness to the aching heart beneath. She encourages him to return to his Quaker roots and “mind the Light,” finding solace in God and community. As Ren becomes the man she believes him to be–honorable, wise, faithful–she finds herself falling in love with him.

But how can she, when her heart is spoken for? Tristram Macy is Ren’s business partner, cousin, and best friend–and Daphne’s fiancé. Love always comes at a cost, but when is the price too high?

Suzanne Woods Fisher welcomes readers back to the Quaker community on Nantucket Island for this riveting love story, full of unexpected moments.

Genre: Historical Romance
Release date: July 3, 2018

Click here to purchase your copy!

My Review

From loss and betrayal springs faith and love...

It's a rare thing indeed when I actually like the second book in a series better than the first. But, such is the case with Minding The Light, book 2 in the Nantucket Legacy series. I was originally intrigued by this series because of Suzanne Woods Fisher's slight departure from usual Amish fare to historical Quakers.

I loved how the characters are so flawed, making them more realistic. They make mistakes, even lash out, but love and faith are their redemption.
The dual timeline thing is actually really good. Great Mary's diary entries often parallel what is happening in the lives of the more 'modern' characters, and, her experience and wisdom are invaluable.

More than just an entertaining read, Minding The Light also has some important themes. Things that popped out at me were; the value of ALL people, doing the right thing even when it isn't popular and could be dangerous, and just how easy it is for the Faithful to slip into self-righteous hypocrisy that can really damage a person's witness.

I enjoyed reading Suzanne Woods Fisher's latest addition to her Nantucket Legacy series and I find myself looking forward to what she might have in store for her readers, and characters, next.

Tell Tale Book Reviews gives Minding The Light by Suzanne Woods Fisher a 4 Bark rating.

(I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.)

Guest Post

from Suzanne Woods Fisher

8 Curious Facts you Probably Didn’t Know about Nantucket Island

This beautiful island, thirty miles off Cape Cod, is steeped in history. Here are just a few interesting reasons to add a visit to Nantucket to your bucket list.

1) During the first half of the nineteenth century, Nantucket was considered to be the wealthiest port in the world…all because of whale oil.

2) Petticoat Row is a 19th century nickname for a portion of Centre Street between Main Street and Broad Street. Many shops on Nantucket were run by women while the men were off to sea in whaling ships for years at a time. Quakerism, with its emphasis on equality, provided working women with community respect, value and esteem. The next time you’re visiting Nantucket, be sure to stop by the Petticoat Row Bakery for a morning glory muffin.

3) The use of laudanum (opium) was described by a visiting French as prevalent among the women of Nantucket. Loyal Nantucketers vehemently denied his claim. However, in the 1980s, construction workers digging to Nantucket’s sewer lines found heaps of opium bottles buried in the ground.
For centuries, laudanum was considered to be not only harmless but beneficial. Its very name in Latin is landare, which means to praise. Other names for it: Mother’s Helper (to sedate children), Sea Calm (for seasickness). It was used for all kinds of ailments, from sleeplessness to menstrual cramps to treatment of chronic pain, and available without prescription up until the twentieth century, when it was found to be highly addictive.

4) Nantucket Cent Schools were a carryover from England and the cost was exactly what the name implied. In New England they were kept by refined, thrifty women who often taught their own or their neighbors’ children until they were old enough to enter schools of a higher grade. I came across a story of a boy whose mother stuck a penny in his mouth each day so that he would remember to pay the teacher.

5) Moby Dick, written by Herman Melville in 1851, was based on a true-life event that occurred in 1820 to the Nantucket whaleship Essex and her crew. You can find out more about this ill-fated voyage if you visit Nantucket’s awesome whaling museum.

6) Speaking of…the whaling museum on Nantucket Island is called the Peter Foulger Whaling Museum. Peter Foulger was one of the early settlers to the island, and could be considered a Renaissance Man: inventor, surveyor, teacher, missionary to the Wampanoag Indians. And his grandson was none other than Benjamin Franklin.

7) Nantucketers were, for the most part, related to each other in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. The prosperous island was settled by a small group of families, with less than a dozen surnames: Coffin, Macy, Starbuck, Bunker, Hussey, Gardner, Mayhew, Swain, Barnard, Coleman, Worth, Mitchell. Those names are still common on the island.

8) There’s a good reason those surnames sound familiar to you—many of those early settlers had descendants who started business empires. Recognize these? Macy (retailer) and Folger (coffee).

Suzanne Woods Fisher

Carol-award winner Suzanne Woods Fisher writes untold stories about inspiring people. With over one million copies of her books sold worldwide, she is the bestselling author of fiction and non-fiction, ranging from Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World to the historical novel Anna’s Crossing.

It's Time For A Giveaway!

To celebrate her tour, Suzanne is giving away a $10 Starbucks gift card to five winners!!

Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries!

https://promosimple.com/ps/d1c4/minding-the-light-celebration-tour-giveaway

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Images of Nantucket from Pixabay.com

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Celebrate Lit Blog Tour - Phoebe's Light by Suzanne Woods Fisher + Review & Guest Post & Giveaway

2/28/2018

8 Comments

Phoebe Starbuck has always adjusted her sails and rudder to the whims of her father. Now, for the first time, she’s doing what she wants to do: marrying Captain Phineas Foulger and sailing far away from Nantucket. As she leaves on her grand adventure, her father gives her two gifts, both of which Phoebe sees little need for. The first is an old sheepskin journal from Great Mary, her highly revered great-grandmother. The other is a “minder” on the whaling ship in the form of cooper Matthew Marcy, a man whom she loathes.

Soon Phoebe discovers that life at sea is no easier than life on land. Lonely, seasick, and disillusioned, she turns the pages of Great Mary’s journal and finds herself drawn into the life of this noble woman. To Phoebe’s shock, her great-grandmother has left a secret behind that carries repercussions for everyone aboard the ship, especially her husband the captain and her shadow the cooper. This story within a story catapults Phoebe into seeing her life in an entirely new way—just in time.

In this brand-new series, bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher brings her signature twists and turns to bear on a fascinating new faith community: the Quakers of colonial-era Nantucket Island.

Genre: Historical romance
Release Date: February 6, 2018

Click here to purchase your copy!

My Review

Her choices affect more than she ever imagined...

Despite the popularity of author Suzanne Woods Fisher's Amish fiction I've somehow missed out...until now. A novel about the Quakers and the earlier history of Nantucket piqued my interest. I remember reading some about the early Quakers in my history books but really didn't know a lot about them. Phoebe's Light brought the people, the place, and the era to life.

I had mixed feelings about Phoebe herself. I found her to be naive to the point of foolishness but she clings to a deep faith that could move mountains. And Matthew. Aahh, Matthew. He is a truly flawed character, he is refreshingly honest about his doubts, and he is completely loyal to those he loves.

A couple of historical anachronisms didn't deter me from enjoying the story. And I loved learning some of the whaling and Nantucket-specific terms that I didn't already know. There is a helpful glossary at the beginning that you can refer back to if need be.

I loved Suzanne Woods Fisher's dual timeline aspect in Phoebe's Light, Mary's diary entries from the 1660's were a fascinating look into the founding of Nantucket and Phoebe in the 1760's found inspiration and wisdom from reading the diary.

If you are looking for an interesting story set in a little known period of American history you should check out Phoebe's Light.

Tell Tale Book Reviews gives Phoebe's Light by Suzanne Woods Fisher a 4 Bark rating.

(I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.)

Guest Post from
Suzanne Woods Fisher

A Stroll down Petticoat Row

Thirty years ago, I talked my sister into going on a trip to Nantucket Island. It’s one of those places that had always intrigued me. As a girl in the 1930s, my mother’s family vacationed in Nantucket; she even has a lightship basket to show for it. I expected the island to be interesting and beautiful, and it certainly did not disappoint. But something else happened as I walked down Centre Street one morning. This island captured my imagination in a way that’s hard to put into words. At the risk of sounding a tiny bit sun touched, I could practically see 19th century people on the roads, hear the “thee’s and thou’s” in their speech, even smell the strong scents of a bygone century—the musky perfume of rendered whale oil, the burning wood of the blacksmith, all mingled with the bracing sea air.
Centre Street has a local nickname: Petticoat Row. It comes from the 1800s, when men were at sea for long periods and women stepped into their shoes to keep businesses going. Nantucket women gained a reputation for being strong and capable. Their competence was encouraged by the Society of Friends (Quakers), the island’s dominant religion, which believed in the equality of men and women in all aspects of life. That hasn’t changed. Today, half of all Nantucket businesses are run by women.
Petticoat Row stuck in my mind, and eventually became the hook to contract a series of historical fiction with Revell Books. The ‘Nantucket Legacy’ series covers the rise and fall of Nantucket’s whaling period, when it became the wealthiest port in the world.
First up is Phoebe’s Light, releasing in February 2018, a novel about a spirited young woman who seeks her fortune only to find out she already had it.
After reading about Phoebe, I hope you’ll consider planning a trip to Nantucket (though try to go off-season. The population swells five times in the summer!). When you go, include a stop at the Petticoat Row Bakery (35 Centre Street)—the very location where Phoebe grew up, albeit a few centuries ago. Don’t leave the island without trying the Morning Glory Muffins, an island favorite. So worth the trip!

Nantucket’s Famous Morning Glory Muffins

Ingredients:
1 ¼ cup sugar
2 ¼ cup flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ cup shredded coconut
½ cup raisins
2 cup grated carrots (4 large)
1 apple, shredded
8 oz. crushed pineapple, drained
½ cup pecans or walnuts
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions:
Sift together sugar, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add the fruit, carrots and nuts and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk eggs with oil and vanilla. Combine with dry ingredients and blend well.

Spoon batter into cupcake tins lined with muffin papers. Fill each cup to the brim. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes.

These muffins needs 24 hours to ripen their full flavor. They freeze extremely well.

Recipe courtesy of Pamela A. McKinstry, Sconset Café

Suzanne Woods Fisher

Suzanne Woods Fisher is an award-winning, bestselling author of more than two dozen novels, including Anna’s Crossing, The Newcomer, and The Return in the Amish Beginnings series, The Bishop’s Family series, and The Inn at Eagle Hill series, as well as nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace and The Heart of the Amish. She lives in California.

Learn more at www.suzannewoodsfisher.com
and follow Suzanne on Twitter @suzannewfisher.