Lost ships, a hidden tale, and mysterious ruins on the East Sussex Coast… Set the Stars Alight is a split-time story set in both present day and Regency England that will waft readers into the mists of another time. Welcome to the Index, Amanda!
 England , Farm , 1810s , 1810-1820 (England Regency), Multiple Time Periods, Split Time Periods , Coming of Age , Animals, Boats/Ships, Secrets , Dykes-Amanda |
Lucy Clairmont’s family treasured the magic of the past, and her childhood fascination with stories of the high seas led her to become a marine archaeologist. But when tragedy strikes, it’s Dashel, an American forensic astronomer, and his knowledge of the stars that may help her unearth the truth behind the puzzle she’s discovered in her family home. Two hundred years earlier, the seeds of love are sown between a boy and a girl who spend their days playing in a secret sea cave, while the privileged young son of the estate looks on, wishing to join. As the children grow and war leads to unthinkable heartbreak, a story of love, betrayal, sacrifice, and redemption unfolds, held secret by the passage of time. As Lucy and Dash journey to a mysterious old estate on the East Sussex coast, their search leads them to a community of souls and a long-hidden tale that may hold the answers–and the healing–they so desperately seek. |
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Questions about Amanda’s Story
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
One underlying foundational element of this book is stories about true, amazing things. An underground city, a house hidden beneath a grand opera house staircase—all true! It was such a joy to get to collect those stories along the way.
What character in your book turned out to be your favorite?
Ooh, it’s a toss-up between Frederick and Dash. Each one carries his own wounds, each one finds redemption in different ways, each one embodies the theme of sacrifice and friendship.
If you could be one of your characters, who would you choose to be and why?
I wish I had some of Clara’s panache in the kitchen! She can whip up a service of tea and scones whose warm fresh-baked scent wafts down the country lane…it makes me hungry just to think about! I’m not a whiz in the kitchen, so it’s fun for me to write a character who is. 🙂
Which scene (give us the chapter) is your favorite, the one you never tired of working with?
Give us a reason to look forward to it. I believe it is chapter 38—and it has to do with something called “Skylarking”, something sailors used to do aboard ships with the rigging. It was one of the first scenes I envisioned, and it’s one of the last scenes in the book—so it helped me dig to find out what the story behind the scene was. It still makes me a little giddy and smiley to think of it!
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Questions about Amanda’s Reading
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What Christian Historical Novel taught you something about the craft of writing because it was so well done? The character development and emotional pull of Joanne Bischof’s The Lady and the Lionheart will always be so inspiring to me! |
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Which character in a Christian Historical Novel do you wish you could spend time with in the real world and why? I wish I could spend time with Silas and Eden from Laura Frantz’s Love’s Reckoning. They are just two characters, so tenderly wrought, that have always stuck with me. Laura is a master! |
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What was a Christian Historical Novel that you read that taught you something you didn’t know? I loved learning about the White Rose society in Amanda Barratt’s newly-released The White Rose Resists, and I also loved learning about Christopher Wren’s architectural endeavors to rebuild churches in London following WWII. Both such fascinating and inspiring histories! |
Amanda is giving away a paperback copy (U.S. Residents 18 or older). Enter the Rafflecopter below!
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