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66th out of 528 books
—
545 voters
A Light to My Path (Refiner's Fire #3)
by
Lynn Austin (Goodreads Author)
Refiner's Fire book 3 Kitty, a house slave, always figured it was easiest to do what she'd always done--obey Missy and follow orders. But when word arrives that the Yankees are coming, Kitty is faced with a decision: will she continue to follow the bidding of her owners, or will she embrace this chance for freedom? Never allowed to have ideas of her own, Kitty is overwhelm...more
Paperback, 432 pages
Published
November 1st 2004
by Bethany House Publishers
(first published January 1st 2004)
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Refiner's Fire Book # 3. Kitty, a house slave, always figured it was easiest to do what she'd always done--obey Missy and follow orders. But when word arrives that the Yankees are coming, Kitty is faced with a decision: will she continue to follow the bidding of her owners, or will she embrace this chance for freedom? Never allowed to have ideas of her own, Kitty is overwhelmed by the magnitude of her decision. Yet it is her hope to find the "happy ever after" ending to her lif...more
Refiner's Fire Book # 3. Kitty, a house slave, always figured it was easiest to do what she'd always done--obey Missy and follow orders. But when word arrives that the Yankees are coming, Kitty is faced with a decision: will she continue to follow the bidding of her owners, or will she embrace this chance for freedom? Never allowed to have ideas of her own, Kitty is overwhelmed by the magnitude of her decision. Yet it is her hope to find the "happy ever after" ending to her lif...more
Loved this third book in the Refiner's Fire series. My favorite character in this book is Delia. She has so much strength! Her story slowly unfolds throughout the book and when you finally realize all that's she's been through you can't help but be struck by her strength of character.
There are a couple of quotes in the book that I just love.
Delia is telling Kitty "Just think of your life as a story. As if you're telling it around the fire someday to your children...Now, how are you wanting that...more
There are a couple of quotes in the book that I just love.
Delia is telling Kitty "Just think of your life as a story. As if you're telling it around the fire someday to your children...Now, how are you wanting that...more
Another great book by Lynn Austin. This book was from two slaves perspectives – Kitty (Anna) and Grady who were stories we see as they live before and during the Civil War. I loved how the characters from all the books intertwined even in some unexpected places. This book started a little slower than the other two books in the series – in the fact that there was a lot more character development and history that took place before the Civil war started. However the pre-war stories were needed to h...more
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I've been processing this book for the past few days after finishing it. I've learned so much from reading this series and I appreciate Lynn Austin writing each book in the series from a different person's perspective during the Civil War. This specific book was the hardest for me to read, but the most important to me as well. It is beyond my understanding how anyone could feel OK about owning slaves. Thank heavens there were clear headed people back then who could see how wrong it was and desir...more
Refiner's Fire book 3 Kitty, a house slave, always figured it was easiest to do what she’d always done--obey Missy and follow orders. But when word arrives that the Yankees are coming, Kitty is faced with a decision: will she continue to follow the bidding of her owners, or will she embrace this chance for freedom? Never allowed to have ideas of her own, Kitty is overwhelmed by the magnitude of her decision. Yet it is her hope to find the "happy ever after" ending to her life--and to follow Grad...more
I had a sense of deja vu all through this book. I knew what was going to happen with Grady all the way through, as well as Delia. It was odd, but I had no recollection about Anna/Kitty at all, so I know I didn't read this book before, and yet it wasn't a predictable plot. Maybe I saw a movie based on Grady?? Not a clue where this sense of knowing came from, but it was very eery to not be able to place it.
That being said, this was the final book in the trilogy, and again, the author ends it a bi...more
That being said, this was the final book in the trilogy, and again, the author ends it a bi...more
I truly loved this whole trilogy. My book club started with the third book in the series, and I loved it so much that I HAD to read the other two. Each one is set during the civil war and each story is told from different view points during parallel times. One time we read about a slave owner and her slaves. Another book covers a slave owner who is sympathetic to the slaves and helps them. And the third book covers a young girl who serves in the war. All the characters cross over with each other...more
This is the last of "The Refiner's Fire" series--a series about the Civil War from different perspectives. This is a story about two slaves, Grady and Anna. Grady hordes up all the anger and hatred he feels toward "the white folks," while Anna can't imagine herself being something other than someone's property.
It was a great book but I think I liked the previous two better (especially #2). I'm definitely going to buy this series. It's worth reading again.
Most of the books I've read by Lynn Aust...more
It was a great book but I think I liked the previous two better (especially #2). I'm definitely going to buy this series. It's worth reading again.
Most of the books I've read by Lynn Aust...more
This was a book that really made you want to keep reading. It tells the story of being a slave on a plantation is the south and all the trial they go through. It tells their stories of injustice and hardship of losing their spouses and children, and their faith often wavering because they didn't know where God was during their hard time. The main character finally sees the big picture when he is freed by the North and ends up doing great things and renewing his faith. Good book to let you see th...more
This book was sent to me via the Crossings Christian Book Club a few years ago. I had no idea that it was a part of a series and don't know that it makes much of a difference. As I recall it's about a Civil War-era plantation slave whom is used cruelly by her masters but somehow manages to make it through and find love thanks to her faith in God....or something like that, I honestly don't remember. I don't own the book anymore, and however many other synopses' I read I still can't recall anythin...more
This book really got me to thinking about what life was like for the slaves in the south during the Civil War era. So many hated the whites and the damage they did to them and wanted revenge, but still others accepted their fates willingly with the help of God, or were too shy to stand up to their masters. It is also a love story where among the slaves families can be torn apart for no apparent reason. I must say I was a little disappointed in the ending. I wanted more. But overall, I think it c...more
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I didn't think that I could love any book in this series more than I did the first. Lynn Austin sucked me into the story from the first page and never let go. I absolutely loved this book and cannot fathom why Austin's writing in some of her other books falls so short of the high standard she set with this trilogy. If I didn't know better I'd be tempted to think that someone else wrote these books, that there's another Lynn Austin published by Bethany House.
Austin writes of the slave perspective...more
Austin writes of the slave perspective...more
I'd give this one 3 1/2 stars if I could mainly because the beginning was very difficult for me - every page was horribly depressing and extremely difficult to read as I had to wade through the horrible sale of a 9 year old slave boy, ripped from his loving mother and thrown into years and years of brutal beatings, and read about the raw, untamed human nature that existed before the Civil War. But it was particularly hard to read when it's a child receiving all the abuse... I almost had to stop....more
The third book in the Refiner's Fire series by Lynn Austin. Each book tells the story of the Civil War from a different viewpoint. This book is told through the eyes of Anna and Grady, house slaves on a plantation in South Carolina.
Anna was born into slavery and knows nothing else. She doesn't understand that she is a person in her own right and not a possession. She has always followed orders and obeyed her spoiled, selfish mistress. Grady was born into slavery, but his father was the white pl...more
Anna was born into slavery and knows nothing else. She doesn't understand that she is a person in her own right and not a possession. She has always followed orders and obeyed her spoiled, selfish mistress. Grady was born into slavery, but his father was the white pl...more
Out of the five or six Lynn Austin books I’ve read, I think this might be my least favorite … but that’s only because the competition is pretty steep as I’ve come to expect great things from this author!
A Light to My Path is the third and final volume in the Refiner’s Fire series chronicling events of the Civil War from various points of view — this time from the perspective of southern slaves. What I particularly enjoy in all of these books is the character growth and development. In this parti...more
A Light to My Path is the third and final volume in the Refiner’s Fire series chronicling events of the Civil War from various points of view — this time from the perspective of southern slaves. What I particularly enjoy in all of these books is the character growth and development. In this parti...more
This is probably my least favorite Lynn Austin book that I have read so far. It was still good, still interesting...but just didn't quite live up to the others I've read.
This one is told from the point of view of 2 slaves who live through the civil war - one a man, who eventually joins the first african-american Union army unit, and the other a woman, who remains a slave throughout the war. It was very moving to read about their plight and think more deeply about what it must have been like to b...more
This one is told from the point of view of 2 slaves who live through the civil war - one a man, who eventually joins the first african-american Union army unit, and the other a woman, who remains a slave throughout the war. It was very moving to read about their plight and think more deeply about what it must have been like to b...more
Lynn Austin continues to amaze me as a writer. This book is no exception. I finished it today, last book in the series. I was disappointed to have it end, and I don't want to read anything else. I'm still in the aura, wanting to savor it. Hoping the pressure upon my soul will be creating some permanent alteration to this lump of clay the Potter is shaping.
Book 3 of the Refiner's Fire Series covers the years of the Civil War from the perspective of slaves in South Carolina. Each installment of th...more
Book 3 of the Refiner's Fire Series covers the years of the Civil War from the perspective of slaves in South Carolina. Each installment of th...more
I finished this book today, and what an awesome ending. The book is about 2 special people....the first a young girl named Anna, who pretends to be a cat (even being called "Kitty") so she could work in "the big house" instead of being forced to work the fields. She is treated very poorly by her "Missy Claire" and is often told she has no soul, or that she is useless or stupid. She follows the orders she is given until after meeting Grady, a slave who was taken from his parents when he was very...more
This book was really hard to read sometimes, but really wonderful too. I've always thought of the Civil War as a terrible thing, but a great thing in that it helped end slavery. However, while reading this book, I realized that the end of slavery was really just the beginning of the battle. African American people still had to work to construct new lives and gain an equal footing in this country. It kind of made me sad for the main characters (as if they were real), knowing the struggles and inj...more
I really enjoyed this book. It was really good for me to read more history about the time of slavery. That is something I don't think about often, and it was a good reminder of the trials those people faced. I loved the strength that Grady showed and the overall message of the book to look to the Lord for peace and he will never dessert you.
I loved this book for lots of reasons, the characters are wonderfully diverse and interesting, it brings the old South alive, and it makes one look at the Civil War through a different lens. The love story running through it adds to without diminishing the underlying power of the story. I will be reading more Lynn Austin books.
This series was so amazing. I loved each of them but this was definitely the hardest to get through. It was just so emotional and at times just made me sick. It was wonderfully written the only part I didn't like was the end. I would have liked to have seen it tied up a little better, seeing the reconciliation between Grady and Tessie and Caroline but other than that was a great book.
I really enjoyed this book! I thought it was going to be my favorite of the series until I got to the end - would have preferred a different ending! The story really brought the suffering of the slaves into focus! What a horrible thing; can't really understand the mentality that made it possible to enslave another race!
While I enjoyed the other two in the series better, this was still a good read. It was interesting to read about slavery from a slaves perspective, but as Austin (Christian author) is a white woman, I think it would be so much better to read it from an African-American author or even actual historical diaries. I felt like the slaves were a bit...dense, and that kinda bothered me. But still, a good message about forgiving and love.
I didn't realize that this book was the 3rd in a series, but it didn't matter as it stood just fine as a book on its own. I've always been interested in Civil War stories and this one is told from the viewpoints of two slaves - Grady and Anna. It looks at faith, anger towards the system of slavery, individual growth and so much more. Kept me engrossed!
This book completes the Refiners Fire Trilogy. This particular title dealt with the experiences of the slaves and the freed slaves in the South during the American Civil War. This was a very poignant tale.
My only negative comment is that the vocabulary was not appropriate.
My only negative comment is that the vocabulary was not appropriate.
This book really took you back to the time of the beginning of the civil war and the time leading up to the emancipation proclomation. It really helped you to understand those times from the perspective of the slaves and all that they had to live through. Highly recommend it.
Not as great as the first three-mostly because the prologue gives you a snapshot of halfway through the book in a way that made me really not want to back up to their childhood and see how they got to the climax...Good book on slavery, hate, forgiveness and inner freedom.
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FROM AUTHOR'S WEBSITE: For many years, Lynn Austin nurtured a desire to write but frequent travels and the demands of her growing family postponed her career. When her husband's work took Lynn to Bogota, Colombia, for two years, she used the B.A. she'd earned at Southern Connecticut State University to become a teacher. After returning to the U.S., the Austins moved to Anderson, Indiana, Thunder B...more
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“People are always thinking they can use the Lord to get their own way-- all they have to do is pray and God's gonna take away all their suffering and give them what they whatever they ask for. But it don't work that way. God's doing His business, and it's up to us to be serving Him, not the other way around."
Then why do people pray at all? My papa asked Jesus to help him escape with me when I was just a little girl. But Jesus didn't help us."
Praying ain't about asking for your own way. It's all about talking things over with God, just like you and me are talking things over. In the end, you have to be trusting the Lord to do what's best."
So the Lord thought it was best that my papa died and my mama was sold?"
Delia slowly shook her head. "I don't know, honey, I just don't know. The hardest thing of all to understand is why a loving God keeps letting us suffer... I don't know all the answers myself. I seen my share of suffering, believe me. But there two things I do know for sure. One is that God loves us... And the second thing is that God's always in control of everything that happens. When bad things come our way and it starts looking like He don't love us, all I can say is that maybe we ain't knowing everything He knows."
Kitty's tears started falling again. "I still don't understand."
Remember what you told me about the fighting up in Charleston? How you was standing on that porch, not able to see what's going on? This here's the same thing. We're standing in the smoke, hearing the noise [of the battle] all around us, and we don't know what God's doing because we can't see things clearly as He sees them. But He's gonna make everything turn our okay when the smoke clears. When it does, God's gonna be the winner and all our suffering here on earth is gonna finall make sense. We're gonna look in Jesus' face and say, 'O Lord, it was worth it all.”
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More quotes…
Then why do people pray at all? My papa asked Jesus to help him escape with me when I was just a little girl. But Jesus didn't help us."
Praying ain't about asking for your own way. It's all about talking things over with God, just like you and me are talking things over. In the end, you have to be trusting the Lord to do what's best."
So the Lord thought it was best that my papa died and my mama was sold?"
Delia slowly shook her head. "I don't know, honey, I just don't know. The hardest thing of all to understand is why a loving God keeps letting us suffer... I don't know all the answers myself. I seen my share of suffering, believe me. But there two things I do know for sure. One is that God loves us... And the second thing is that God's always in control of everything that happens. When bad things come our way and it starts looking like He don't love us, all I can say is that maybe we ain't knowing everything He knows."
Kitty's tears started falling again. "I still don't understand."
Remember what you told me about the fighting up in Charleston? How you was standing on that porch, not able to see what's going on? This here's the same thing. We're standing in the smoke, hearing the noise [of the battle] all around us, and we don't know what God's doing because we can't see things clearly as He sees them. But He's gonna make everything turn our okay when the smoke clears. When it does, God's gonna be the winner and all our suffering here on earth is gonna finall make sense. We're gonna look in Jesus' face and say, 'O Lord, it was worth it all.”
12 sept. 11:29