Gables of Legacy, Volume II: A Guiding Star

Gables of Legacy, Volume II: A Guiding Star


Since this book was coming out at Christmas time, I wanted it to be kind of a Christmas book, and also fit into the series. In my original broad conception of the series, I knew that it was important for Tamra to go back and face her own past. To have it happen at Christmas time seemed appropriate. In volume one, Jess had to deal with the skeletons in his closet, and now Tamra needs to do the same.


The overall message of this book is one that I’ve used multiple times, laced into different plot lines. Many of us come from some degree of a dysfunctional family, and if we really want to be at peace, sooner or later we have to face up to how those things have affected us, and decide if we’re going to carry on the negative cycles or break them and start better ones. Tamra’s mother was definitely at the higher end of dysfunctional, but Tamra was one of those people with a strong spiritual instinct that brings her beyond it. Later in the series, we find out some things that help us understand how Tamra’s mother became the way she was, which is often the case. We certainly can’t judge something when we can’t see the whole picture. But we CAN choose to rise above it.


I loved bringing in the surprise of Tamra’s father in this book, and his turning out to be something completely different than what she’d expected. The life lessons Tamra learns in this book are something I think we each should consider, as she comes to learn that it’s her own choices, and not her past, that determines who she is.