I just read a book titled, Highland Treasure, by Mary McCall. I thought it was a simple “boy meets girl” romance story, set in the Medieval 1100’s. But, after I closed the book, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Something was nagging me to look below the surface of the story. I started thinking about the heroine so aptly named Hope.
Then I started peeling away the layers of the story until it fell away to something that surprised me.
We know right from the start in Chapter One of Highland Treasure that Lady Hope Neville’s world is upside-down.
She is hiding out from her evil father, the Baron Neville, as she tracks wild game for food, battles the elements, and looks for a safe place to hide.
In this case, it’s a cave. All she wants is “to live free from fear of capture and torture.”
And, this is where I realized that I was actually reading a story of transformation as our heroine battles for the very basics of life.
The trust issue interferes with intimacy in her personal relationships – especially with the Highlander chieftain Lady Hope marries, Leonce MacPherson.
Of course, their very union is the breeding ground for this story as it unfolds in sometimes frightening and humorous ways!
Lady Hope is full of self-doubt and needs constant reassurance from The MacPherson.
He must promise to never hurt her, she constantly questions his intentions.
She grovels, reaches for more, and falls back down.
And it truly is hope that kept me reading. I wanted so much to help the heroine, but I realized that only Lady Hope can bail herself out of trouble! Or … can she?
Practical Romantic Living 