Heart of the Lonely Exile - BJ Hoff

Published by Bethany House Publishers: Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1991.
Book 2 in 'An Emerald Ballad.' Preceded by 'Song of the Silent Harp.' Followed by 'Land of a Thousand Dreams.'

Last year, Elise and I read Song of the Silent Harp, the first book in this series, and we blown away by how sad it was. Heart of the Lonely Exile still has some sad moments, but these are more spread out, and now the characters even get to have some good experiences!!

We pick up where we left off: Nora and Daniel Kavanagh are living in New York, where Nora is being wooed by her old friend Michael Burke. Meanwhile, Evan Whittaker - the one-armed and stuttering Englishman - is also harbouring feelings for Nora, and Sara Farmington may have some feelings towards Michael. 

A class love-square situation.

Yes, the word 'heart' in the title of this book does have some significance, as much of the book is filled with angst, pining, and sweet declarations of love. And, having walked with these characters through the heaviness of Book 1, we are so much more invested in them now.

The Nora/Evan/Michael/Sara plot is now definitely the "A Plot" of the book, with Daniel moving much further into the background than he had been. Tierney Burke (Michael's son) gets a bit of plot, but it mostly seems like set-up for a future book? 

The "B Plot" then, is left to Morgan Fitzgerald, still back in Ireland and unlikely to leave it anytime soon. Most of the big dramatic beats in this book (as opposed to romantic ones) are left to Morgan, and he must wrestle with many demons throughout - from injury to illness to alcohol. With Hoff having stripped away most of Morgan's friends in the last book, Morgan also receives new associates, who turn out to be great additions to the story. The main two are the faith-filled and faithful servant Sandemon, and (particularly) the cheeky, forth-right, opinionated and talkative street urchin Annie Delaney, who forces her way into Morgan's life quite literally! Annie provides a lot of the laughs in the book, which - again - is a welcome change from Book 1.

Not that we disliked Book 1. It was powerful and moving.

Book 2 is just, perhaps, a better mix of tones.

After Book 1 ended, we both felt like we needed a break from the series for a bit. After Book 2, we would be much more ready to read on.

Completed with Elise, 25 December 2024.



(Elise Books)



(An Emerald Ballad Series)

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