Candlewood
Buy the Book:HenschelHAUS Publishing, Inc.
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Published by: HenschelHAUS Publishing, Inc.
Release Date: February 1, 2025
Pages: 348
ISBN13: 9798990820326
Synopsis
St. Croix Valley, Minnesota, 1977
First year teacher Meg Joyce toughed it out to get a toehold on the kind of life her family couldn’t give her. She cannot afford to be out on strike. When her pastor offers her a job at the parish, she believes it’s manna from heaven.
Meg soon finds herself fending off Father Darren, the menacing priest from prayer group. He tricks her into viewing a painting that hangs above his bed while he rants about the woman who gave it to him. Meg keeps quiet on the advice of her gay brother who warns her the bishop is likely glad his priest goes after women, not men or boys. Who would believe her anyway?
A different kind of challenge looms when salt of the earth Father Andy is assigned to the parish. Their friendship heats up, though Meg knows the rules and is loath to add another sin to her family’s litany of taboos. Meanwhile, the sleazy priest from prayer group goes unchecked. Meg must confront the boys club of her Church, find a God she can trust, and reckon with her deepest desires.
Add on GoodreadsPraise
“Sometimes, love is not enough and even faith is not enough. In Evelyn Ann Casey’s new novel, Candlewood, Meg encounters resistance all around her in her parish work from nosy matriarchs to woebegone lovers to flirtatious young priests during a time when time-honored traditions bumped up against a woman’s modern concerns. Casey took on a challenge when she set a secular parable in a religious setting rife with change but it is her protagonist character, Meg, bursting with hope and disillusionment, who leaps off the page and into the reader’s heart.”
–Jacquelyn Mitchard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean and the forthcoming Stalking the Birdwatcher
"In this mesmerizing debut, Casey unveils a luminous portrait of devotion tested against the boundaries of human longing in 1970s rural America. With remarkable finesse, she crafts an unflinching examination of a soul caught between religious commitment and the whispers of impossible dreams."
–Ann Garvin, USA Today bestselling author of I Thought You Said This Would Work
“Evelyn Ann Casey’s writing is thoughtful, wry, and detailed; a pleasure to read. It was so moving and thrilling to see descriptions of a place I've imagined so often.”
–Daniel M. Lavery, author of Women's Hotel
"Candlewood by Evelyn Ann Casey is a tender, suspenseful, and well-written story of love and its many facets—including forbidden love for a young priest. This love for Andy—who is portrayed in a three-dimensional way that feels refreshing and fair—creates the heartache that is the proverbial cliff Meg Joyce is afraid of falling over. With a plot set in the 1970s, the author does a beautiful job of involving family and friends, as well as co-workers—all of them revealing different types of love and companionship and the troubles that come with human relationships. Meg’s job working for a church and helping people in need in the community provides a perfect backdrop to the troubles of the heart she encounters with her bosses. Set in Minnesota mostly but with significant time in New York City, the story shows the challenges for a young person trying to find her footing in life beyond matters of the heart. This is a first novel for this author but let’s hope for many more. The book contains excellent research notes and questions for book clubs. Highly recommended."
–Christine DeSmet, bestselling mystery author and director of the nationally recognized Write by the Lake retreat
"Candlewood by Evelyn Ann Casey is a gorgeously-written story of a young woman, Meg Joyce. It’s impossible not to cheer for this captivating heroine whose story takes the reader through triumph and heartbreak in her search for love and inner peace. She struggles with the agonizing choice of following her dream to have a family versus her insatiable passion for a priest who cannot give her what she wants most in life. The depth of Meg’s yearning is palpable on the page and builds throughout the story, culminating in a beautifully poignant ending. Meg will stay with the reader long after finishing the book."
–Gregory Lee Renz, author of Beneath the Flames and Beyond the Flames
"Casey has brought storytelling back to its roots, with characters who know who they are and what they want, wrestling with the intersections of faith, fate, and fear."
–Susanna Daniel, PEN/Bingham award winning author of Stiltsville and Target Book Club pick Sea Creatures
Casey’s debut novel Candlewood “charts… winding roads through violation and heartbreak with a readable style and a generous amount of empathy… her skill at crafting characters is finely tuned, and even the book’s minor secondary characters feel fully realized. Meg’s struggles with the dictates of the Church will resonate with a great many of Casey’s readers; the author’s refusal to settle for easy novelistic solutions to complicated issues is refreshing. A heartfelt and well-orchestrated story of disillusioned faith and elusive hope.”
–Kirkus Reviews
“Casey debuts with a not-so-ordinary romance set in the 1970s… She approaches it with welcome seriousness about love, faith, temptation, and the role of women in the church. Candlewood is a romance at its heart, with the protagonist navigating heartbreak and the self-discovery that follows… Underlying the romance, however, is a smart, compelling critique of the shady practices that often contaminate religious institutions and their pervasive patriarchy.”
–Publishers Weekly BookLife Review
“Every once in a while a debut novel appears that presents a quiet yet powerful new voice relaying words and thoughts that command the reader’s full attention. Candlewood by Evelyn Ann Casey is one of those novels. Set in the 1970s with the backdrop of a strict Catholic community and parish behind her, narrator Meg tells her story with honesty, authenticity, and fearless bravery. This love story offers valuable insight into the religious culture and feminine restraints and values that were prominent during that time. Women had limited choices both in their professional and personal lives and Meg’s story illustrates her frustration with the church as she deals with priests, both lecherous as well as loving, her family’s sometimes dysfunctional ways, and her options for her future should the truth be revealed. Candlewood offers much for many different readers, those who are young and old, religious and not religious, and those who are looking to embrace a superb love story. The narration will move you as the pace of the plot heightens with every chapter. You won’t be disappointed, this is a not-to-be-missed love story that poses questions and offers solutions for sometimes impossible love to happen. Book Club discussion questions are included."
-–Laurie Scheer, Writing Mentor/mediagoddess
"A bittersweet story that emotionally grips the reader. Fans of Colleen McCullough’s The Thornbirds will appreciate Meg’s heartache as she works alongside the handsome priest in what a sympathetic nun calls the Catholic church’s den of celibates."
–Kristin A. Oakley, author of The Devil Particle Series
Excerpt