"IN THE SHADOW OF AN ANGEL," by Lynne Larson, Covenant Communications, $15.99, 199 pages (f)
The novel, "In the Shadow of an Angel," by Lynne Larson, weaves the adventures, trials, struggles and triumphs of the Chapman women, four generations of Latter-day Saints who lived in the Salt Lake Valley.
The first generation’s story begins in the time when the Salt Lake Temple is being completed and Alice sees the Angel Moroni being put in place. Alice is a young woman who searches for her sister, Belle, who felt severed from her family after marrying a non-Mormon. Alice hopes to reunite her sister with their father before he passes away, and tell Belle of the news of their mother’s death.
The next generation follows Marjorie, who is gifted with extraordinary talents in vocal music. Marjorie is faced to make a series of difficult decisions of whether to stay in her beloved Valley or follow her career in music to New York City during the roaring '20s.
Marjorie’s daughter Lana sends off her boyfriend to the battlefields of World War II. Heartbroken, she soon finds herself held hostage within the walls of her own home where she learns the valuable lesson of the gift of life, and the worth of every soul.
The novel concludes with the Lana’s daughter, Christy, at the onset of the 1960s. She finds herself questioning the current events surrounding her, and seems drawn to a mysterious man in the care center where she works. She later discovers this man’s connection to her great-grandmother, Alice.
As the stories are told of each woman and their adventures to fortify their faith, reader can come to know how truly connected these women are to one another.
Each of the women finds strength to endure their hardships as they look to the Angel Moroni atop the Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and remember the blessings that come from the temple.
“In the Shadow of an Angel” contains no foul language or violence. The context of sexuality in the novel is discussed as each strives to be sexually pure before marriage.
Micah Klug graduated with a bachelor’s degree in health care administration from Brigham Young University-Idaho. She lives in Rexburg, Idaho.