Candle In The Window

I just completed Christina Dodd's Candle In the Window. It was a beautiful love story of two people who had little in common and seemed completely mismatched except for a shared trait, their blindness. Saura, the heroine was blind from birth and due to the diligence of her mother and maid, Maud, learned to function as well as a sighted woman--so well, in fact, people who didn't know would never have suspected her handicap.

William was blinded in battle. Though the reader can sense that he will regain his sight eventually, it his trip through his handicap along with Saura's help that cements their relationship.

Threats to the couple are a side plot of suspence which moves the relationship along and keep the reader guessing throughout the book. The resolution is not a big surprise, but it is well done and not an insult to the reader's intelligence. There are no extraordinary, magical escapes, nor complex, unrealistic explanations. There is a logical conclusion which proves Saura's value to William, because of the skills she honed in her blindness.

The secondary characters were well developed and a varied group which helped detail life in a medieval castle. One character, Raymond, gets his own book, Castles In the Air. These are stand-alone books. I read them out of sequence and will reread Castles In the Air since I now know Raymond's backstory.

I give Candle In the Window a 4.8/5 rating. It's a lovely book, rich in medieval history, suspense, and romance. Miss Dodd's writing is once again captivating.