Path of the Guiding Light - Book Review

Author, Sharon K. Middleton, has written another intriguing historical novel in Path of the Guiding Light. The author’s ability to tell fascinating romantic and highly imaginative adventure stories with historically precise details is amazing. With time travel as an integral part of the plot, she accurately incorporates different historical eras and settings as her characters’ lives diverge 250 years from the late 1700s to the modern world. 

Baylie Smith was introduced in a previous novel as a minor character in contemporary society. Through her association with many of the other characters who had experienced time travel, she chose to leave her ex-husband, an unsatisfying job, and family to travel back to 1787. Baily is of Cherokee heritage and a historian, so she feels prepared to enter the world of displaced Native Americans. She doesn’t realize that by her travel to Before from Beyond, she is fulfilling a tribal prophecy. Baylie struggles to become assimilated into the past culture by being trained as a warrior and participating in a battle.

She becomes the reluctant enslaver of a white captive, who is a central character from a previous novel. The character, O’Malley, had been presumed dead but has resurfaced to cause havoc. He is trying to find Fancy, his estranged wife, not knowing she has traveled to the Beyond. Baylie tries to explain time travel to him. “You can only go if you are supposed to go…if the Great Spirit allows it.”

Baylie is courted and stalked by one mighty warrior but is secretly in love with Chief Shadow Wolf.  Does he love her also? During this period a captor escapes through the time gate and disappears into the future. The tribe insists that Baylie travel to Beyond to bring him back. The time traveler’s adventure in the modern world leads to a new romance, while Baylie’s leads to heartache. She had become pregnant before leaving Before with a child who would be suffering from Down syndrome. In the modern world, the child would be cared for and treated with compassion, but in the Native American culture of the late 1700s, the infant would probably be killed. What is her part in the prophecy now that she is Beyond and pregnant?

This tale involves many interwoven subplots, which become more fascinating as the reader tries to predict their outcome. Middleton shines when transitioning between the past and present with flashbacks, intricately layering and revealing the plot. The satisfactory conclusion involves the addition of new characters and the promise of another captivating novel.

Path of the Guiding Light is more than just a love story. Middleton writes it all with clarity and precision, creating a bond between a sizable and captivating cast of characters while engaging readers with vivid imagery and skilled craftsmanship. Middleton’s plotlines borrow equally from adventure, history, and romance; while meticulously integrating a wealth of fascinating period details into the story without slowing down its pace. The result is a sprawling and enthralling saga.