The Light Above — Jean Holbrook Mathews

When the Hogge family, exhausted and covered with coal dust, made the trek up the hill to the cottage, they found the Kenny family and a few other friends from the pit gathered around the small, whitefaced form of Sandy, which lay on the kitchen table. . . . As Isabel put her arm around Carrie Kenny's waist, Carrie laid her head on Isabel's shoulder and whispered, “He looks like he's sleeping.”

“The lad is sleeping. He's sleeping in the Lord,” Isabel responded, offering the only comfort she knew how to give. “And he's free from the pits.” . . . George offered a short and simple prayer. “God take home to yourself this wee laddie and give his parents comfort, we pray, in the knowledge that he is with Thee and not in the pits.”

From the dark, dangerous, and deadly pits of the Scottish coal mines, to the crowded and bustling streets of Edinburgh, to the perilous voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, to the long and arduous trek across the plains to a “promised land,” The Light Above takes readers on an unforgettable journey.

In this exceptionally heartfelt and moving historical novel, gifted LDS author Jean Mathews has created a riveting and well-researched story of the Scottish Saints, whose courage in the face of relentless odds lifts them from the depths of despair and guides them to triumphant faith in an eternal destiny.