By Crystal Caudill

As a young child, Eleanora was kidnapped from an opera house while her mother, the famous Constanza Brisbane, sang on stage. Despite her miraculous escape, the traumatic event has haunted her and her parents ever since. Now an adult, Eleanora lives under an assumed name and is forbidden to have anything to do with music. Her mother has succumbed to the mental strain and now lives in an insane asylum. But are Constanza’s fears about the kidnapper’s return just the hallucinations of a crazed woman? Or is Eleanora still very much in danger?

Pros: This was a great story! Plenty of tragic backstory to keep me intrigued, lots of music (my favorite) and enough ratcheting tension to turn this historical romance into a psychological thriller. But as much as I loved the mystery, the sweet romance, and the doses of witty banter, I also really appreciated the compassionate yet unflinching Biblical approach to mental health. It takes courage to write about hard subjects and I hope this book is part of a greater trend among Christian authors to shine the light of Christ onto weighty issues like this one.

Cons: A few anachronistic words and phrases, but I’m a nerd about that kind of stuff.

The Bottom Line: Gaslight, but with elements of The Phantom of the Opera, make this Christian Historical Romance novel a slow-build psychological thriller!