Book Review: The Legacy by Michael Phillips

The Legacy is the final book by Michael Phillips in his Secrets of the Shetlands trilogy, following The Inheritance and The Cottage.

The Inheritance set the scene, of an inheritance seeking the proper heir.  In the book, we met three contenders, Loni Ford,David Tulloch and Hardy Tulloch and learned about their life and character.

In The Cottage, Loni arrives in the Shetland Islands and meets both of her distant cousins.  She soon discovers that she misjudged both cousins.  She also discovers much more is at stake then she ever dreamed or imagined.

The Legacy pulls everything together, weaving the present with the past.   As Loni and David grow closer, they have life altering decisions to make and a murder to solve.

Loni also continues to read her great-grandmother’s journal, which ties together the past events into the present and builds a bridge between the generations.

The Legacy also finds transformation for several key characters, who also end up finding love along their journey.  We are even introduced to a new and exciting main character in Lincoln Rhodes.

The Cottage by Michael Philips

I also appreciated that Phillips showed there are consequences for our actions, we don’t all have a happily ever after, there are struggles within ourselves and we often have to seek within ourselves to find the answers we long for.

I loved that the chapters are very short and the book was divided into sections.  Each section usually only had a few chapters {anywhere from 3-15 chapters per section} and I found myself able to read a section a night.

The transition between the past and the present was seamless and complimented one another.

Michael Phillips is a masterful storyteller, who loves his subject and has well researched his details with both Scottish history and way of life and the Quakers.

The Legacy by Michael Phillips

As I neared the end of the book, I found myself unable to put it down, until I was finished.  However, I was saddened to finish.  I was saddened to say goodbye not only to Loni {Alonnah}, David and their friends, but also to Brogan, Emily, Sally and Ernest in the earlier generation.

I highly recommend this series to anyone that enjoys historical fiction, Scottish fiction {such as Liz Curtis Higgs} and Christian romance.  I also recommend that you read the books in order:  The Inheritance, The Cottage, and The Legacy. 

The Secrets of the Shetlands is a treasure to read that will transport you to another time and place.

*Note: I received this book for free from Bethany House in exchange for my honest opinion.

**Note: If you are not used to the Scottish dialect, it may take a while to get used to, but it’s well worth it to read this series.