Eden Hill
Fans of Liz Curtis Higgs’s Christian fiction will welcome the debut novel of her husband, Bill Higgs: Eden Hill. As the title suggests, the small town in which the novel is set is a paradise of small-town Norman Rockwellian Christian values. But it is early in the 1960s, and the social changes making waves across the world cause ripples even here. Reverend Eugene Caudill wants to shepherd his flock through any difficult times, but his enthusiasm is flagging under the cumulative weight of various troubles. Yet he sees that a couple in his church is particularly needful. Virgil Osgood, the owner/operator of Eden Hill’s service station, has his life shaken by two events. The first is his wife’s sudden discontent after taking a quiz in a ladies’ magazine during her weekly visit to the beauty parlor. The second is the opening of a modern full service gasoline franchise across the street from his own business. Is there room in this small town for two service stations, or will competition fracture the close-knit community?
The good people of the town need a lesson about God’s grace, doing unto others, and what it means to be a neighbor. Reverend Caudill rises to the challenge aided by a model couple, Welby and Alma, who preach by example as well as timely advice. This feel-good fiction will rouse nostalgia for those elusive simpler times of historical memory. While the messages grow a bit repetitive, and perhaps fewer scenes would have served to bring the point home, the characters are well-meaning or learn to be, and it’s soothing to spend time with them. This is a fine addition to the genre.
