#TuesdayTreasure: Guest Post by Elisabeth Gifford

Good Morning,

We're starting off 2015 with a bang by welcoming our guest Elisabeth Gifford to our Tuesday Treasure spotlight as she speaks to us about a place she highly treasures....

One of the places I treasure most is the Scottish Hebrides. In the Hebrides there is a very old and strong tradition of Celtic Christian spirituality, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s said that when God made the world, he was left with a handful of jewels in his pocket, and as he scattered them into the sea, they made the Hebridean islands. 

The landscape is beautiful and unbounded, jewel-like colours of turquoise, agate and green, and wild, wide-open spaces of sea and hillscapes. You feel all of the dusty and small-minded worries you brought with you being blown away as you walk along deserted beaches and listen to the calls of the sand curlews, the smooth lines of hills like the back of a sleeping presence. 

When I’m home in London, I like to recall the walks through the hills, the crashing waves that roll in from the Atlantic, and find a space where my priorities are put into their true scale, a space where I can recall that same sense of peace and awe. Indeed, it can be hard to leave such pristine landscapes, and more than once I’ve felt near to tears at having to say goodbye at the end of the holidays. But as I get on with all the challenges and joys of following whatever the day’s calling is, those very special places 

remain like like a pocketful of jewels in the 

memory, a letter from their creator.

The pictures I have shared are from Harris, one of the places described in The Sea House. 

Moving to the island of Harris to restore the Sea House, Ruth finds herself struggling to understand the truth about her past - and at the same time finds the house holds a shocking secret. She must uncover what really happened in the Sea House a century earlier if the house is ever to become the home she longs for.

The book trailer for The Sea House is available on YouTube and includes a song in Gaelic by Capercialle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOWvpwGqKVs

Elisabeth Gifford grew up in a vicarage in the industrial Midlands. She studied French literature and world religions at Leeds University and has published poems in Cinnamon Press and The Oxford Magazine. She’s also written articles for The Times and The Independent, along with a nonfiction book, The House of Hope (2011), a biography of Dr. Joyce Hill who opened a rescue center for abandoned babies in China. The Sea House has been shortlisted for the Historical Writer’s Association Crown debut award. Her second novel, Return to Fourwinds, will be released in the UK in September 2014.

To keep up with Elisabeth Gifford, visit www.elisabethgifford.com, become a fan on Facebook (ElisabethGiffordAuthor) or follow her on Pinterest (LizGifford355).

Hope you enjoyed this week's Tuesday Treasure!

Come back weekly for more Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlights.

Until next time...take care & God Bless!

PamT