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Reviewed by Golder Hazelton for Readers' Favorite
Arthur Davis, an itinerant Methodist minister on a mission to the Cherokee territory in the 1800s, falls instantly in love in love with fellow missionary Doctor Edward Crowley and develops a deep and abiding passion for him. Due to the societal expectations of the time and the fact that his longing for Edward places him unequivocally at odds with the teachings of the Church and the Word of God, Arthur is forced to keep silent and suppress his love until it can be contained no longer. To sort through his conflicting feelings, Arthur writes about his love for Edward in a diary, which is passed down to his son Eli upon Arthur’s death. Saddest of all, Edward admits that he reciprocates Arthur’s love, but Arthur's fear and guilt and the Word of God stand in the way. Through many years and an astonishing number of ill-fated near misses, Arthur and Edward embark on disparate life journeys, following more conventional, expected paths at a great emotional and psychological cost.
And Then He Created the Night Sky by Alex McCann Johnson chronicles, in elegant prose, a forbidden love in an impossible place and time. It is through Eli’s sharing of the diary’s contents that the reader learns Arthur’s poignant and heartrending story. The author captures the essence of Arthur and Edward’s epic saga of love that transcends death in a rich, prosaic, and gently formal narrative appropriate to the period. It highlights with heart-wrenching clarity both the interior and exterior struggles Arthur and Edward face as they attempt to reconcile their doomed love with the values and expectations that have been handed down to them for generations. This novel is a profoundly emotional, thought-provoking examination of the human condition that will resonate deeply with the reader and linger in their memory long after the last page has been turned.
