Shortbread in the Highlands | A Story of Longing And Letting Go

I have been absolutely loving Robin Jones Gunn’s Suitcase Sisters series and book three did not disappoint! Shortbread in the Highlands was full of laughable moments, deep heart-to-heart conversations, and valuable life lessons in releasing control and trusting God’s plan.

Main Themes

When Nora and Allie’s grandmother sends them to Scotland to claim an inheritance, the trip is a massive disruption to their carefully ordered and controlled lives. And when they keep running into delays and setbacks, the trip becomes less about reclaiming their grandmother’s belongings and more about reevaluating their own lives.

Allie is on the trip of a lifetime, but can’t stop worrying about work back at home. Nora feels a deep connection to Scotland but doesn’t want to risk letting go of everything she holds so close to her heart. Both women have unfulfilled longings that the wild and beautiful landscape stirs up and trusting God’s timing becomes more difficult. The themes of longing and letting go resonate throughout the story as Nora and Allie slowly relax, learn to trust, and surrender their dreams.

Other themes include taking risks, trusting God to provide, letting go of greed and selfish ambition, and finding home. The Scottish sayings and fun facts about Scotland’s history scattered throughout the novel were so much fun and made me want to travel to all the places Gunn wrote about. I’m so excited to experiment with the shortbread recipes included in the back of the book!

Faith Elements

This is a beautifully Christian novel. Nora especially takes time during the trip to pray intentional prayers, spend precious moments in quiet time with God, and seek his will for her life, even when it scares her and doesn’t make sense. She finds that there is peace and joy in stepping forward in obedience.

Family Friendly Considerations

This is an incredibly clean novel. Absolutely zero complaints! It’s a wonderful book for readers of all ages.

Interested in Similar Reads?

If you enjoy heart-to-heart women’s fiction with deep themes of finding purpose, second chances at life, and trusting God to bring order to the chaos, you’ll want to read these novels as well:

• Letting Go of Perfect by Melissa Alyse
• Brighter than Before by Courtney Walsh
• Twenty Something Else by Stephanie Mack
• Handle with Care by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen