Banished, the first installment in “The Long Road Home” trilogy, is set in the early twentieth century. Life for orphans, Obadiah “Oba” and Merriweather “May” Miller, is anything but easy. After losing their parents, they are sent to Arkansas to live with distant relations, Uncle Melvin and Aunt Gertrude “Gertie” Amstutz, on their cotton farm. From the moment Oba and May arrive, they realize just how cruel Melvin and Gertie really are.
Shadows of the White City
Jocelyn Green’s “Shadows of the White City,” book two in the “Windy City Saga,” is a historical Christian novel set in Chicago, in 1893, during the excitement of the World’s Fair. Sylvie Townsend is a generous and loving woman who has run the family bookstore and taken care of her ailing father for years. When a Polish immigrant approaches her with his young daughter, Rozalia “Rose” Dabrowski, she agrees to raise the girl as her own.
A Tapestry of Light
Ottilie Russell is a young woman of Indian and British descent living in British-occupied India. As the daughter of an Indian mother and British father, she doesn’t fully belong in either culture. She lives with her grandmother and brother, Thaddaeus, whom she supports through her embroidery work. She is skilled in beetle-wing embroidery, an old Indian art that she learned from her late mother.
Destined For You
Tracie Peterson is one of those authors who needs no preamble in the Christian historical fiction world. I have had the pleasure of reading her books before. So, when I saw her latest novel, Destined for You, I eagerly decided to give it a try.
A Patchwork Past
Sophie Deiner, an ex-Amish woman and daughter of a prominent bishop, returns to Nappanee, Indiana, when she is ill. She isn’t particularly enthused to be back in her old neighborhood, and many Amish seem to ignore her, including her mother. Her parents request that she wear her old Amish dresses while staying there, even if it is a temporary arrangement.
Bathsheba
Bathsheba is an ill-fated biblical figure who has always fascinated me. When I happened upon Angela Hunt’s “Bathsheba: Reluctant Beauty,” I was immediately intrigued and decided to give it a try.
Naomi’s Gift
Amy Clipston’s Naomi’s Gift is the story of a spirited young Naomi King, an Amish woman who has been jilted in love a few times. Having had a few bachelors, neighbors begin to whisper that she is shameless. Everything changes when she meets widower Caleb Schmucker who lost his wife two years prior and lives with his endearing daughter Susie. Susie immediately takes a liking to Naomi and, in time, Caleb does as well.