At the Church of Fire and Brimstone and Gods Almighty Baptizing Wind, Grandpa Herman makes the rules for everyone, and everyone obeys, or else. Try as she might, Ninah hasn't succeeded in resisting temptation her prayer partner, James and finds herself pregnant. She fears the wrath of Grandpa Herman, the congregation and of God Himself. But the events that follow show Ninah that Gods ways are more mysterious than even Grandpa Herman understands.
A fictional portrait of post-Civil War America ranges from Reconstruction-era Richmond, to the trading floors of Wall Street, to the Great Plains, where an arrogant George Custer faces a fateful confrontation with Sitting Bull.
Katie Ann lost the love of her life. Then God offers her a new beginning in Colorado. Katie Ann Stolzfus lives in the small Amish community of Canaan, Colorado. At forty she is widowed and raising her first child. But baby Jonas will never know his father, and Katie Ann wonders if her Heavenly Father hasn't forgotten about her as well. Is it really God's plan for her to be a single parent? Eli Detweiler has come to Canaan for a wedding and a long vacation. Having raised six children following the death of his young wife, Eli is finally an empty-nester. He's enjoying the slower pace of having no one to care for but himself. When Katie Ann and Eli meet, there is an instant connection. Yet as strong as the attraction is, they both acknowledge that a romance would never work. He is done parenting, while she has just begun. But as their friendship slowly blossoms into feelings that are as frightening as they are intoxicating, Katie Ann and Eli question if the plans they made for themselves are in line with God's plans. Can Katie Ann entrust her heart to another man, and rediscover the wonder of God's love?
Get to know the lovable cast of characters that populate the small town of Mitford in this inspirational novel in Jan Karon's #1 New York Times bestselling series. Millions of readers have come home to Mitford, the little town with the big heart, whose endearing and eccentric residents have become like family members. But now change is coming to the hamlet. Father Tim, the Episcopal rector, and his wife, Cynthia, are pondering retirement; a brash new mayoral candidate is calling for aggressive development; a suspicious realtor with plans for a health spa is eyeing the beloved house on the hill; and, worst of all, the Sweet Stuff Bakery may be closing. Meanwhile, ordinary people are leading the extraordinary lives that hundreds of thousands of readers have found so inviting and inspiring.
What would cause the Amish to move to Colorado, leaving family and friends behind? Some Amish are making the trek to Colorado for cheaper land. Others are fleeing strict bishops with long memories. For Emily Detweiler and her family, the move is more personal. Tragedy struck Emily in Ohio, shaking loose everything she believed was firm, including her faith. Her family took the bold step of leaving Ohio to resettle in a small Amish community in Canaan, Colorado, where they hope the distance will help erase painful memories. David Stoltzfus's family moved to Colorado for reasons he doesn't understand. But Canaan is turning out to be something other than the promised land they all anticipated. Fearing that a health condition will cut his life short, David plans to return home to Paradise, Pennsylvania, as soon as he can. But then he meets Emily, who stirs feelings in his heart despite his apprehension about the future. Emily's growing love for David surprises her, but she fears that he will find out the truth about her past and reject her. But what if the truth is that they are made for each other? And that God longs to give them the desires of their hearts if only they will seek Him first?
Longlisted for the Booker Prize, a mesmerizing new novel from the award-winning author of Old God's Time A first-person narrative of Lilly Bere’s life, On Canaan’s Side opens as the eighty-five-year-old Irish émigré mourns the loss of her grandson, Bill. Lilly, the daughter of a Dublin policeman, revisits her eventful past, going back to the moment she was forced to flee Ireland at the end of the First World War. She continues her tale in America, where—far from her family—she first tastes the sweetness of love and the bitterness of betrayal. Spanning nearly seven decades, Sebastian Barry’s extraordinary fifth novel explores memory, war, family ties, love, and loss, distilling the complexity and beauty of life into his haunting prose.
An unplanned pregnancy. An absent father. Can love really endure all things? Danielle Kent is anything but Amish. But as destiny would have it, she has fallen in love with an Amish man. Now she’s 18, pregnant, and hopeful that the child’s Amish father—Matthew Lapp—will do the right thing and marry her. She knows Matthew plans to leave his Colorado settlement for a life in the Englisch world. But that plan never included a baby. When Matthew walks away from her and their unborn child, she has nowhere to turn. Her unlikely friendship with Levi offers some comfort—yet they have so little in common. This wasn’t the plan she had for her life, and she has never felt so alone. She doesn’t want to be pregnant. Doesn’t want to be Amish. Doesn’t want to trust God. And yet. God has plans beyond what her mind can imagine . . . loving plans to show a lost young woman that His love never fails but endures forever. “Wiseman is among the best at writing moving Amish fiction.” —Booklist review of The Wonder of His Love
Drawing on a wide range of major literary voices, including Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, and Toni Morrison, as well as lesser-known writers such as William Attaway (Blood on the Forge) and Dorothy West (The Living Is Easy), Rodgers conducts a kind of literary archaeology of the Great Migration. He mines the writers' biographical connections to migration and teases apart the ways in which individual novels relate to one another, to the historical situation of black America, and to African-American literature as a whole. In reading migration novels in relation to African-American literary texts such as slave narratives, folk tales, and urban fiction, Rodgers affirms the southern folk roots of African-American culture and argues for a need to stem the erosion of southern memory.
“Well written, moving . . . stimulating,” this account of racially unified abolitionism “could provide the occasion for a constructive national conversation” (New York Times). The civil war brought to a climax the country's bitter division. But the beginnings of slavery's denouement can be traced to a courageous band of ordinary Americans, black and white, slave and free, who joined forces to create what would come to be known as the Underground Railroad, a movement that occupies a romantic a place in the nation's imagination. The true story of the Underground Railroad is much more morally complex and politically divisive than even the myths suggest. Against a backdrop of the country's westward expansion arose a fierce clash of values that was nothing less than a war for the country's soul. Not since the American Revolution had the country engaged in an act of such vast and profound civil disobedience that not only challenged prevailing mores but also subverted federal law. Bound for Canaan tells the stories of men and women who risked their lives to build the Underground Railroad. Interweaving thrilling personal stories with the politics of slavery and abolition, Bound for Canaan shows how the Underground Railroad gave birth to this country's first racially integrated, religiously inspired movement for social change. “Utterly compelling.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review “[An] engrossing account.” —The New Yorker “Blending historical imagination with a novelist's sense of character, Bordewich...brings to life . . . Americans who defied popular opinion and the authority of the federal government to combat . . . a fundamental moral evil.” —Washington Post “Excellent . . . as close to a definitive history as we’re likely to see.” —Wall Street Journal “A profoundly American tale.” —USA Today
What does it mean to be popular? Is it a mark of good character, or merely a sign that you're well-regarded among an influential group of elites? The hero in Booth Tarkington's tale The Conquest of Canaan has achieved a strange kind of popularity -- he's seen as a prince among those who are down on their luck, but to the upper classes and the powerful, he might as well be invisible. Will Joe Loudon be able to channel his limited influence to make some much-needed changes in his community?
