Showing results by author "Lynn Austin" in All Categories

After a devastating loss, Hannah Wagner never imagined she’d leave her comfortable home for the harsh, unfamiliar wilderness near Lake Michigan. But when Henry Abernathy, a friend of her husband John, offers them a fresh start in a booming lumber town—where John’s skills as a doctor are sorely needed—Hannah reluctantly agrees. There, she meets Kate Abernathy, Henry’s spirited, much younger wife. Kate’s sharp tongue and outsider status have made her unwelcome among the town’s elite.

"Thank goodness you're such a plain child. You'll have to rely on your wits." So went the words of Grandma Bebe. And for all of my growing-up years, I scoffed at the beauty of my sister and what I saw as her meaningless existence. But my wits hadn't served me well in this instance, for here I was, in jail. And while I could have seen it as carrying on the family tradition (Grandma Bebe landed in jail for her support of Prohibition), the truth is, my reasons for being here would probably break her heart."

The year is 1901, and the hustle and bustle of the holidays is descending on New York's Fifth Avenue. For the first time in her privileged life, Adelaide Forsythe couldn’t be happier about the prospect of a quiet Christmas. That’s not to say her transition from Missto Mrs. has been without challenge. Though she doesn’t regret marrying for love instead of wealth, she feels woefully unprepared to run her own household. Then, on the first Sunday of Advent, winter winds bring surprising change, first through a young orphan boy and then a seasoned housekeeper who seems too good to be true.

Is there a secret terrible enough that it should never be revealed, not even if it was tearing a family apart? For more than five decades, Emma Bauer has kept one - carefully guarding it with all her strength, and for more than five decades, that choice has haunted her life and also the lives of her daughters and granddaughter. Is it too late for wrongs to be righted? Does Emma even have the strength to let the healing power of truth work in her family?

While 20-year-old Harriet is behind bars, she reviews the history of her great-grandmother’s fight against slavery, her grandmother’s crusade against “demon rum,” and her mother’s struggle for women’s suffrage. Now she longs for the courage to leave her own legacy.

It seems a perfect backdrop for what Violet Hayes longs to experience: a little mystery, a little romance. To be honest, it is more than a little mystery. She schemed her way to Chicago to discover the mother she barely remembered. As for romance—well, with the help of her grandmother and three great aunts, that is coming along nicely as well—perhaps too well. Each of her relatives—including her saintly grandmother—seems to have a separate agenda for her.

Nothing in Abigail MacLeod's life as a wife, a mother, and a teacher has prepared her for what she will experience during her summer in Israel. At 42, her life is in chaos, even before she leaves home - her marriage is dissolving before her very eyes, and her faith is in shambles. This pilgrimage to Israel was supposed to be a new beginning for her. But by the end of the first day, she is forced to board an Israeli jetliner in spite of a bomb threat and watches helplessly as a kind, fatherly gentleman she befriended on the plane dies in her arms.

The second book in her Chronicles of the Kings series, Song of Redemption, is a retelling of the life of Hezekiah, King of Judah from 716 to 687 BC. After years of idolatry, Judah's temple has been cleansed and Hezekiah has brought God's law back to his people. But when he incurs the wrath of the barbaric Assyrians, he will need help from a surprising source.

Five-time Christy Award winner Lynn Austin is acclaimed as “one of the genre’s best historical fiction novelists” ( Library Journal). Set in Brooklyn, New York, during World War II, While We’re Far Apart is a brilliant blend of captivating characters, heart-tugging emotions, and vivid spiritual truths. While a motherless girl longs for her daddy and a young lady hopes for a second chance at love, this poignant tale explores the uncertainty that stalks the homefront as the “War to End All Wars” rages in Europe.

1950. In the wake of the war, Audrey Clarkson leaves her manor house in England for a fresh start in America with her young son. As a widowed war bride, Audrey needs the support of her American in-laws, whom she has never met. But she arrives to find that her longtime friend Eve Dawson has been impersonating her for the past four years. Unraveling this deception will force Audrey and Eve’s secrets - and the complicated history of their friendship - to the surface.

When news that the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire, Nehemiah, Jewish cupbearer to King Artaxerxes in Persia, seeks God's guidance. After fasting and prayer, he's given leave to travel to Jerusalem and rebuild the city wall, not anticipating all the dangers that await him on his arrival. The leaders of the surrounding nations become his fierce enemies, plotting to assassinate him and halt the work.

For fans of best-selling WWII fiction comes a powerful novel from Lynn Austin about three women whose lives are instantly changed when the Nazis invade the neutral Netherlands, forcing each into a complicated dance of choice and consequence.

Under the storm clouds of destruction that threaten America during the early 1940s, this unlikely gathering of women will experience life in sometimes starling new ways as their beliefs are challenged and they struggle toward a new understanding of what love and sacrifice truly mean.

In one life-changing moment, the lives of the Jewish exiles in Babylon are thrown into confusion and despair when a decree arrives from the king's palace in Susa. It calls for the annihilation of every Jewish man, woman, and child throughout the empire on the 13th day of Adar, in less than one year. Ezra, a quiet Jewish scholar and teacher, is suddenly called upon to lead the community as they seek God for a reason for this catastrophe.

Peggy Serrano couldn’t wait for her best friend to come home from the war. But the Jimmy Barnett who returns is much different from the Jimmy who left, changed so drastically by his experience as a medic in Europe that he can barely function. When he attempts the unthinkable, his parents check him into the VA hospital. Peggy determines to help the Barnetts unravel what might have happened to send their son over the edge. She starts by contacting Jimmy’s war buddies, trying to identify the mysterious woman in the photo they find in Jimmy’s belongings.

The opportunity to tour Israel came at a good time. For months, my life has been a mindless plodding through necessary routine, as monotonous as an all-night shift on an assembly line. Life gets that way sometimes, when nothing specific is wrong but the world around us seems drained of color. My weekly worship experiences and daily quiet times with God have felt as dry and stale as last year's crackers. I'm ashamed to confess the malaise I've felt. I have been given so much. Shouldn't a Christian's life be an abundant one, as exciting as Christmas morning, as joyful as Easter Sunday?

Best friends Audrey Barrett and Eve Dawson are looking forward to celebrating Christmas in postwar America, thrilled at the prospect of starting new traditions with their five-year-old sons. But when the 1951 Sears Christmas Wish Book arrives and the boys start obsessing over every toy in it, Audrey and Eve realize they must first teach them the true significance of the holiday. They begin by helping Bobby and Harry plan gifts of encouragement and service for those in their community, starting by walking an elderly neighbor’s yellow Lab.

Kitty, a house slave, has always obeyed Missy Claire and followed orders. But when word arrives that the Yankees are coming, Kitty is faced with a decision. Will she continue serving Missy Claire and her household? Or will she listen to Grady and embrace this chance for freedom? Even wise Delia says Kitty has to decide for herself—that nobody except the Lord can tell her which way to go.

While leading the exiled faithful into Egypt, Joshua's thirst for vengeance against the tyrannical King Manasseh threatens to consume his soul. Ultimately he must learn to forgive, placing his complete trust in God's will.

The king's sudden death leaves his son Manasseh as the new ruler. Overcome with sorrow, Manasseh is angry toward God and begins a reign of terror that shocks the kingdom. His own insecurity prompts the death of his closest advisors, dividing the faithful in two. Barely escaping the carnage, his best friend Joshua suffers the excruciating loss of his family and plans revenge.