This column was submitted by Evangeline Cessna, Local History Librarian at the Warren County – Vicksburg Public Library.

This week’s column features Christian Fiction from our New Large Print collection.

First, we have The Love Note by Joanna Davidson Politano. Willa Duvall’s career path in medicine is thrown a bit off course when she discovers an unopened love letter in a crack of her writing desk in the summer of 1865. Her curiosity gets the better of her and she feels the need to find the passionate soul who penned the letter and the person who never received it. To that end, she takes a position as a nurse at the seaside estate of Crestwicke Manor. All those at Crestwicke have feelings about the man who wrote the letter—and the majority are negative ones—although she seems to have disappeared. Willa’s search is thrown for a loop when she misplaces the letter, and it passes from person to person in the manor—each one finds either a thrilling or disheartening message in its words.

The third book in Elizabeth Musser’s The Swan House Series is called The Promised Land. Abbie Jowett feels a crushing loss when her husband of twenty years decides to leave her. In order to mend her marriage and herself, Abbie follows her son Bobby to France. There she decides to walk the famed Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. They make the journey with an Iranian woman named Rasa who is secretly helping other refugees, and Caroline, who is a journalist studying the pilgrims on the Camino while dealing with her own broken past. Each pilgrim has their own reasons and motivations for walking the Camino, but each will experience the sensation of being stripped bare and drawn to the deep soul-searching the pilgrimage is known for. Even the best laid plans fall by the wayside of the Camino de Santiago.

Author Amand Cox delivers a heart wrenching story with The Edge of Belonging. Ivy Rose must return to her hometown to oversee her grandmother’s estate sale. The old woman left behind more than trinkets and photo frames, however, she has also provided a path for Ivy to follow regarding Ivy’s adoption. In shock, but extremely curious, Ivy seeks the clues to her past, but there is still a key piece missing from the mystery. Twenty-four-years earlier, Harvey James finds an abandoned newborn. It is the first time he has every had a sense of human connection, but his desire to care for the baby is contrary to the fact that he is homeless. Harvey’s path crosses with two people who want to help him find his way, but he knows that he must keep the baby a secret or risk losing the only person he’s ever loved.

There are four stories in Amy Clipston’s An Amish Singing. The first story—Hymn of Praise—sees the relationship between long-time best friends Sharon and Jay evolve into something more. In Amazing Grace, Dave is wallowing in his grief and guilt after a tragedy but joining a singing group may help him learn how to forgive himself. In Great is Thy Faithfulness, Darlene can’t understand why God has allowed her mother to suffer with cancer, so she seeks strength and love in her new singing group. Finally, in O Holy Night, Elaine worries she will never be able to trust again after painful events in her previous town have left her insecure, but the new friendships she forms may just allow her to love again.

Tracie Peterson and Kimberley Woodhouse deliver another novel from their Treasures of Nome series called Endless Mercy. Madyson Powell is known for her forgiving nature, but when her supposedly dead father shows up in Nome, Alaska, her gift is put to the test. Madysen is restless and dreams of performing her music around the world. The arrival of a traveling show proves to be the very chance she needs, and its manager offers more than she ever believed possible. When Daniel Beaufort arrives in Nome, he is searching for answers after the gold rush has left him with empty pockets. He has to take a job at the Powell dairy making cheese and finds himself drawn to the redhead with big dreams. Will lies from his past tear apart his hope for the future?

The third book in Jan Drexler’s The Amish of Weaver’s Creek series is called Softly Blows the Bugle. Elizabeth Kaufman receives news that her husband has been killed at Vicksburg in 1863. All she can feel is relief and she becomes determined that she will never be at the mercy of any man again. Two years later, Elizabeth’s brother brings home with Aaron Zook. Aaron’s grandfather had long ago rejected his Amish way of life, but Aaron finds its simplicity and sense of community enticing. He also happens to be fixated on a certain widow which complicates things a bit. Aaron soon finds that he may have left the battlefield behind, but there is a new fight he is determined to win—the one for the heart of the woman he loves.