Tendering in the Storm Book

In Book Two of the Change and Cherish series, Emma Giesy is married and the mother of two. She's strong-willed and smart. Despite the odds, she and her husband branch off from a religious community of the 1850s to work and live independently in the remote coastal forest of the Washington Territory, surrounded by her husband's family rather than the influence of the Autocratic German leader who has taken the main colony into Oregon. But, when Emma finds herself alone, pregnant with her third child, and without the support of her family, she wonders if God has abandoned her. The choices she makes to survive have grave consequences for her family until, while she's falling, she reaches out to accept the hands of help.

Publishers Weekly

Based on true events, this second book in the Change and Cherish Historical Series continues the saga of the feisty Emma Giesy, a member of the Missouri Bethelites, a repressive German religious colony. Set against the backdrop of Willapa Bay of the Washington Territory coast in 1856-1861, Emma and her husband, Christian, formerly a prominent leader in the community, carve out their own independent existence. Tragedy strikes, and alone and pregnant, Emma finds that her decision to ensure independence for her little family may cost her everything she holds dear. The repressive religious community is cast in a far more favorable light than in book one, and some series readers may find it challenging to undo their initial impressions. The character of Jack Giesy also undergoes a speedy personality change, which is difficult to assimilate. The best revelations come as the reader relates to Emma's conflicts: a longing for security, a fierce quest for independence, a desire to express herself artistically and a hardscrabble existence that gives her energy only to care for herself and her children. Kirkpatrick's able prose and attention to historical detail help smooth any story line trouble spots. (Apr. 17) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.