The latest novel from Lynn Austin, Waves of Mercy (Bethany House), is a multi-generational epic that returns her to the tradition of American-based bestsellers like Though Waters Roar, Until We Reach Home, and While We’re Far Apart. In the book, the Christy Award Hall-of-Famer explores the lives, faith, and loves of Dutch immigrants as they establish the town of Holland, Michigan.
Also an author of biblical fiction, Austin says that writing original historical fiction gives her more room to discover the story. “I have much more leeway when writing non-biblical historical fiction,” she says, “because my characters and plot events are products of my imagination. I begin with a brief timeline of historical events that I’ve developed during my research, then create my characters and plot as I go along. I often have only a vague idea of what will happen next and how the story will end as I’m writing it.”
About the book: Geesje de Jonge crossed the ocean at age seventeen with her parents and a small group of immigrants from the Netherlands to settle in the Michigan wilderness. Fifty years later, in 1897, she’s asked to write a memoir of her early experiences as the town celebrates its anniversary. Reluctant at first, she soon uncovers memories and emotions hidden all these years, including the story of her one true love. At the nearby Hotel Ottawa Resort on the shore of Lake Michigan, twenty-three-year-old Anna Nicholson is trying to ease the pain of a broken engagement to a wealthy Chicago banker. But her time of introspection is disturbed after a violent storm aboard a steamship stirs up memories of a childhood nightmare. As more memories and dreams surface, Anna begins to question who she is and whether she wants to return to her wealthy life in Chicago. When she befriends a young seminary student who is working at the hotel for the summer, she finds herself asking him all the questions that have been troubling her. Neither Geesje nor Anna, who are different in every possible way, can foresee the life-altering surprises awaiting them before the summer ends.
At the nearby Hotel Ottawa Resort on the shore of Lake Michigan, twenty-three-year-old Anna Nicholson is trying to ease the pain of a broken engagement to a wealthy Chicago banker. But her time of introspection is disturbed after a violent storm aboard a steamship stirs up memories of a childhood nightmare. As more memories and dreams surface, Anna begins to question who she is and whether she wants to return to her wealthy life in Chicago. When she befriends a young seminary student who is working at the hotel for the summer, she finds herself asking him all the questions that have been troubling her. Neither Geesje nor Anna, who are different in every possible way, can foresee the life-altering surprises awaiting them before the summer ends.
Neither Geesje nor Anna, who are different in every possible way, can foresee the life-altering surprises awaiting them before the summer ends…