Forgiveness and reconciliation can be difficult topics, and you include them as core themes of the novel. What do you hope your reader will learn from this?
Forgiveness is something I so often look at on the surface and think, No big deal, easy-peasy. Then, when it comes time to put it into practice when someone has really and truly hurt me—well, not so easy. And what about when we have to forgive someone who isn’t even sorry for what they’ve done?
My characters all face these dilemmas. What they are asked to forgive is monumental. I can hardly begin to fathom it, but I think, in some ways, as I walked this journey with them, they helped me better understand the real meaning of mercy, and the extent of grace that Jesus has given us.
What led you to choose the title The Hidden Side?
The working title for this manuscript was Hidden Mercy. I’m so thankful for my amazing editors at Tyndale who brainstormed the stronger title of The Hidden Side. I think it really conveys the struggle of both contemporary and historical characters, as well as the fact that there is a hidden side of God’s Kingdom as well—one we can’t see fully right now, but one that is nevertheless real and at work in our lives.
What are some future projects you’re working on?
Right now, I’m finishing up some research for my third book with Tyndale, scheduled to release in 2020. We’ll be back in revolutionary and contemporary Boston for that, so I’m excited!
I’m also busy preparing some speaking engagements, as well as revising another time-slip story set to release next year. A lot to work on, but I’m loving every minute of it!
Visit Heidi Chiavaroli’s author page:
https://www.familyfiction.com/authors/heidi-chiavaroli
The Hidden Side
Heidi Chiavaroli
Tyndale House
New York, 2016
Natalie Abbott offers answers for hurting listeners on her popular radio program. But she struggles to connect with her teenagers, with her daughter in an unhealthy relationship and her son uncommunicative and isolated. When one member of the family commits an unspeakable act, Natalie is forced to uncover who she truly is under the façade of her radio persona.
New York, 1776
Mercy Howard is shocked when her fiancé, Nathan Hale, is arrested and hanged as a spy. When she’s asked to join the revolutionary spy ring in Manhattan, she sees an opportunity to avenge Nathan’s death. But keeping her true loyalties hidden grows increasingly harder as the charming Major John Andre of the King’s Army becomes more to her than a target for intelligence.
Mercy’s journals comfort Natalie from across the centuries as both women struggle with their own secrets and shame, wondering how deep God’s mercy extends.