Popular Christian pastor and author, Timothy Keller, recently announced he has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

The prolific author of books such as The Reason for God and The Prodigal Prophet shared the following words with his community on June 7th:

Less than 3 weeks ago I didn’t know I had cancer. Today I’m headed to the National Cancer Institute at the NIH for additional testing before beginning chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer next week back in New York City. 

I feel great and have no symptoms. It was what doctors call an “incidental pickup,” otherwise known as providential intervention. I have terrific human doctors, but most importantly I have the Great Physician himself caring for me. Though we have had times of shock and fear, God has been remarkably present with me through all the many tests, biopsies, and surgery of the past few weeks. 

The team here at Christianbook – like many of you around the world – are praying for Keller and his family at this difficult time. As Keller continues in his post:

If you are willing to pray for me, here are things to pray for:

For God to use medical means or his direct intervention to make the cancer regress to the point of vanishing. 

For Kathy and me, that we use this opportunity to be weaned from the joys of this world and to desire God’s presence above all. 

For my family to be comforted and encouraged. 

For the side effects of treatment to allow me to continue writing and speaking. 

Running the race set before me with joy, because Jesus ran an infinitely harder race, with joy, for me. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

– Tim

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Did you love Valerie Fraser Luesse’s debut novel, Missing Isaac? If so, you’re in for a real treat! The author has now returned with new book, Almost Home. The latest read is also set in the South, this time during the start of World War II.

Readers will transported back in time and experience, through the character’s eyes, what life was like during that tumultuous period. It’s a book that will grip you from start to finish – you’ll surely be left wanting more from this incredibly talented author!

You can order your copy of Almost Home by clicking here!

Q: Your beautiful gift of storytelling was first introduced to readers in your debut novel, Missing Isaac. In Almost Home, you transport readers back to the South in a wonderful tale that is set during the start of World War II. Why did you select this time period?

A: I grew up hearing stories about the Great Depression and World War II because they deeply affected my family – as they affected all families back then. My mother had one brother who was training as a Navy pilot when the war ended and another who saw combat on Okinawa. When he came home, he used his Army pay to install indoor plumbing in his mother’s house, when I spent my childhood.

Both of my parents were children in the 1940s. I’ve heard my dad talk about scavenging for tinfoil because you could get into the movie theaters in Birmingham with a big ball of it, as theaters collected it for the military. I think the war years are fascinating because they were so elemental. There was too much at stake for people to get distracted by things that didn’t matter.

Q: The South was very integral to the war efforts. Can you explain what you have learned about this in your research?

A: Because land was cheap and plentiful here, and there was an eager workforce of people still struggling to pull themselves out of the Depression, the South made a perfect wartime factory for the military. There were shipyards on the coast and munitions plant that later became part of the paper mill where my dad worked in Childersburg, Alabama. With so many people moving to the South to work, there was no place for them to stay, so Southern families rented out rooms in their homes. I had great-aunts and great-uncles who took in boarders during the war. Alabama actually had POW camps housing German prisoners. From what I’ve read, America’s approach was to treat those captives well in the hopes that Germany would reciprocate. Some German POWs reportedly came back to visit Alabama after the war. It was an amazing time that brought together all sorts of people.

One of my Southern Living friends recommended Allen Cronenberg’s Forth to the Mighty Conflict: Alabama and World War II, which was very helpful. And I was completely mesmerized by a fellow Alabamian, the late Eugene B, Sledge, whose book With the Old Breed: At Pelileu and Okinawa should be required reading for anybody who thinks war is grand and glorious.

Q: With so many families moving to the South for jobs, this created a need for housing. In Almost Home, Dolly Chandler turns her own family home into a boardinghouse that attracts an interesting cast of characters. Can you touch upon some of the characters in Almost Home?

A: They’re a colorful bunch! Dolly and her husband, Si, have such a strong and loving relationship that their boarders initially have no idea what struggles and heartbreak they’ve weathered together. Jesse and Anna Williams are a young Illinois couple whose failing farm has driven them south. Jesse’s wounded pride has made him push away the person he loves most, his wife. Joe Dolphus is a sixty-something widower from Mississippi whose kindness and wry wit make him a favorite at Dolly’s. The Clanahans are an obnoxious couple from Reno – they’re trouble. Harry and Evelyn Hastings are out-of-work college professors from Chicago, who take to the South and the people of Dolly’s house.

And then there’s Reed Ingram, a young vet who grew up on the old loop with Dolly and Si and hopes that this place he loves will help heal his war wounds. Finally, Daisy Dupree is a young war widow who boards with Dolly’s neighbor. She is riddled with survivor’s guilt but finds absolution through her friendship with Anna and her relationship with Reed. There’s one more couple – Catherine, the minister’s daughter, and Andre, the river pirate – who were the first owners of Dolly’s house one hundred year’s ago. We meet them and unravel their secrets through journals that Anna and Daisy discover.

Q: Do you have a favorite character that you really resonated with?

A: Definitely Daisy. The book is dedicated to my late friend Melissa Caine. We became what I call sister-friends in college and remained close until she died of cancer when we were both thirty-two. I basically took everything I loved about Missey and poured it into Daisy. Other than her artistic talent, nothing in the book is based on my friend’s actual life because that would have been an invasion of her privacy and her family’s. But the qualities that make Daisy endearing are inspired by Missey, and the friendship between Anna and Daisy mirrors the relationship I enjoyed with my friend.

Q: Almost Home has an unexpected twist. What was the inspiration behind your creative plot?

A: A Grimm fairy tale I read in second grade! It was called The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and I’ve loved the idea of hidden spaces and secret passageways ever since.

Q: Almost Home celebrates sisterhood and women’s ability to connect and cheer each other on through both good and difficult times. Have you learned anything more about community and resilience as you wrote about women during this time period?

A: I think so many good things in life depend upon our willingness to be open – to new experiences, new relationships, new places… When we’re thrown into challenging circumstances and we can’t understand why, sometimes we just have to take a deep breath, keep an open mind, and see where God might be leading us. Also, we can’t let pride and fear get in the way of reaching out when we need help. Just admitting that we’re struggling is so hard sometimes, but nothing brings people closer together than helping each other the way the women of Dolly’s house rally together.

Q: What do you hope readers gain from reading Almost Home?

A: I’ve always loved that Dolly Parton line from Steel Magnolias: “Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion”. I’m with Dolly. I want readers to fall in love with these characters, to hurt for them, laugh with them, take them to heart. I want them to get so caught up in the story that they’ll forget the war’s over. And I want them to see that the hardest person to forgive is always yourself.

Q: What’s next on your writing to-do list?

A: A while ago I started a sequel to Missing Isaac. Have you ever hear the expression “coming up a cloud”? It means a storm is coming. Pete and Dovey will be heading down to the Gulf Coast for a second honeymoon and get caught up in Hurricane Camille, leaving their newlywed parents to search for them in a time and place with no GPS, cell phones, or internet. so, while Missing Isaac brought these couples together, the sequel will explore how they weather storms, literally and figuratively.

I would also like to write a prequel to Almost Home, focusing on the river pirate and his young bride and their life in the Florida Keys.

Then there’s the World War II story on the Outer Banks. And a story set in the Louisiana bayous…

The great thing about working for Southern Living is that the magazine has taken me to so many fascinating places. Now I get to take characters and readers there.

Follow Valarie Fraser Luesse on Facebook 

You can order your copy of Almost Home by clicking here!

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In 1911, Carrie Strahorn wrote a memoir entitled Fifteen Thousand Miles by Stage. In this memoir, Strahorn detailed the events that occurred during her 25 years of traveling and shaping the American West with her husband, Robert, a railroad promoter, investor, and writer.

Everything She Didn’t Say, the latest book from Jane Kirkpatrick imagines Carrie nearly ten years later as she decides to write down what was really on her mind during those adventurous nomadic years. It’s a riveting read that will sweep readers off to another time in history and into the mind of Carrie Strahorn.

Kirkpatrick’s writing is masterful, drawing out the emotions of living – the laughter and pain, the love and loss – to give readers a window not only into the past, but into their own hearts.

Jane Kirkpatrick answered some questions about her latest read – the inspiration behind it, the true story of Carrie Strahorn, and just what is next for the author. Here is what she had to say…

Everything She Didn’t Say is now available for purchase, click here.

Q: What did you first learn about Carrie Strahorn?

A: A fan of my work told me about her memoir. She thought Carrie would make a great subject. I suggested that my reader write that story! She claimed she was no writer, just a reader, but she loaned me her copies of Carrie’s memoir. I found my own copies after that, and a few years after that, Carrie was on my mind all the time!

Q: What motivated you to write about her life?

A: When I read Carrie’s memoir, Fifteen Thousand Miles by Stage 1877-80 and 1880-98 (two volumes!), it read more like a travelogue than a memoir. I kept asking myself what she was leaving out, what wasn’t she telling us? She gave a few clues, like her saying she didn’t want her husband to see her tears when he showed her the desert landscape that he hoped they’d turn into town one day. But she didn’t share any epiphanies of wisdom about how she made it through the tears or why she didn’t want him to know of her true emotions. That made me want to explore their relationship more. Lots of competent women are married to competent men, and that’s always an intriguing study in relationships.

Q: What type of research was required for writing Everything She Didn’t Say?

A: I used a variety of sources. Census records, newspaper accounts that mostly followed Robert Strahorn’s travel but often mentioned Carrie, a book written about the two of them as literary people in the West (Carrie also wrote, though Robert was the better-known author), copies of railroad material, irrigation company histories in towns the Strahorns founded (really exciting reading!), information about the founding of towns and her role in establishing a Presbyterian church in Idaho, and Robert’s own memoir written when he was ninety. But the majority of research was reading and rereading Carrie’s memoir and asking myself what had she left out? Incidentally, Robert only devoted three sentences to Carrie in his memoir, but her two volumes are filled with Robert, or “Pard” as she called him.

Q: Although Carrie experienced some amazing adventures in her twenty-five years of travel by stage coach, there is also a good chance that she experienced pain, disappointment, and loneliness, and learned valuable lessons of what home truly looks like. Can you briefly expand upon some of these life lessons?

A: She found respite in her music, I think – she was a trained singer who would join choirs in little towns in Wyoming or Montana. She learned how important music can be to heal our spirits. She stayed in her “happy lane” so she always put the best spin on events, looked for the light in the midst of darkness. She had a great sense of humor. Making friends was difficult because they traveled so much, but she learned that she had to make an extra effort to have those long-term relationships work. Family became incredibly important to her. They tried to travel back to Marengo, Illinois, for Christmas each year using their railroad passes, and she brought her sisters would take side trips. She loved the western landscape and it gave her nurture. She probably learned that “family” comes from the Latin word famaulus, meaning servant to her husband’s work and health concerns. Perhaps most importantly, her faith was essential to her enduring the disappointments and pain. The life lesson of having a purpose that serves others was very meaningful to her too.

Q: In addition to Carrie, did you have another character in your story that you truly resonated with?

A: You’ll think this is weird, but when she got her dog, Argos, I loved him. In her memoir she said that her father sent her the wolfhound to keep her safe from tramps along the railroad line that often knocked on their door when they lived a few years in Caldwell, Idaho, a town they founded. But the dog loved tramps! Later she got the breed she loved the most, an English bulldog she named Daisy. Because she was a musician, I had her train the dogs to lie down by using the command “B-flat”. I also loved her sisters, Hattie (a doctor, wife, and mother) and Mary (a wife, mother, and journalist) who gave her such support.

Q: What do you hope readers gain from reading Everything She Didn’t Say?

A: I hope they’ll be inspired by this woman who kept going despite the disappointments and that they’ll see that relationships of all kinds take accommodation, acceptance of what it, and finding grace along the way.

Q: What’s next on your writing to-do list?

A: I’m deep in the throes of a story I discovered in a footnote that said in the winter of 1843, eight women, several children, and one man waited for rescue in the high Sierra mountains for several months. I wondered who they were, how it happened they were there, and did they survive? It was the year before the infamous Donner party tragedy, and they were in the same mountain pass. Stories like that just intrigue me.

Everything She Didn’t Say is now available for purchase, click here.

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