In the dead-end Canadian town of Bleak Landing, twelve-year-old Irish immigrant Bridget O'Sullivan lives in a ramshackle house and dreams of another life, even as the Great Depression rages. Routinely beaten by her father and bullied by schoolmate Victor Harrison, the waifish yet fiery redhead vows to run away and never return. Just a few short years later, run she does-fleeing the unspeakable repercussions of her father's gambling. In Winnipeg, Bridget lands a job at a garment factory, the first step on her journey to shed her past and begin anew.
When her father dies, Bridget-now a striking and accomplished woman-returns home to claim her inheritance. But she has no identification to prove her stake, and no one in town recognizes her-except Victor, who has become a pastor and a candidate for town mayor. Though war has wounded him, his secret affection for Bridget remains, and now he's the only one who can help her prove her integrity. But can he also prove he's a changed man worthy of her forgiveness?
As Victor preaches of freedom in faith, will his words spark Bridget's once-hopeless heart and lead her to the life she's been seeking?
In 1942, telegrams always bring life-altering and tragic news in a war-hardened world-and the one Maggie Marshall receives is no different. But running a restaurant with the help of only pregnant, unwed girls has taught her to be tough. Maggie's no weeping widow, but Charlotte Penfield thinks she's the most unfeeling woman on earth. Seventeen, exiled by her wealthy parents, and working in the restaurant, fanciful Charlotte runs away with romantic notions of a reunion with her baby's father at his military camp. It has been years since Maggie darkened the church door of her pastor and childhood friend, Reverend Reuben Fennel, and his heart breaks for the hardened woman Maggie's become. When she seeks his help to find Charlotte, he's happy to aid her in the chase-though it may cost him his job and reputation. Over the miles from Winnipeg to Fort William, Reuben and Maggie's journey rekindles their affection-and their dreams of what they still could be. But Maggie stubbornly clings to her independent ways until she's dealt another devastating loss, one that forces her to recognize that heroes can be discovered in unlikely places and love may be far sweeter than she ever dared imagine.
It's 1939, and Canada is on the cusp of entering World War II. Seventeen-year-old farm girl Cornelia has been heartbroken since the day her mother died five years ago. As a new tragedy provides Cornelia still more reason to reject her parents' faith, a mysterious visitor appears in her hour of hopelessness. Alone and carrying a heavy secret, she makes a desperate choice that will haunt her for years to come. Never telling a soul, Cornelia pours out the painful events of the war in her diary.
Many decades later, Cornelia's granddaughter, Benita, is in the midst of her own crisis, experiencing several losses in the same week, including her job and the grandmother she adored. The resulting emotional and financial stress takes its toll on her and her husband, Ken, who is unemployed. On the brink of divorce, she discovers Cornelia's diary. Now the secrets of her grandmother's past will lead Benita on an unexpected journey of healing, reunion, and faith.
