Set your story dial to 17th-century England. Take one Anglican woman who longs to marry for love, but who has been abandoned at the altar and is being compelled to marry a man she doesn’t love. Add one Puritan widower who still mourns his late wife, but whose young sons need a mother. Blend these two in a marriage of convenience aboard a ship bound for the American Colonies. Season generously with wildly different expectations, family backgrounds, romantic histories, and theological worldviews, as well as the key ingredient of faith. Will the end result be yet another disaster of the heart, or the best thing that could have happened to either of them? To find out, read A Place in His Heart by Rebecca DeMarino.
The story is based on the author’s own ancestors, who came to Long Island in the mid-1600s to establish a new life. In the “Note from the Author,” Rebecca DeMarino explains, “My mother, Helen Jean Horton Worley, grew up listening to stories about her ancestor Barnabas Horton, and how he’d come across from England on a ship called The Swallow. But the details were obscure . . . . We discovered Barnabas was . . . a widower with two young sons when he married Mary and then sailed to New England. . . . . I wondered about Mary’s motivations and hopes and desires. Why did she marry this man with two young boys and follow him across an ocean, leaving family behind?” A Place in His Heart is the intriguing result of her diligent research and creative imagination.
A Place in His Heart (first in a series called The Southold Chronicles) is a compelling story set in a time period that seems fresh and not overdone in Christian fiction. From the opening chapter, the reader gets a vivid view (and earful, and sniff) of life in the 1600s that makes it easy to get caught up in the story world. Fiction lovers interested in that time period or the early settlement of the American Colonies will enjoy this book, as will fiction lovers looking for a good story about false starts, fresh beginnings, and the power of faith.
Special note:
From May 30 through June 16th, Rebecca DeMarino is hosting a giveaway with $250.00 in prizes! Open to anyone with a US shipping address. Visit Rebecca’s website for all the details.