First Line Friday — My Mother’s Chamomile

I had a wonderful weekend exploring historic sites, making new friends, and fan-girling over some of my very favorite authors as I joined Jocelyn Green on her Windy City Saga Tour. Chicago was beautiful! If you ever have the opportunity to be a literary tourist, I highly recommend it. It is a book nerd’s dream. 😉

Susie Finkbeiner and I have been book friends for ages, but had never met in person . . . until last weekend. Susie was a featured author at the Novel-Tea held at the historic Palmer House. I was thrilled to finally get to talk to her in person. Yes, I probably gushed. I also bought books. Big surprise! One was one of the few books I have not read by Susie — My Mother’s Chamomile. I can’t wait to dig in!

Here’s the first line:

Curly, carrot red hair bobbed up and down among the green and purple, yellow and pink of the garden.

Desperate for the rains of mercy…

Middle Main, Michigan has one stop light, one bakery, one hair salon…and one funeral home. The Eliot Family has assisted the grieving people in their town for over fifty years. After all those years of comforting others, they are the ones in need of mercy.

Olga, the matriarch who fixes everything, is unable to cure what ails her precious daughter. She is forced to face her worst fears. How can she possibly trust God with Gretchen’s life?

A third generation mortician, Evelyn is tired of the isolation that comes with the territory of her unconventional occupation. Just when it seems she’s met a man who understands her, she must deal with her mother’s heartbreaking news. Always able to calm others and say just the right thing, she is now overwhelmed with helplessness as she watches Gretchen slip away.

They are tasting only the drought of tragedy…where is the deluge of comfort God promises?

Tags: general fiction, Susie Finkbeiner, women's fiction