In this powerful first novel from Bartels (after story collection This Elegant Ruin), a successful journalist must weigh her desire for uncovering the truth against the collateral damage of revealing family secrets. Elizabeth Balsam believes she is on her way to making headlines with an incriminating story about Judge Ryan Sharpe's involvement in the 1967 Detroit riots when she is suddenly fired from the Detroit Free Press after it's revealed she used an assumed identity to investigate the judge. Without a job, she is confronted by a mysterious man claiming to have photographs of the riots, which he says belong to an aunt of Elizabeth's whom she has never met. Elizabeth agrees to deliver the photos to her aunt, believing the photos will be her ticket back into the story she has been trying to write and her career as a journalist. After she tracks down her aunt Nora at an old farmhouse outside Detroit, Elizabeth discovers the true history of the Balsam family and learns that box of photos contains something far more life-altering than her story about the riots. As Elizabeth and Nora pore over the photos, stories of forbidden love, war, racism, and sacrifice emerge, and Although Elizabeth isn't the most devout person, she begins to see the destiny involved in her reconnecting with her aunt and must make the hard decision of whether to pursue her career or leave her family's dark history buried. Bartels successfully weaves American history into a deeply moving story of heartbreak, long-held secrets, and the bonds of family. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Elizabeth Balsam is an established journalist at the Detroit Free Press, the preeminent newspaper of Motor City. But when her investigation into the 1967 riots costs Elizabeth her job, she is forced to look at the direction her life is taking and consider whether it's the right one. Contemplating her next move, she moves in with her great-aunt Nora, a woman burdened with a heavy heart. As Elizabeth learns more about Nora and her own family's history, she comes to realize that maybe the road she is on is the one God had intended for her all along. Bartels' debut tells the story of three Balsam women, each of a different era, told against the backdrop of racism and violence in America. Though some of their paths lead to forbidden love, heartbreak, and even death, the women's stories of love, hope, and inspiration will appeal to fans of faith-based women's-fiction authors like Colleen Coble.--LynnDee Wathen Copyright 2019 Booklist

DEBUT Fresh voice Bartels writes about three generations of women in Detroit, MI, as they navigate the muddy waters of the civil rights era, the Underground Railroad, and current times. Elizabeth Balsam is a reporter at the Detroit Free Press, until she screws up an investigation and finds herself out of a job. When she meets James Rich, he starts her on a search for a relation she didn't know she had. The mysteries that surround her at her great-aunt's farmhouse bring her reeling into the past, as she finds graves and photographs that uncover decades-old secrets. A forbidden interracial marriage, an escaped slave, an expectant mother waiting for her Union soldier to return-all of these stories are deftly told by Bartels, as she explores the hard realities of racism and its many faces during various eras of American history. VERDICT The themes of this novel are much needed within Christian fiction. Compelling characters make this winning debut also appealing for fans of general historical fiction.-Julia M. Reffner, North Chesterfield, VA © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.