FINDING ANNA

Author: Christine Schaub ISBN: 0764200593 10/2005 HISTORICAL/INSPIRATIONAL Publisher: BETHANY HOUSE PUBLISHING
Time Period: Victorian

This historical novel opens on the eve of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and explores the resulting two-year drama, heartbreak, and redemption that shaped the life of one of America’s great hymn writers--Horatio Gates Spafford. A poignant novel of relationships, Finding Anna follows Spafford and his wife, Anna, as they struggle to find common ground before their divided loyalties tear apart their marriage once and for all. What will it take for them to recover their faith--in God and each other? Is love powerful enough to bring them through the greatest tragedy of their lives?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

FINDING ANNA is the start of a new Bethany House series called Music of the Heart. The novels will be tales of the stories behind the writing of great hymns. This first book is about the writing of the hymn "It Is Well With My Soul" by H. G. Spafford.

Spafford was an affluent real estate investor who temporarily lost just about everything in the Chicago Fire in 1871. The book beautifully dramatizes the fire, and shows us how the family life he shared with his wife and children deteriorated for all the right reasons after. The lives of duty that the Spaffords took on after the fire drove them apart from each other. This marital relationship is only one part of the story, however, as the author interweaves other interesting characters throughout the book.

There was a section in FINDING ANNA that was very meaningful for me, when a family friend is criticizing both of the Spaffords for their unending labor. The point is made that while you need to show your faith by works, you need time to feed your mind and spirit, too.

This is a deeply religious book, themed primarily around the prodigal son story, and is full of the example of two people who faced heartrending tragedy with a view to always help others, despite their limitations. FINDING ANNA can be enjoyed as a good novel, but intends to be more than just entertainment.

Heather Hiestand