From Donna VanLiere—the author of the beloved Christmas Hope series—comes a moving novel of faith, family, and destiny.

 You might think that what you’re about to read has a great deal to do with my father and growing up poor in east Tennessee, but there is so much more—what captured my heart was the hope of belonging and the dream of family.  The woman I am has a great deal to do with that ninth year of my life.  It started out as any other year, nothing extraordinary, but as each day unfolded it became remarkable in every way.  There are times when I’m still amazed we made it through.  It has been said that every life has a story.  This is my story…--From the Prologue

 

Jane Gable thinks 1947 will be like every other year in Morgan Hill, Tennessee but but it’s the year everything changes.  Jane first lays eyes on young Milo Turner the day that her abusive, alcoholic father is buried in the Morgan Hill cemetery. The Turners are the first black family ever to move into the area, and while their presence challenges the comfort of many in the small, tight-knit community, Jane and her brother, John, have found new friends. 

 

Then tragedy strikes the Turner household, and the Gable family is asked to make a decision that could rip their world apart. One path might open up a whole new world and bring them closer than ever.  Or it might bring them nothing but trouble and heartache.  On their journey, Jane discovers that angels are all around us, every day, in the most extraordinary—and ordinary—ways.

 

The Angels of Morgan Hill is filled with unforgettable characters who show us the ways and means of the heart and prove that even in the darkest hours, we are never truly alone.

"The story of a black family's move to a small all-white Tennessee town in 1947 inspires inspirational novelist VanLiere (Christmas Hope; Christmas Shoes; etc.) to expand her fictional range while trying to expand her audience. Narrator Jane Gable recalls two critical life events on the same spring day when she was nine years old: the funeral of her alcoholic father and the arrival of a black family of sharecroppers, the first blacks Jane has ever seen in Morgan Hill. Both events converge to make life harder for the impoverished Gables; Jane's mother, Fran, is pregnant, and the black Turner family, hired to work on a tobacco farm, is slighted, harassed and threatened. When the Turners' house burns down, Milo, the only survivor, is taken in by the Gables. VanLiere uses humor, memories of growing up Southern and touching moments of family unity to enrich her story of overcoming racism and poverty. Her retreat into familiar territory (another charming Christmas pageant, another holiday full of joy and sentiment) will satisfy fans of her earlier work. Author tour." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

From the author of the blockbuster Christmas Hope series comes a breakout novel of faith, family, and hope. The small town of Morgan Hill, Tennessee, is turned upside down in 1947 when the Turners become the first black family ever to move into the area.

Donna VanLiere is an actress and speaker, and the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Christmas Shoes, The Christmas Blessing, and The Christmas Hope. She lives with her husband and their two daughters in Franklin, Tennessee.