Jane Kirkpatrick

1844. The Stevens-Murphy company left Missouri to be the first wagons into California through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Mostly Irish Catholics, the party sought religious freedom and education in the mission-dominated land. When a heavy snowstorm hits in October, the party separates in three directions. Now young Mary Sullivan, newlywed Sarah Montgomery, widowed Ellen Murphy, and her pregnant sister-in-law Maolisa each risks losing those they loved....

When Tabitha Brown's son makes the fateful decision to leave Missouri and strike out for Oregon, she refuses to be left behind. Despite her son's concerns, Tabitha hires her own wagon to join the party. Along with her reluctant daughter and her ever-hopeful granddaughter, the intrepid Tabitha has her misgivings. The trials they face along the way will severely test Tabitha's faith, courage, and ability to hope. With her family's survival on the line,...

The first book in the Change and Cherish trilogy from the CBA bestseller and WILLA Literary Award Winner, Jane Kirkpatrick.
Young Emma Wagner chafes at the constraints of Bethel colony, an 1850s religious community in Missouri that is determined to remain untainted by the concerns of the world. A passionate and independent thinker, she resents the limitations placed on women, who are expected to serve in quiet submission. In a community...

Emma and her husband leave a close-knit religious community to work in Washington Territory, but when Emma finds herself alone and pregnant with her third child, she is left wondering if an angry God has abandoned her to the consequences of her willfulness.

Jessie Ann Gaebele pursues her dream of owning her own photographic studio as she tries to put the shadow of a forbidden love behind her.

Fifteen-year-old Jessie Ann Gaebele loves nothing more than capturing a gorgeous Minnesota landscape when the sunlight casts its most mesmerizing shadows. So when F.J. Bauer hires her in 1907 to assist in his studio and darkroom, her dreams for a career in photography appear to find root in reality. Jessie shows remarkable talent in both the artistry and business of running a studio. She proves less skillful, however, at managing her growing attraction...

Jane Herbert is 12 years old when tragedy strikes and sets her on a lifelong search for forgiveness and love. Her wounds need healing - both in her heart and between she and her mother. Jane finds the love of her life in a dreamer 16 years her senior and longs for children. Together they build bridges over rivers and troubled relationships, making peace with their Indian neighbors. On that journey, they discover that to pursue one's dreams with strength,...

A remakable story of God's constancy and provision for all lovers of history, romance and faith...
Based on historical characters and events, Love to Water My Soul recounts the dramatic story of an abandoned white child rescued by Indians. Among Oregon's Paiute people, Shell Flower seeks love and a pace of belonging...only to be cast away from her home.
In the years that follow, she faces a new life in the world of the white man—a...

"Of all the things I left in Willapa, hope is what I missed the most."

So begins this story of one woman's restoration from personal grief to the meaning of community. Based on the life of German-American Emma Wagner Giesy, the only woman sent to the Oregon Territory in the 1850s to help found a communal society, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick shows how landscape, relationships, spirituality and artistry poignantly reflect a woman's...

BASED ON A TRUE STORY
In a land occupied by foreign powers and torn by confusion and conflict, a mother seeks to weave her family and her past into a fabric that will not tear.

Their Lives Were Woven by Wars and Wilderness Places, and Tied by the Peace of Family and Faith.
As the 1840s bring conflict to the Pacific Northwest’s rugged Columbia Country, new challenges face Marie Dorion Venier Toupin: the wife, mother, and Ioway...