Every Given Day

By Cathy Gohlke

Description:

NEW YORK CITY, 1918. When schoolteacher Gwendolyn Armstrong learns of her sister’s worsening illness, she travels to Marion’s stately home to tutor her young niece and nephew, kept from school by the Spanish flu outbreak. Though the family lives in luxury, Gwen is wary of Marion’s sophisticated, often-absent husband, Russell, who once cast Gwen aside for her sister, leaving wounds that never fully healed.

As Marion’s health declines, a sense of foreboding settles over the family. Gwen observes strangers coming and going from Russell’s study at all hours, and her lingering distrust turns to suspicion that he is hiding something that could threaten the family’s safety and security. But when the deadly flu claims victims among the family and mansion staff, Gwen and her nephew, Alistair, are forced to accept terrible losses caused by the epidemic followed soon after by his own fatal diagnosis of juvenile diabetes.

When a compassionate doctor becomes both an advocate and friend, chasing down every promising medical development in the race for a cure, Gwen clings to each shred of hope. But as Russell’s clandestine dealings erupt into a shattering revelation, she must summon every ounce of courage she possesses. With Alistair’s life hanging in the balance, Gwen pleads for a faith she doesn’t yet possess, realizing she must surrender him to God and the possibility of a miracle that could save him and reshape her future in ways she never imagined.

Book Takeaway:

I hope Gwen and Alistair’s journey gives readers a better understanding of Type 1 diabetes and those who live with this disease. I hope readers see in the story a clear path to trusting God with our lives and those of our loved ones, even when the journey is through the hardest of times.

Why the author wrote this book:

I needed to tell the story of one child’s journey through the dark
valley of diabetes in the time when it was a death sentence, and that of the loved ones travelling with him. I needed to show the devastating loss of “normal,” how a tragedy or the diagnosis
of a serious or fatal disease can stop on a dime everything we know
and plan in life.
Ultimately, I needed to show that there is one ­ all- knowing, ­ all-
­ trustworthy, ­ never- quit relationship that cannot die, that will see
us through, even when we walk through the valley of the shadow
of ­ death— our own, or with those we love most. I needed to show
how hard it is to surrender ourselves or our loved one to the care
of almighty God, but how that is truly our lifeline, and the path to
peace.