Remembering Wheatfield Bridge

By Joni VanNest

Description:

Connie Andersen is a successful novelist, having gained fame with a series of books about life in the small New England town of Wheatfield Bridge. As her health deteriorates while waiting for an organ transplant, she thinks about the ways her decisions over the years have affected her relationship with her son and the God she serves, and knows because of those choices she is dying without peace in her heart. She spends the long, empty hours in the hospital reminiscing about and seeking comfort from the stories she has written. In the ICU, she is visited by people who are strangers, yet vaguely familiar and seem to know a great deal about her. It doesn’t take Connie long to realize the visitors are actually the very characters she created to populate Wheatfield Bridge. While in the presence of curmudgeon Jack Priestly, her own alter ego, along with Ellen Steele and Kelly Loggins, two best friends in the series, and others, Connie is able to step outside of time and place to where she is no longer burdened by illness and the characters aren’t bound by the page. They welcome Connie into their inner circle and help guide her on a journey toward forgiveness and peace in her final days.

Book Takeaway:

God's forgiveness is a gift that offers true peace.

Why the author wrote this book:

The concept came to me while I was driving down the road one day and it wouldn't let go, I needed to put it down to the page. Sometimes it's easier to forgive others than it is to forgive ourselves. This story examines the need to accept God's forgiveness.