In November
1860, Marian Foster joins a group of Virginia families who are sailing away
from America to form a new settlement off the coast of Brazil. As an amateur
botanist, Marian eagerly anticipates exploring a new land. She boards Providence
confident in the group’s plan, but during the voyage, her heart is drawn to
Jonah Ashton, the secretive and sullen ship’s physician.
Jonah Ashton is
determined to finish medical school before rumors of Southern rebellion erupt
into all-out war. When family obligation forces Jonah to take a voyage aboard Providence,
he plans to escort his family to their new settlement in South America and then
return home. While aboard Providence, Jonah is beguiled by Marian’s
optimistic spirit and finds himself in uncharted territory. Soon Jonah makes a
startling discovery that changes everything, but will it change his heart?
Get swept away
on a journey of faith, sacrifice, and God’s unfailing provision in this
inspirational story reviewers are calling “a captivating, well-researched, and
deftly written tale.” Read Aboard Providence today and embark on an
unforgettable voyage.
Get it now:
Aboard Providence ~ Chapter One
Jonah Ashton held two letters, one in each hand as if the
gravity of their messages bore physical weight and his open palms were the pans
of Lady Justice’s scale. The papers felt deceptively equal and light, but the
words written on them produced heaviness in his chest that could not be
ignored. He sat on the edge of his bed in the musty room at the back of his
aunt’s fine Philadelphia home and glanced up at his classmate.
Frederick straightened his starched collar in the dressing
mirror. He raised an eyebrow at Jonah. “Well?”
“Well what? I must go home. I haven’t got a choice.”
“Of course you do. Stay and fight the allegation so you can
finish the medical program.”
Jonah shook his head and studied the letters for the
twentieth time. One letter, written in the scurried script of a concerned
professor at Penn’s Medical School, warned of a possible criminal charge and
adjured Jonah to prepare his defense; the other letter summoned him to his
father’s estate in Accomack County on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. He blew out a
shaky breath and pointed at the Spencerian scroll of his father’s closing
command. “He said to come home at once. He believes the tension between the
States will escalate since Lincoln’s been elected. He’s been talking about
settling land in South America, and I knew he expected me to go with them. I
didn’t think it would be until after I earned my degree.”
“Why would someone of your father’s wealth and connections
want to leave it all behind and sail to South America?”
“His inherited wealth and connections mean nothing to him,
but he has always dreamed of…” Not wanting to paint his father as impetuous, he
changed his explanation. “There are unsettled islands off the eastern coast of
South America. They are beguiled by the challenge of establishing a new
colony.”
“They?”
“Mine and seven other
