Healing Ruby Series

Ruby Graves, a young girl in Depression-era Alabama, faces the hardships of poverty and loss with as much faith as she can muster. At only the age of thirteen, she’s already lost a younger brother to illness, and now faces losing both her father and the boy who’s stealing her heart to illnesses as well. Armed with her beloved Scriptures, she prays daily for their healing, only to have her tender faith shattered by her father’s death. Through her pain, she’s able to connect with her long-lost Uncle Asa, whose mere presence at his brother’s funeral brings murmurs of a scandalous past involving her parents and a prominent local pastor, Irwin Cass. When Ruby discovers that one of Asa’s many secrets is an ability to heal, and that she may be next in line for the “gift,” she vows to find the faith that has eluded her so far, a faith that could mean never losing loved ones again. But faith and doubt can’t reside in the same heart, not according to her father, and doubt is Ruby’s constant companion. As she struggles to find the true meaning of faith, she’s opposed at every turn by the pastor who would see her family destroyed and a community that can’t see deeper than the color of one’s skin. Through her search for a faith that could move mountains and a true understanding of her gift, can Ruby trust in a God that may require the ultimate sacrifice?

"Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction..." Over four years have passed, and still Matthew Doyle can’t shake the guilt of turning his back on Ruby, the girl who saved his life. As much as he’s tried to avoid returning home to Hanceville, Alabama, he must do so in order to complete his service with the Tennessee Valley Authority, helping to establish electricity throughout the county. But Ruby continues to haunt his dreams, and the only way to move on is to seek her out and make things right. Tracking Ruby down leads Matthew back to the Calhoun farm, a place full of memories best left buried. But what he finds there will change his life forever. A man is dead. And Ruby Graves stands accused of his murder. In his quest to prove Ruby’s innocence and atone for his past, Matthew must stand against the most powerful influences in the county, including his own father. But doing so may cost him everything, even his faith in God. Can Matthew rebuild Ruby’s broken trust in him and save her life in return? Or will the trials he faces leave him broken instead? Breaking Matthew is the sequel to Healing Ruby, a novel set in Depression-era Alabama that explores faith healing, family loyalty, and racial segregation.

"The last enemy to be destroyed is death." Through years of poverty, racial tension, and legal battles, Ruby Graves has suffered the worst the Great Depression could throw at her. But an enemy she couldn’t possibly imagine awaits just over the horizon. After she and her brother, Henry, escape to the tropical paradise of the Philippine Islands, Ruby volunteers as a nurse at a medical clinic in Manila. Although surrounded by beauty, Ruby can’t shake her guilt over leaving Matthew behind, even if it was for his own good. And even worse, God hasn’t spoken to her since the fateful day at Cold Spring. Meanwhile, Matthew Doyle arrives in the Philippines with the Corps of Engineers, determined to live the life of faith that Ruby would have wanted for him. Despite the rumors of impending war, he’s drawn to the islands’ promise of adventure, and, like many of his fellow soldiers, believes the superior forces of the United States would quickly thwart any attack from Japan. But everything changes on the morning of December 8, 1941. As the Japanese close in on American forces in the Philippines, Ruby, Matthew and Henry are swept onto the jungle peninsula of Bataan in a desperate attempt to hold out for reinforcements. New enemies emerge, testing their strength beyond anything they could have ever thought possible. Can Ruby and Matthew find their way back to each other, and survive the onslaught of the Japanese assault? Saving Grace is the highly anticipated third installment in the Healing Ruby series by Jennifer H. Westall.

"For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it." After three years of bloodshed in the jungles of the Philippines, guerrilla leader, Matthew Doyle, finds himself on the brink of freedom. The Americans are coming, bringing with them the promise of an end to the terror inflicted by the Japanese army on his mind, body, and soul. For those same three years, Ruby, now known as Grace Doyle, has continued to live in the hope that her husband will one day return to her. She prays for the day they can live together as a family, even as she accepts God’s call that she must face the murder conviction still hanging over her head. Reunited on American soil, Matthew and Ruby face the ultimate test of their faith in God and in each other. Can they overcome the horror that so cruelly separated them and find peace? Or will their past finally catch up with them? Abiding Hope is the fourth and final installment of the beloved Healing Ruby series by Jennifer H. Westall.