Snapshots in History

Lovers of Amish fiction will quickly sign on as fans of award-winning author Murray Pura as they keep turning the pages of this exciting new historical romance set in 1917 during America's participation in World War I. Jude Whetstone and Lyyndaya Kurtz, whose families are converts to the Amish faith, are slowly falling in love. Jude has also fallen in love with flying that new-fangled invention, the aeroplane. The Amish communities have rejected the telephone and have forbidden motorcar ownership but not yet electricity or aeroplanes. Though exempt from military service on religious grounds, Jude is manipulated by unscrupulous army officers into enlisting in order to protect several Amish men. No one in the community understands Jude's sudden enlistment and so he is shunned. Lyyndaya's despair deepens at the reports that Jude has been shot down in France. In her grief, she turns to nursing Spanish flu victims in Philadelphia. After many months of caring for stricken soldiers, Lyyndaya is stunned when an emaciated Jude turns up in her ward. Lyyndaya's joy at receiving Jude back from the dead is quickly diminished when the Amish leadership insist the shunning remain in force. How then can they marry without the blessing of their families? Will happiness elude them forever?

Following on the heels of The Wings of Morning, the first book in Murray Pura's Snapshots in History series, comes this compelling saga of the Civil War. In April 1861, Lyndel Keim discovers two runaway slaves in her family's barn. When the men are captured and returned to their plantation, Lyndel and her young Amish beau, Nathaniel King, find themselves at odds with their pacifist Amish colony. Nathaniel enlists in what will become the famous Iron Brigade of the Union Army. Lyndel enters the fray as a Brigade nurse on the battlefield, sticking close to Nathaniel as they both witness the horrors of war-including the battles at Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, and Antietam. Despite the pair's heroic sacrifices, the Amish only see that Lyndel and Nathaniel have become part of the war effort, and both are banished. And a severe battle wound at Gettysburg threatens Nathaniel's life. Lyndel must call upon her faith in God to endure the savage conflict and to face its painful aftermath, not knowing if Nathaniel is alive or dead. Will the momentous battle change her life forever, just as it will change the course of the war and the history of her country? The Face of Heaven is a dramatic story that will release on the 150th anniversary of the historic battle of Antietam, September, 1862. Lyndel Keim and Nathaniel King are at odds with their Amish colony when they join the Civil War effort. A wound threatens Nathaniel's life and Lyndel must call upon God. Readers will devour this dramatic story that will release on the 150th anniversary of the battle of Antietam, September, 1862. "Murray Pura's The Face of Heaven contained everything I love in a novel-American history, a heartfelt romance, and a tale of faith within the Amish community. Murray breathed life into his multi-dimensional characters and created a world that transports readers back in time." -Mary Ellis, author of An Amish Family Reunion "My husband, who does not read fiction of any kind, enjoyed it immensely when I read aloud to him the chapters from The Face of Heaven describing in riveting detail, the battle at Gettysburg. A history buff himself, he relished the accuracy of the story. "Pura combines his ability to write wartime historical fiction from a masculine perspective with an uncanny ability at dealing with issues of the heart to offer a fresh new voice to this popular genre. With surprises and twists that fiction readers love, it keeps us turning pages and wishing the book did not have to end. But end it does. And all I can say is, write us another, Mr. Pura!"

Murray brings back Jude and Lyyndaya Whetstone, the beloved lead characters in The Wings of Morning. The year is 1941 and Jude and Lyyndy, with their adult daughter, Rebecca, are summoned to far-off, exotic Honolulu where Rebecca, a flyer like her father, meets a likeable young pilot. The two enjoy a friendship that seems to be turning into something more serious...until Sunday, December 7, 1941 dawns on the Hawaiian Islands.