7. All of the characters change throughout the course of the novel. In your mind, which character grew the most and why?
It’s tempting to say that Tom did, but I don’t think so. Deep down, he just wanted to come home and be accepted. In my opinion, the person who grew the most was Bishop Weaver, the Swartzentruber bishop whose unmarried daughter came home pregnant. Too often Amish bishops are portrayed as stiff-necked and unyielding. Perhaps that is true to some extent, but I don’t think people realize what an incredibly heavy burden becoming a bishop is. It is an unpaid, unsought, lifetime position that puts the responsibility of approximately two hundred people on a man’s shoulders—a man who would, in most instances, prefer to be left alone to make a living for his family.
8. Discuss the significance of the title. What “hidden mercies” are discovered in the novel?
Tom thought he knew how things were going to be when he went home. His father was going to be stiff-necked and reject him, Claire was going to hate him for what he had done, and the Amish community was going to despise him. Without giving away the plot, the reality he discovered was an entirely different scenario than the one he built up in his mind. Another hidden mercy was that Claire, widowed, assumed that her life as a wife was over. She never dreamed that she would fall in love ever again. Of course, the title also rose from my own belief that life is filled with God’s hidden mercies—so many of which we never realize and take for granted.
9. Why did you decide to tell Tom and Claire’s story? Describe the journey from conception to publication.
An Amish friend told me about not being able to have any contact with a close relative because he had left the Amish church to join the Marines and had been shunned because of it. There was such sadness in her voice as she talked about him. He had become a helicopter mechanic who was so trusted and skilled he had even been allowed to work on Marine One. Soon after that, I also heard about that bishop who had once been a Marine and had come back to his church. Those two stories intrigued me. Then an Amish woman who had read Love Finds You in Sugarcreek called me from another state and told me she was a midwife, and that if I ever wanted to write about an Amish midwife, she would be happy to talk with me. She invited me to come stay at their home so that we could talk in depth. I was extremely impressed with her dedication and her love for the gift of ministering to the women of her county. The holiness in which she held her profession was incredibly inspiring. She also got permission for me to attend their worship with her that Sunday. Even though the church was Old Order Amish, they were kind enough to use English that Sunday, and I was able to enjoy the excellent lesson the bishop gave. I treasure my friendship with her and her wonderful family. It is a joy when she calls (her phone is in her barn) and tells me all that’s going on with her family and church and about her “mothers” and the babies she helps birth. The latest news is that her church is growing to the point that they are in the process of having to establish another one several miles away.
10. Who is your favorite author? What are you reading now?
My favorite author? Probably Allan Eckert. The man was a genius at taking historical research and making it read like a novel. Reading now? I just started Laura Frantz’s The Colonel’s Lady.
11. What is next for you as a writer?
I’ll be starting a third Amish book for Howard Books soon. The title will be Fearless Hope and will weave in some of the characters from Hidden Mercies and An Uncommon Grace.
© ANGIE GRIFFITH
SERENA B. MILLER is the author of four novels and won the RITA Award for Inspirational Romance in 2012. Prior to writing books, Serena wrote for many periodicals, including Woman’s World, Guideposts, Billy Graham’s Decision magazine , Reader’s Digest, Focus on the Family, Christian Woman, Dorchester’s True Story, and the Detroit Free Press Magazine. She was also a ghostwriter for a story published in Chicken Soup for the Mother’s Soul 2. She has spent many years partnering with her husband in full-time ministry and presently lives on a farm in southern Ohio near a thriving Amish community.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by Serena Miller
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First Howard Books trade paperback edition April 2013
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Miller, Serena.
Hidden mercies : a novel / Serena B. Miller.
p. cm.
I. Title.
PS3613.I55295U53 2013
813'.6—dc23 2011035334
ISBN 978-1-4516-6035-7
ISBN 978-1-4516-6036-4 (ebook)
Hidden Mercies Page 32