Our novel, Finding Home follows: 1) Sarah, an English orphan as she makes her way to Canada in 1870 to find her family, and 2) Richard, the privileged son of a sawmill owner who is trying to find his place in the world and regain his father’s respect.
When the manuscript of Finding Home underwent a professional structural edit, we were told that Richard’s story takes over in the last half of the book and the reader loses interest in Sarah. The solution to that problem is to chase Sarah up a tree and throw rocks at her. Well, not literally. But we did have to find additional challenges for Sarah to overcome.
In the rewritten version, Sarah learns something very troubling about one Home Child in particular. Before she can act to rectify the problem, there is a fire in which the homeowner’s charred remains are discovered. The community blames the boy, calling into question the trustworthiness of all the Home Children and posing an added dilemma for Sarah whose job is to check on them.
I had left the manuscript for several months because I was busy supporting the Syrian refugee family that we have sponsored, but now that things have settled into more of a routine for them. I’m back writing again. It feels so good! Wish Sarah and me luck in solving this dilemma.