Book Title: A LIFE SO TRUE
Character Name: Evelyn “Evie” Turner
How would you describe your family or your childhood?
It was one of privilege and love. My parents are two of the most amazing people I’ve ever known. They were strict in many ways, but fair and always they taught me about God’s love and generosity, as well as the need to see even the poorest person as important as the wealthiest.
What was your greatest talent?
Like my mother, I’m really quite good at convincing people to part with their money for the cause of helping the poor. I’m also quite intelligent even though that isn’t a quality most look for in a woman in 1893.
Significant other?
For so many years I’ve put off falling in love because I was focused on becoming a nurse who could work at my father’s side. Now, however, there’s a handsome young man named Maxwell Garrison, and I’ve pretty much fallen for him at first sight.
Biggest challenge in relationships?
I’m confident and capable of forming relationships and building on them, however, my desire to be a nurse has caused me to hold people, particularly suitors, at arm’s length. Then there’s also the secret I’m carrying. If I get too close to someone, the truth might come out, and I’d end up disappointing everyone around me.
Where do you live?
I live in a mansion in Minneapolis. I’ve been so blessed and have never known want or need. I have nine siblings and the best parents in the world so my life here has been quite charmed.
Do you have any enemies?
Goodness, no. The enemy, as I see it, is poverty and corruption.
How do you feel about the place where you are now? Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place?
I love my life in Minneapolis. I have always been loved and welcomed by friends and family. I enjoy the beauty of this area with its many lakes and parks. I am repelled by the areas where the poorest people live. Their conditions are appalling at times. The children are filthy and rat-bitten on occasion. The parents are barely able to put some form of food on the table. They are all malnourished and a sense of hopelessness has settled over their lives. That is something that grieves me deeply and I hope to see it changed.
Do you have children, pets, both, or neither?
Neither. I have nine siblings however, including a twin brother. The youngest brother is only nine years old and he keep us all on our toes, so who needs a pet?
What do you do for a living?
I’ve trained as a nurse, but I prefer fundraising for the poor.
Greatest disappointment?
This is so hard to admit to. My greatest disappointment is me. All my life I’ve made it clear that I want to be a nurse and work at my father’s side. Everyone knows this is my goal and that I have been working towards it for years. But when it comes right down to it, nursing makes me physically ill. I can’t stand the sights and smells. My father is counting on me joining him as head nurse in his new charity hospital, but I know I won’t be able to do this.
Greatest source of joy?
That’s tough to narrow to just one thing. I take such joy in being a Christian. I love God’s Word and learning about Him. My parents instilled this in me and they are yet another source of my joy, as are my siblings. We are all extremely close and so perhaps I should say God and family are my greatest source of joy.
What do you do to entertain yourself or have fun?
There is so much to do in Minneapolis for fun. We have the opera and theater, we have a great many outdoor recreations, but one of my favorite things is to stroll in the gardens at home with a friend or family member and just talk about life and the things we love. Every Friday evening at our house is family night and we gather together and eat and laugh and play games. It’s been one of my favorite times and I always look forward to end of the week, knowing we will all be together.
What is your greatest personal failing, in your view?
Training to be a nurse only to find it makes me physically ill. And, because of this, I cannot work with my father and must disappoint him.
What keeps you awake at night?
Figuring out how to tell my family the truth about my inability to carry out nursing duties.
What is the most pressing problem you have at the moment?
Being honest with my family about my inability to work as a nurse. My father keeps expecting me to help him on daily duties and while I’ve done my best to accompany him and lend a hand, I know I cannot continue this much longer.
Is there something that you need or want that you don’t have? For yourself or for someone important to you?
I need the peace of mind that comes in settling matters that need attention. I’ve put off being honest with my family – particularly my father – regarding my inability to tend to nursing duties. I’ve allowed him to count on me and now I cannot give him what he needs. I feel like a complete failure, yet I know that even in this God has a purpose.
Why don’t you have it? What is in the way?
My own fears and limitations stand in the way of my ability to give my father the nurse he wants me to be. All my life I was certain that God’s calling was for me to be a nurse. Now, however, I know that I cannot do the job, and I find myself questioning if I was really called to this or if I had somehow manufactured this calling to please my father. However, I feel confident that as the Bible states, the truth will set me free. I just must find a way to let the truth be told.
Minnesota Legacy #2
Will their undeniable bond overcome the disasters surrounding them?
Evelyn Turner is determined to work at her physician father's side as he opens a hospital for Minneapolis's poor. But when nursing makes her physically ill, she faces an impossible choice between the promises she's made and her own limitations.
Maxwell Garrison is helping manage his father's investments through the financial crisis of 1893, and he's especially interested in their sawmill businesses. At a Turner family fund raiser, he is horrified when he overhears his father and other mill owners plotting to commit arson and insurance fraud. When Evie and Max meet at the same fund raiser, a connection sparks between them. As their interests in each other grow, they confide their secrets and agree to guard each other's trust.
Then a suspicious and devastating fire sets Minneapolis ablaze, and Max and Evie fear the worst. Even amid the ashes of deception, can they build a life together?
Heartfelt romance, steady faith, and the power of redemption collide in acclaimed author Tracie Peterson's historical novel set in 1893 Minnesota for readers of Janette Oke, Lauraine Snelling, and inspirational Christian fiction.
Christian | Romance Historical [ Bethany House Publishers, On Sale: July 7, 2026, Paperback / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9780764244292 / eISBN: 9781493454211 ]
Often called the “Queen of Historical Christian Fiction,” Tracie Peterson is an ECPA, CBA and USA Today best-selling author of more than 110 books, most of those historical. Her work in historical fiction earned her the Best Western Romance Author of 2013 award from True West magazine and the USA Best Books 2011 Award for best Religious Fiction for Embers of Love. She was given the Life Time Achievement Award from American Christian Fiction Writers in 2011 and the Career Achievement Award in 2007 from Romantic Times, as well as multiple best book awards.Tracie received her first book contract in November 1992 and saw A Place To Belong published in February 1993 with Barbour Publishing’s Heartsong Presents. She wrote exclusively with Heartsong for the next two years, receiving their readership’s vote for Favorite Author of the Year for three years in a row. Eventually, Tracie also managed Barbour Publishing’s Heartsong Presents book line—overseeing the production of 52 books a year.
In December 1995 she signed a contract with Bethany House Publishers. Tracie now writes exclusively for Bethany House Publishers/Baker Publishing Group. She has co-written with a variety of authors including Judith Pella, Judith Miller, James Scott Bell, Kimberley Woodhouse, and Tracie’s daughter Jennifer.
Tracie, a Kansas native, now makes her home with her husband, Jim, in the mountains of Montana.
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