About the Book

Book: Flame of Mercy

Author: Eleanor Bertin

Genre: Contemporary Christian

Release date: November, 2021

Two families, worlds apart. Can they each find hope in the crucible of suffering?

All Lynnie Min ever wanted was to be a wife and mother. But when tragedy strikes her family, she’s left with nothing but her faith to begin life again. While pursuing a career she never wanted, can the precious faith she was raised on withstand betrayal by a hostile former friend, now a professor whose ideologies conflict with her own? And why do her puzzling dreams feature only one of her daughters, not both?

Out of a smoking ruin in northern Nigeria, Ihsan bin Ibrahim stumbles upon the solution to his wife’s barrenness and longing. But family ties have a long reach. Will he make the ultimate sacrifice to follow his conscience, even if it means losing the child he loves?

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About the Author

From her home in central Alberta, Canada, Eleanor Bertin writes fiction that ponders the depths of God’s love and mercy to humanity.

She is the author of The Ties That Bind series, Lifelines, Unbound, and Tethered, as well as the memoir, Pall of Silence, about her late son, Paul. She lives with her husband of more than 40 years and their youngest son, in what will someday be a beautiful century home. www.eleanorbertinauthor.com

More from Eleanor

If you’ve read any amount of secular fiction these days, you must be shuddering at the landscape of the family in the world today. Strife and resentment, rivalry and spite–seems there’s nothing but dysfunction as far as the eye can see. And while conflict is necessary to any novel’s plot, I wanted to write about a stable family, a loving family, one that, while imperfect, still nurtured and protected its members with acceptance and harmony.

On top of that, I wanted to depart from my previous novels where the main characters were not believers. In Flame of Mercy, Lynnie is the main character whose trust in Jesus stands firm despite going through the fires of adversity. Her family is one of the reasons for that strength.

But of course, even the best, most faithful families have their quirks. Enter the grandmothers. Grandma Hardy is stiff, stilted, and staunch in her Christian beliefs. Nanny Roundell is sugar-loving, jolly, and lets mentions of faith slide off her chubby body with a smile. Their beliefs do not align with their personae. This paradox was suggested to me by a friend as I described the contrast between two elderly relatives, sweet Christian and sour unbeliever.

“Aren’t you glad it’s not the other way around?” she asked.

Because we all know it can be. Sometimes Christians look nothing like their Lord. And non-Christians can live blissfully inconsistent with their evil master’s agenda.

And so, I had fun writing these two ladies! “The grandmothers sat next to each other, one short and round, one tall and skinny. The Ball and Bat, we used to call them when we were kids, and I’d never been able to see them differently ever since. Come to think of it, Nanny, the Ball, was like a baseball in other ways besides physical. She had always been reactionary, flung here and there with every wind of doctrine but without any viewpoint of her own. By contrast, Grandma Hardy was the Bat. She stood alone, stiff and sturdy, unwavering, and if necessary, could give you a good whack to get you moving in the right direction.

“My sister was what Grandma frowningly called ‘frivolous.’ And Lissa was mischievous enough to purposely do things that would get Grandma’s goat. I mean, deliberately cavorting through the sprinkler in a bikini directly in front of Grandma’s kitchen window was outright asking for a lecture. You couldn’t call it a scolding since Grandma never raised her voice, but it was always a one-way communication generously salted with Bible verses. Lissa told me Grandma even referred to hand-written notes a couple of times while talking to her. And Grandma’s tone carried the expectation that we would change our ways accordingly. We had been taught to respect our elders so there was no answering back. We only meekly listened.” With Grandma, there was no statute of limitations and past sins could receive present censure.

Nanny’s eyes twinkled. “I’m feeling better every day. It’s given me my life back. Why, with my dentures and glasses, a new knee, and a titanium hip, I’m eighty percent fake.” She cackled her infectious laugh and we joined in, exchanging glances. Being in Nanny’s presence infallibly lifted my spirits.

“This cheesecake is delicious, Sue,” Nanny chimed in. “I could keep on eating and eating if I weren’t already so full after an excellent meal.”

Grandma frowned at what she doubtless saw as gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins. Thankfully she restrained herself this time…She set her fork down beside her plate that still held half her slice of cheesecake and taking her napkin, dabbed at her lips. “This is certainly a rich dessert.”

I hope you enjoy reading about the Hardy family’s faith and foibles as much as I have in writing them. Look for a bit of Grandma’s back story in my story in this year’s Mosaic Christmas anthology.

Interview with Eleanor

What book is currently on your bedside table?

😊 (And yes, I made the quilt.) (See Picture Below)

What has been your favorite part of the publishing journey? 

The absolute best part for me is always receiving feedback. This solitary work of writing is made fully worthwhile when some reader engages with my books and enjoys them. Sometimes they even see connections and symbolisms that were unintentional!

Can you share with us something about the book that isn’t in the blurb?

Lynnie and James’s love story is based on my daughter’s true courtship story! Yes, there are still some young men who control themselves and behave with purity and respect toward women.

Does one of the main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?

Grandma Hardy and her opposite, Nanny Roundell, came into being because of an offhand comment a dear friend made when I was contrasting two of my relatives – a sweet, kind Christian, and a crusty, sour unbeliever.

“Aren’t you glad it isn’t the other way around?” she asked me. “What if the Christian was the snarly one and the non-Christian was sweet?”

And yet Evelyn Hardy, Sr. holds a place in my heart. She is steeped in biblical knowledge, a deeply ingrained sense of justice, and even much wisdom, but she can’t seem to stop herself from speaking the unvarnished truth, whether people want to hear it or not. What’s only hinted at in the book is that her difficulty in showing affection stems from the sorrows of her life.

My short story, Christmas at the Crossroads, in this year’s upcoming Mosaic Christmas anthology, Whisper of Peace gives some background on how it is that Grandma Hardy and her daughter-in-law Sue get along so well.

What were the highlight or key challenges you faced when writing this book?

I never intended to have more than a couple of brief scenes taking place in Nigeria. After all, in college, it was rigorously stressed that we must only “write what we know” and I had never been off the North American continent. Still, I needed to do some research on that African nation so that even those short pieces would sound authentic. What I discovered is that the Internet has upended all those old rules of writing. There is a wealth of information online, from videos made by Americans who have moved to Nigeria, to scholarly works about the flora and fauna of that region, to authentic recipes, and satellite images of remote villages. The only thing I couldn’t “experience” in my virtual travels were the tastes and smells. But I do have an imagination, and I know that beneath the skin and outer customs, people are the same all over the world. So, while I started off knowing very little about Africa, my knowledge grew into more than ten chapters set there. And I grew attached to Ihsan and Daniya, my Nigerian Muslim characters.

Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

              www.eleanorbertinauthor.com

              Facebook: Read with E’s

              Instagram: @eleanorbertin

            Twitter: @eleanorbertin

Any current or upcoming projects you’d like to tell us about?

If you read Flame of Mercy, you’ll want to know there’s a sequel coming. Due to current family caregiving responsibilities, I’m not making as quick progress as I would like, but it is coming. It’s a mystery called Flicker of Trust, following the story of Ryan Hainstock who’s introduced toward the end of Flame of Mercy. A new Christian is accused of murdering the married woman he once had an affair with.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, November 11

Rebecca Tews, November 11

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 12

Texas Book-aholic, November 13

Inklings and notions, November 14

For Him and My Family, November 14

deb’s Book Review, November 15

lakesidelivingsite, November 16

Locks, Hooks and Books, November 17

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, November 18

Mary Hake, November 18

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, November 19

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, November 20

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, November 21

Blogging With Carol, November 22

Cover Lover Book Review, November 22

Splashes of Joy, November 23

Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, November 24 (Author Interview)

Pause for Tales, November 25

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Eleanor is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/228a3/flame-of-mercy-celebration-tour-giveaway