Article and Interview by Elise Cooper
The Road to Redemption and The Amish Midwife’s Bargain by Patrice Lewis continues the story of the Kemp siblings. Both are books about forgiveness, hope, and how choices made can influence someone’s life.
The Road to Redemption is the second book in the series. Thomas Kemp travels to the Amish community in Montana to redeem his life. He is ashamed of his criminal activities of the past. Now working as a bookkeeper, he meets an Amish widow and single parent, Emma, who has vowed never to get married. But her toddler, Hannah, bonds with Thomas and they become attracted to each other. He questions if she will accept his past where the three can become a family.
The Amish Midwife’s Bargain has one of the Kemp siblings, a nurse, Miriam, grieving after losing a patient. She decides to visit her Amish brother, Thomas, after vowing to leave the nursing profession. But when she accidentally hits Aaron Lapp on a rain-drenched road, she offers to help him recover. He has his own scars literally, after having his face burned in a barn fire. This story will remind readers of “Beauty and the Beast.”
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story, The Road to Redemption?
Patrice Lewis: I had a three-book series of siblings, and this is the middle sibling. This is a story of redemption and making better choices. Everything someone does from morning until sleep is a choice. I wanted to show how the hero, Thomas, had his bad choices catch up and then his good choices turned it around.
EC: How would you describe Thomas?
PL: He was a juvenile delinquent when younger, but now he is redeemed. He is broken, subdued, quiet, shy, scarred, and humble.
EC: How would you describe Emma?
PL: High-spirited, outspoken, a go-getter, confident, independent, passionate about her skill of making soap, and determined.
EC: What about the relationship between the two?
PL: Emma does not want to rely on a man for financial support. She is gun-shy since her late husband was emotionally abusive, selfish, and stubborn. Emma is determined to remain single. She and her late husband never wanted to be married, but after she became pregnant, they did marry. Both she and Thomas have secrets and hold each other at arm’s length. Yet, they do admire each other. Thomas does not think he is worthy of her.
EC: What is the role of a secondary character, Jeremy?
PL: He is another redemption. In Thomas’ backstory, he feels he must pay it forward. He sees in Jeremy himself and wants to help him to redeem his life.
EC: What about the role of Hannah, Emma’s young daughter?
PL: She is instrumental in bringing Emma and Thomas together. Hannah sees Thomas as a father figure and becomes attached to him. Emma starts thinking maybe her daughter sees something in Thomas that she doesn’t. Hannah saw his kindness.
EC: What about the second book, The Amish Midwife Bargain?
PL: This is about the third sibling, Miriam, a nurse. I saw this reference to a private nurse, which enabled me to have Miriam and Aaron get closer. She helped him after she accidentally hit him with her car. This led me to a “Beauty and the Beast” theme. It became effortless to write. Hands down it is the favorite story I have written so far. My mother used to be a nurse and I saw how some have painful journeys.
EC: How would you describe Aaron, the hero?
PL: He has been terribly disfigured in a barn fire. Now he wants to be left alone. His became bitter with a very scarred face. He can be stubborn, grumpy, with emotional pain, prickly, lonely, and likes animals more than people.
EC: What was the role of the scar?
PL: I wrote two ways that children responded to his disfigurement. Hannah accepted him and never saw his scars. Then there was an “English” boy who runs away from him in terror. He realized with Hannah’s reaction that some could be accepting of him and not consider him a monster, a beast.
EC: How would you describe Miriam?
PL: Determined, patient, and a helper. She responds to those in pain, emotional and physical. She was devastated and doubted herself after she lost a patient.
EC: What about the relationship between the two?
PL: Miriam feels she must get past Aaron wanting to live in solitude. She wanted to show him that his outward scars did not diminish who he was as a person. Aaron helped her to realize she lost a patient because they were beyond help. Both have scars, admire, and respect each other. Both helped each other to get back on “their horse.”
EC: Next books?
PL: A book will come out in March titled The Amish Beekeeper’s Dilemma. It is about a woman who became a property keeper for an old man. His nephew came to take over the farm. A conflict develops around it.
Another book that has no release date but is titled Uncovering Her Amish Past. The main character, Penelope, is “English.” She is adopted and an only child. She went to an Amish settlement, staying at a bed and breakfast. It turns out she is a twin to an Amish woman.
EC: THANK YOU!!
