Holy Fire: A Novel

Holy Fire: A Novel

In this historical novel, Seth and Emily Paxson encounter various trials as they navigate their way through the 19th-century Abolitionist Movement, the Civil War, and a move west from Maryland to Kansas. Seth interacts with Abolitionist leader Abby Kelly and the fiery John Brown and later meets Brown’s ghost. While a soldier for the Union army, Seth saves a Black slave woman from rape and kills her attacker, his commanding officer. He claims a Rebel soldier did the killing, but Hawkins, the officer’s lackey, doesn’t believe Seth and pursues him all the way to Kansas after the war to try to get him arrested for murder. Emily overcomes episodes of sexual abuse before marrying Seth. Her brother, who fights for the Confederacy, dies from wounds suffered in the war. Later, she suffers two miscarriages and loses a son when a horse throws him. Seth and Emily’s relationship faces many challenges, but they remain together. Seth’s faith is tested through his experience in the war, but getting to know Alexsi, a Russian Orthodox monk he meets in Kansas, introduces him into new insights to faith. In Holy Fire you will experience the adventures and romance of living through tumultuous times in 19th-century America.