I’ll never leave you nor forsake you…

San Francisco – 1906

Abby Fisher is horribly distraught. Her sister, her beautiful, charming sister, is deathly ill with leukemia. Always in her sister’s shadow, Abby still will move heaven and earth to save Cecelia. Their cousin, a doctor, brings a young colleague with him when he comes to see Cecelia – Dr. Robert King has an experimental, but risky treatment that may save her life.

Even though Cecelia may not live through the trip, they transport her by motor car to San Francisco – to the hospital where Dr. King had his equipment. This new treatment, X-ray therapy, may be the answer to all their prayers.

Enter the great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. How the family survives and grows stronger through the chaos is an enchanting story. And Abby’s feelings for young Dr. King are the stuff of an enchanting romance. But first, Abby must work through her grief and anger that causes her to question her faith and even the very existence of God.

Karen Barnett is quoted as saying, “There was a time in my life where I pushed God away, but it was because of guilt rather than grief. I knew God would never approve of the choices I was making at the time, so I played Jonah and hid from Him, thinking I could return once I fixed all my problems, The result? I continued falling further into sin because I was incapable of changing myself. It took a time before I realized I needed God’s strength to overcome my weakness.” Barnett has taken her own experiences to build a story that leave us with the understanding that no matter who we are or what we’ve done, God is still as close to us as our next breath and will never leave us nor forsake us.

Out of the Ruins is the first in Barnett’s Golden Gate Chronicles series – bringing to life the world of the early 20th century – a time when technology was changing lives faster than people could keep up. Modern advances such as automobiles, the telephone, electricity, x-rays – all changed peoples lives in unimaginable ways. You’ll love Abby’s story – and will want to read the rest of the series.