Welcome to the Blog Tour for In a Grove of Maples by Jenny Knipfer, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Title: In a Grove of Maples
Series: Sheltering Trees #1
Author: Jenny Knipfer
Publisher: Independently Published
Release Date: July 1, 2021
Genre: Christian, Historical Fiction
In 1897 newly married Beryl and Edward Massart travel more than one thousand miles from Quebec to farm a plot of land in Wisconsin that they bought sight-unseen. An almost magical grove of maples on their property inspires them to dream of a real home built within the grove, not the tiny log cabin they’ve come to live in.
Misunderstandings and tempers get the better of them when difficulties and troubles arise. Just months after they wed, Edward leaves pregnant Beryl in the midst of the coming winter to tend the farm and animals while he goes to be a teamster at a northern Wisconsin logging camp.
Will Beryl and Edward walk into the future together to build their house of dreams in the grove of maples, or will their plans topple like a house of sticks when the winds of misunderstanding and disaster strike?
Readers of Christian historical fiction, Historical fiction, Women’s fiction, and Christian historical romance will be endeared to this slice of late 19th-century farm life.
Jenny Knipfer lives in Wisconsin with her husband, Ken, and their pet Yorkie, Ruby. She is also a mom and loves being a grandma. She enjoys many creative pursuits but finds writing the most fulfilling.
Spending many years as a librarian in a local public library, Jenny recently switched to using her skills as a floral designer in a retail flower shop. She is now retired from work due to disability. Her education background stems from psychology, music, and cultural missions.
Jenny’s favorite place to relax is by the western shore of Lake Superior, where her novel series, By The Light of the Moon, is set.
She deems a cup of tea and a good book an essential part of every day. When not writing, Jenny can be found reading, tending to her many houseplants, or piecing quilt blocks at her sewing machine.
Her new historical fiction, four-part series entitled, Sheltering Trees, is set in the area Jenny grew up in, where she currently lives, and places along Minnesota’s Northern Shore, where she loves to visit. She is currently writing a four-part novella series entitled: Botanical Seasons.
When I think of writers who have inspired me, L.M. Montgomery, C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, and Michael Phillips come to mind.
Montgomery’s characters and settings drew me into the past, and I fell in love with stories from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and dreamed of writing stories of my own. As a girl, I remember wishing I could be Anne of Green Gables, spouting poetic words at every turn, confident, and in love with life.
Lewis fed my imagination with the realm of Narnia, and my younger self came alive with the thought of stepping through a wardrobe into a whole other world. It gave me a spark to be imaginative in my thinking and stories, and opened my mind up to new possibilities.
The fairytales of George MacDonald widened that door of possibility of fantasy fiction and imagination. His poems and novels entertained but also made me think of the deeper spiritual things of life, and it became important to me to read books that not only told a great story but challenged my thinking as well.
Michael Phillips adapted many of MacDonalds works for a more modern audience but also wrote engaging historical fiction with a deeper message, himself. I loved his Stonewyke series and many of his other novels and, as a teenager, they were some of the first adult novels I read.
I can see where the influence of all of these authors played a role in developing my style. My author voice, however, comes from the deeper places of my heart and my practice of journaling through the years and pouring out, with all honesty, my feelings. In fact, diary entries or the act of my characters’ journaling play a big part in many of my novels.
I hope I’ve created lovable and identifiable characters and immersive settings, like Montgomery and infused my novels with imagination, like Lewis. Although my works aren’t fantasy, I do hope to write a series of retold fairy tales when I finish writing my current novella series, Botanical Seasons.
The most important element to me in my books is inspired by McDonald’s ability to infuse a well-told tale with Christian spiritual truths. It’s important to me to help readers discover or remind them that God cares about them, knows what they are going through, and desires to actively be a part of their lives. I hope I spark my readers to come away from reading my novels with hope for tomorrow, courage for today, and forgiveness for the past.
TOUR GIVEAWAY
(1) winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card!
Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight August 16, 2021 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on August 23, 2021. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Sounds good!
Thank you for participating in the book tour for In a Grove of Maples and featuring it and my guest post on your blog today. 🧡
It’s my pleasure!
Sounds good. I like the cover
Thank you for the guest post! 🙂
You’re welcome!
Thank you for sharing the author’s guest post and book details, this sounds like a wonderful read
I really love this cover! Thanks for the book rec!
Thank you for sharing! Sounds like a must read.
Love the cover Thanks for sharing!