Inspirational novel – Kathryn Spurgeon

A Promise of Home

Featured by Kathryn Spurgeon, posted in Historical novel

Announcing a new exciting, 1940s historical novel.

“This is an awesome book. I have loved the entire series.” Amazon Reviewer

“Intriguing, exciting, heartbreaking, and full of history.” A Series Reviewer

I’m so excited this new book has been released. It’s a great book set during the war. I’ve been told it’s one of my best.

As WW2 heats up, many young men from Fremont’s hometown of Shawnee, Oklahoma, enlist or get drafted. Word filters in about the wounded, the missing in action, and those who have died.

Fremont Pope avoids the draft, but to do his part, he finds a job at an ammunition plant in Colorado while his wife, mission-minded Sibyl, agrees to the move, hoping to teach women what she’s learned. They’re also glad to leave their cantankerous family behind in Oklahoma.
And then their family follows them to Colorado. Of all things!

When they have to move again, Fremont’s boss offers an amazing promotion back east. Their other choice is to move to New Mexico for mission work. It’s a tough choice. Plunge ahead to a lucrative corporate job or help a small new church grow.

They yearn to go home, but where is home? What does God want them to do? Are they willing to give up their dreams and begin again?

A Promise of Home, the fourth and final book in the Promise Series, carries the reader through a timeless family saga based on a compelling true story.

Love and blessings,

Kathryn

Picture of Sibyl’s First Baby

Featured by Kathryn Spurgeon, posted in My Thoughts

Sibyl and Fremont Pope’s adorable first baby, born under questionable circumstances and raised during the Great Depression, became a beautiful, godly, and loving woman. However, I’m getting ahead of my story, the few pages of time dedicated to Sibyl and Fremont. If history could be contained in a book, a million pages would not cover a single day.

Here is the baby’s adorable pictures. Don’t you love those beautiful blue eyes?

Great Depression Family Saga

This historical romance series, or family tale, is based upon the true story of a destitute but stable (and handsome) Christian man and a privileged, moody, and brilliant socialite. It moves like a trek through the mountains. Up to the glorious view from Oklahoma’s Wichita Mountains before dipping into the treacherous, unpredictable valleys along the North Canadian River. Will they allow heartaches to steal their family vision or follow the Lord wherever he might lead?

Margaret, the baby girl of their first love, is still living at 87 years old, and shares their amazing tale. Suffering from bladder cancer and weak from treatment, she still has a memory worthy of a few of those historical pages. Her faith during trials has bolstered hundreds, including me, and some sweet day she’ll reap the rewards. “For this light affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” 2 Corinthians 4:17

See the novel, A Promise to Break, for the awesome story about this family. Published by Memory House Publishing, LLC.

Please pray for Margaret Pope Akin as she reviews the last changes of the third book in the 1930s historical series, Fremont’s Promise.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorKathrynSpurgeon

New book coming!

Featured by Kathryn Spurgeon, posted in Historical novel

Fremont’s Promise

Promise Series Book #3

Sibyl, the wealthy girl who marries into poverty, wants to move away from Shawnee and live in peace enough to share her faith. She yearns to experience more of life than the squabbles and arguments she hears from her family. Another child? Another job? Another church or town?

Will any of this help Sibyl feel more satisfied?

As for her husband, Fremont Pope loves Sibyl enough to promise to travel to the stars and back if that’s what she wants. He desires to move and take her away from the dysfunctional family to create a calm, stable life. But can that happen? Can anyone ever have a calm, stable life? Can Fremont keep his promises?

Based on a true story, this family saga continues with heartaches and blessings that form an inspiring story.

Fun Fact:

Did you know Sibyl's youngest sister, Frances, is still alive at 93 years old? She lives in a nursing home in Oklahoma City.

News about Book 3 in the Promise Series!

10/29/201801/26/2025 by Kathryn Spurgeon, posted in Historical novel, Memory House Publishing

Many people have asked when my third historical book in the Promise series will be released. I’ve researched and written throughout the year, and the book is almost, almost completed. I plan to publish it in early 2019, and the tentative title is A Promise of Hope. I’m excited to share it with you!

2014 11 thanks (21).JPG — Found a picture showing Margaret Pope’s beautiful blue eyes.

Sibyl and Fremont Pope, who lived in Shawnee, Oklahoma, from 1939 to 1941, struggled through the Great Depression, family disappointments and losses, and questions about God. The attack on Pearl Harbor coincides with a catastrophe of their own.

The incidents in the books are taken from family autobiographies, interviews, newspaper articles, and other published texts. Many fellow writer and people from Shanwee, Oklahoma, have given important input. However, the details are primarily memories from my mother, Margaret Pope, the baby born in the first book, A Promise to Break.

This year, my mother developed bladder cancer. She has gone through a lot of treatments, been seriously ill at times and, at 85 years old, is weak. For a strong woman who had a secretarial job at her church until she was 84, it has been difficult. Chemotherapy did not work and she ended up in the hospital for four days afterward, so she is taking immunotherapy. The last cat scan showed that the treatment is working, so we are hopeful that by next year she’ll have gained her strength and health back, enjoying life as much as she always has. Our hope is in the Lord’s mercy.

The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him. In those who hope in his mercy. Psalm 147:11

Our family appreciates all your prayers and concerns.

In the meantime, I have been working on a series of historical short stories. The five stories are about my Grandma Akin and her sisters during the 1930s in Hollis, Oklahoma. Each sister dealt with different issues. I look forward to sharing their lives with you soon.

If you haven’t read the first two historical books in the series, A Promise to Break, and A Promise Child, you can find them here.

A Road Trip to Hollis

10/31/201710/31/2017 by Kathryn Spurgeon, posted in Historical novel

Hollis, where my father grew up, is a little town in the far southwest corner of Oklahoma, still charming in many ways. It took about three hours to drive there from Oklahoma City. On the trip, my brother, sister, and I passed cotton fields that looked like patches of snow, visited a cemetery that was as hot, dry, and dusty as if going back to the Dust Bowl age, and took pictures of old stores, churches, and schools where my family once walked.

The day trip was fun, especially with my siblings in tow. Since all of us had visited there as children, we reminisced about our childhood and favorite relatives. Thank you Keren and David for accompanying me.

We visited the Harmon County Historical Society where we found pictures of my dad when he graduated in 1948 and many names of relatives mentioned in historical books. Then we went to the Harmon County Courthouse, where a nice lady helped us look through monster books that went back to the beginning of time, or the beginning of the county’s statehood. Marriages. Divorces. Testaments. We found a great aunt’s marriage licenses from the 1920’s, and my great grandparents’ will and testament. What a find!

Joe’s Grill, a hometown café, gave us an awesome lunch. If you ever go through Hollis, try the special catfish meal. It came complete with homemade German Chocolate cake.

I’m considering writing a short story or historical novel about my father’s family from Harmon County. Set in the 1930’s like my other historical books, this one would be about the five sisters and the baby girls they lost during the Great Depression. Where was God when the Dust Bowl hit Hollis residents so hard?

The Bible instructs us to remember the past. Remember what God has done. Deuteronomy 32:7 states, “Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you.”

Digging into the past has been a challenge. I love looking back to see how God worked through people. He was always there, always helping, always loving. However, sometimes you have to look really deep to see it!

You can find my Christian novels based on real people, A Promise to Break, and A Promise Child, on Amazon.