Saving Grace

"The last enemy to be destroyed is death." (1 Corinthians 15:26)

Through years of poverty, racial tension, and legal battles, Ruby Graves has suffered the worst the Great Depression could throw at her. But an enemy she couldn’t possibly imagine awaits just over the horizon.

After she and her brother, Henry, escape to the tropical paradise of the Philippine Islands, Ruby volunteers as a nurse at a medical clinic in Manila. Although surrounded by beauty, Ruby can’t shake her guilt over leaving Matthew behind, even if it was for his own good. And even worse, God hasn’t spoken to her since the fateful day at Cold Spring.

Meanwhile, Matthew Doyle arrives in the Philippines with the Corps of Engineers, determined to live the life of faith that Ruby would have wanted for him. Despite the rumors of impending war, he’s drawn to the islands’ promise of adventure and, like many of his fellow soldiers, believes the superior forces of the United States would quickly thwart any attack from Japan.

But everything changes on the morning of December 8, 1941. As the Japanese close in on American forces in the Philippines, Ruby, Matthew, and Henry are swept onto the jungle peninsula of Bataan in a desperate attempt to hold out for reinforcements. New enemies emerge, testing their strength beyond anything they could have ever thought possible. Can Ruby and Matthew find their way back to each other and survive the onslaught of the Japanese assault?

Saving Grace is the highly anticipated third installment in the Healing Ruby series by Jennifer H. Westall.