Award-winning author Elizabeth Byler Younts delivers a powerful novel of grief, friendship, and forgiveness filled with her signature lyricism and emotional depth. "Younts's powerful novel reverberates with love that crosses religious and racial boundaries to find the humanity that connects us all. Highly recommended." -- Library Journal starred review In the turbulent 1950s, Delilah Evans leaves behind her son's grave in Alabama, hoping for a fresh start in her husband's Pennsylvania hometown. Instead, she finds herself drowning in sorrow and guilt--until an unlikely friendship blossoms with her reclusive Amish neighbor, Emma Mullet, who harbors secrets of her own. Meanwhile, Delilah's daughter, Sparrow, struggles under the weight of her mother's grief, finding solace in Emma's home even as she hides devastating secrets of her own. With the white, Black, and Amish communities of Sinking Creek at their most divided, there seems to be little hope for reconciliation. But long-buried hurts have their way of surfacing, and Delilah and Emma find themselves facing their own self-deceptions. Together they must learn how to face the future through the healing power of forgiveness. "Younts has set herself apart with this exquisite story of friendship and redemption . . . I'll be talking about this book for years to come." --Rachel Hauck, New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Dress Set against the racial, cultural, and religious divides of small-town Pennsylvania, The Solace of Water is a moving portrait of loss, reconciliation, and the fragile beauty of human connection. This standalone historical novel includes discussion questions, making it a meaningful choice for book clubs and a memorable gift for readers of literary, hope-filled fiction. '. . . a riveting and (sadly) relevant historical novel about racial tensions, religious divides, and an unlikely friendship forged in grief. . . Ultimately hopeful, this eloquent, painful story addresses the darkness we carry, the damage our sin causes to others, the freedom of forgiveness, and the ways grief can both blind us and bind us together.' -- Christianity Today 'Byler Younts is a marvel with dialect and highly charged emotional scenes. Like a turbulent river, water is ever-present in this story of love, anger, and regeneration.' -- CBA Market Magazine 'The Solace of Water is a gripping coming-of-age historical fiction story that will stick with readers for some time after the final word is read. Hauntingly beautiful prose is bountiful in this tightly woven tale . . . The characters demonstrate the impact secrets, guilt and unforgiveness can have on a person in this emotive gem.' -- RT Book Reviews, 4 1/2 stars, TOP PICK 'VERDICT Younts's powerful novel reverberates with love that crosses religious and racial boundaries to find the humanity that connects us all. Highly recommended.' -- Library Journal STARRED REVIEW Elizabeth Byler Younts gained a worldwide audience through her first book, Seasons: A Real Story of an Amish Girl . She is also the author of the Carol Award–winning novel The Solace of Water, the critically acclaimed novel The Bright Unknown , and the Promise of Sunrise series. She has consulted on Amish lifestyle and the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect for two award-winning television shows. Elizabeth lives in Central Pennsylvania with her husband, two daughters, and a small menagerie of well-loved pets. Visit her online at ElizabethBylerYounts.com; Twitter: @ElizabethYounts; Facebook: AuthorElizabethBylerYounts; and Instagram: @ElizabethBylerYounts_author. The Solace of Water By Elizabeth Byler Younts Thomas Nelson Copyright © 2018 Elizabeth Byler Younts All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-7180-7566-8 CHAPTER 1 DELILAH Mid-April 1956 My skin was the same color as the soil. I pushed my hands into the ground, and it had hardened some since my visit a week earlier. My hands barely left a dent when I lifted them. I put them back and pressed harder. Tiny bright-green blades of grass were growing, and the dirt didn't look so newly turned over no more. Made me mad. Grass growing over my boy's grave. Should have known it would happen quick in an Alabama spring without no shade overhead. Still wasn't ready to see the ground looking so settled in just a month. But in that month's time there had been a whole lot of rain to tamp down the old dirt. Even though the gravediggers didn't sow grass over the colored folks' graves, these seeds found this soil anyhow. But I still didn't like that. No, sir, I didn't. With life coming up from what was dead and buried. It was unnatural. That's what it was. "Come on, Deedee." My husband's voice yielded to my heaviness like a down pillow. He put his hand on my shoulder, and he would've had to bend over real far because he was tall and I was on my knees. "Brother Jake is waiting for us." I leaned forward away from his touch. My tears dripped and the wetness slipped between my fingers and watere