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India: 1946. Blessing Ashish murmured. Such a name for a man cursed by a million gods For forty-eight years, his family toiled as slaves in the fields of the high-caste Lal family, and all because of one small debt. Ashish and his family knew nothing of the hatred for the British seething around them, nor of the struggle for independence that simmered throughout India. At fifty-four, Ashish was old and worn out. His wife had died long before how many years, he had no idea. Even though he had four sons to work beside him in the fields, every day was a struggle to survive. Sometimes his only daughter worked, too, but she also cooked and cleaned and kept the clothes in repair. His wife had named the girl Shridula Blessings. Perhaps the name will bring you more fortune than it brought me, Ashish told his daughter. His words proved to be prophetic in ways he could never have imagined. And when the flames of revolt brought independence to India, they seared change into the families of Ashish and Lal.

India 1990. In the final book of the Blessings of India series, Shridula, old and stooped at fifty-nine, makes her painful way to pay homage to the elephant god Ganesh, lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles. “Why are we Hindus instead of Christians?” her seventeen-year-old granddaughter Divena asked. “Because we are Indian,” said Shridula. So begins a spiritual journey for Divena as she struggles against an entire culture to proclaim a faith close to her heart while rocking the world of two families.

Grace in Africa is a sweeping historical three-part saga of slavery and freedom that takes the reader from an island off the west coast of Africa to Southern plantations and finally on to Canada. All her life, Grace Winslow, the daughter of a mixed marriage between an English sea captain and an African princess, has been forbidden to ever approach Zulina, the fortress that juts out into the sea off the African coast. In book 1, when she escapes the family compound to avoid an odious betrothal, she is swept up in a slave revolt. As the truth about Zulina unfolds, Grace begins to grasp the brutality and ferocity of the family business—the capture and trade of slaves. Held for ransom, viciously maimed by a runaway slave, and threatened with death, Grace is finally jerked into reality when her parents leave her to die rather than negotiate with the slaves. Grace sympathizes with the plight of the captives, and she is genuinely moved by the African Cabeto's passion, determination, and willingness to sacrifice anything, including his own life, for his people's freedom. With much of the island in flames, and the slaves freed, Grace is abandoned by her parents. Where shall she go? Her old nursemaid Mama Muco, opens a missionary Bible that she has managed to save and points to Isaiah 61: “The Lord has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound…to give unto them garlands of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning.” It's a new beginning for Grace. Of Kay Strom's 34 published books, four have been book club selections, nine have been translated into foreign languages, and one has been optioned for a movie. Her writing credits also include numerous magazine articles, short stories, two prize-winning screenplays, books and stories for children, and booklets for writers. Her writing has appeared in several volumes, including More Than Conquerors, Amazing Love, The NIV Couple's Devotional Bible and The NIV Women's Devotional Bible, and The Bible for Today's Christian Woman. Her work also is included in a number of compilations, including various books from the Stories for the Heart series. Her best-known book is Once Blind: The Life of John Newton, which is packaged with the recently released DVD Amazing Grace. She also has written several books with her husband, Dan Kline. Kay is a partner in Kline, Strom International, Inc., leaders in communication training. See www.kaystrom.com.

She is safe, and she is free... but she is still alone. Slavers burst into Grace Winslow's life with guns blazing and tear her family apart forever. She watches in anguish as her husband is led in chains aboard a tightly packed slave ship bound for America. An old enemy has a more sinister plan for Grace and prepares her for a different kind of servitude in London. But Grace will not be enslaved. And she will not give up on the man she loves. In her determination to be reunited with her husband, she finds God reaching out to her.

The Grace in Africa series is a sweeping three-part historical saga of slavery and freedom that takes the reader from an island off the west coast of Africa to Southern plantations and finally on to Canada. All her life, Grace Winslow, the daughter of a mixed marriage between an English sea captain and an African princess, has been sheltered from the truth about the family business--the capture and trade of slaves. Set in 1787 in West Africa, The Call of Zulina opens as the scorching harmattan winds blow. Desperate to avoid marriage to an odious suitor, Grace escapes the family compound only to be caught up in a slave revolt at the fortress of Zulina. Soon, she begins to grasp the brutality and ferocity of the family business. Held for ransom, viciously maimed by a runaway slave, and threatened with death, Grace is finally jerked into reality and comes to sympathize with the plight of the captives. She admires their strength and courage and is genuinely moved by the African Cabeto's passion, determination, and willingness to sacrifice anything, including his own life, for his people's freedom.