Gone to Green: Gone to Green Series - Book 1

In Gone to Green, Lois goes from being a corporate journalist at a large paper in the Midwest to the owner of The Green News-Item, a small twice-weekly newspaper in rural North Louisiana. The paper was an unexpected inheritance from a close colleague, and Lois must keep it for at least a year, bringing a host of challenges, lessons, and blessings into her life.

When Lois pulls into Green on New Year’s Day, she expects a charming little town full of smiling people. She quickly realizes her mistake. After settling into a loaned house out on Route 2, she finds herself battling town prejudices and inner doubts and making friends with the most surprising people: troubled teenager Katy, good-looking catfish farmer Chris, wise and feisty Aunt Helen, and a female African-American physician named Kevin.

Whether fighting a greedy, deceitful politician or rescuing a dog she fears, Lois notices the headlines in her life have definitely improved. She learns how to provide small-town news in a big-hearted way and realizes that life is full of newsworthy moments. When she encounters racial prejudice and financial corruption, Lois also discovers more about the goodness of real people and the importance of being part of a community.

While secretly preparing the paper for a sale, Lois begins to realize that God might indeed have a plan for her life and that perhaps the allure of city life and career ambition are not what she wants after all.

Publishers Weekly

Lois Barker, a successful big-city journalist, never imagined ending up in the tiny town of Green, La. She never guessed that within months she would unexpectedly inherit a smalltown newspaper. She never believed she would leave her rising-star career impulsively after a quiet, inner prompting urged, “Go... I’ll help you.” Yet that improbable route to upheaval is precisely where Christie (Goodbye, Murphy’s Law) engagingly guides both readers and the charming yet flummoxed Barker. As the editor and owner of the Green News-Item, the ever uncertain Barker transforms from an overwhelmed and overly self-reliant Jane Doe into a considerable power for reform and revitalization in her depressed Louisiana borough. Refreshingly realistic religious fiction, this novel is unafraid to address the injustices of sexism, racism and corruption as well as the spiritual devastation that often accompanies the loss of loved ones. Yet these darker narrative tones beautifully highlight the novel’s message of friendship, community and God’s reassuring and transformative love. (Aug.)