Fiction with a Purpose

Susan Lawrence is an author, speaker, and storyteller. After teaching elementary school for 26 years, she hung up the chalkboard to devote more time to writing. Her published works include Flight of the Red-winged Blackbird, Atonement for Emily Adams, available on Audible, Restoration at River's Edge, The Blue Marble, The Long Ride Home, and Shepherd of eSwatini. Both The Blue Marble and The Long Ride Home are written specifically for middle grade readers. Susan lives in Des Moines with her husband and short-legged Lab, Molly. She has three children and seven beautiful and brilliant grandchildren who love to hear her stories.
Current selection of books available

Children's Fiction

The Long Ride Home

The Long Ride Home recounts the journey of two young children from New York to the farmlands of Iowa. Families are willing to adopt young orphans like Emma, but Bert might have to find work on a farm. He has a lot to learn about farm life. Each day brings new lessons, from milking cows to being kind, and new fears. More than a place to live, he needs a family to love. Will he find a home in Iowa with his sister? Or will he take the long train ride back to New York?

The Blue Marble

Ten-year-old Matthew longs to escape from his family. But when he finds a blue marble and winds up in an orphanage in 1946, getting what he wished is not so fun. A cruel supervisor mistreats the boys and polio paralyzes a friend. While learning to play marbles, he also learns about trusting God. Can the blue marble help him to win the National Marble Tournament? And will he ever find his family again?
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Shepherd of eSwatini is set in the former country of Swaziland in Africa. Susan uses the beautiful words of the 23rd Psalm as a framework to tell the story of Sandile, a boy who tends goats and compares his duties to God's care of him. The colorful illustrations, done by Kris Grover, accurately depict life in rural eSwatini.

Women's Fiction

Restoration at River's Edge

​After Jon Washington’s wife dies in an accident, he inherits her uncle’s dilapidated Victorian house on a bike trail. He hopes to find peace by following her dream of restoring it as a restaurant. But financial difficulties and construction setbacks add to his stress. At last River’s Edge Restaurant opens and Jon is certain healing will begin. But his elderly baker has cancer, his waitress is pregnant, and his cook isn’t trustworthy. Even his fledgling relationship with Kirsten and her young son with autism, only brings guilt. When a fire nearly destroys the restaurant, Jon is devastated. Will he turn his back on the place and the people that have brought more pain than healing, or will he turn to the only One who has the power to heal?

                                           Flight of the Red-winged Blackbird

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                        In 1932, Ruth Russo flees the farm where she arrived as an orphaned teenager and                                            seeks refuge at Sisters of Mercy Home for unwed mothers. When the haven she hopes                                    for becomes a place of tragedy, she flees again, and attempts to support herself in a                                        culture of discrimination and a country burdened by the Great Depression.
                        Her days brighten when she reconnects with Jack, a friend from high school. But Jack is                                a budding lawyer, and she is a maid in his cousin’s house. Will Ruth be able to lay down                                her burden of shame  and accept love, not only from Jack, but also from God?
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                         When Emily Adams hits and kills 10-year-old Isaiah Nelson with her car, she is overwhelmed                           with remorse. Knowing she cannot undo this tragedy, Emily hopes to atone for Isaiah's
                         death by good deeds and community service. However, the more she does, the more her life                           falls apart.With her job on the line, her volunteer efforts fruitless, and her marriage in                                       jeopardy, the final blow comes when Isaiah's grieving parents file a wrongful death suit. For                           them, this will be justice and closure, but for Emily this is final proof she will never be
                         forgiven. Not by Isaiah's parents - not by God. Where do you turn when "I'm sorry" isn't                                         enough?