Widow's Walk: A Novel

In the small coastal town of Sparrow, Maine, tradition runs deep—and change is rarely welcome

In the quaint coastal parish of St. Gabriel-by-the-Sea, Reverend Miranda McCurdy arrives with visions of renewal—only to find her progressive ideas crashing against the rocky shores of tradition. When she challenges the cherished Thanksgiving pageant’s outdated “Pilgrims and Indians” costumes, she unwittingly ignites a firestorm within her congregation.

As tensions escalate, a desperate Honduran woman seeking sanctuary in the church forces the parish to confront its deepest values, fracturing the community Miranda had hoped to rejuvenate. Facing a congregational vote of no confidence, the siren call of her former life as an executive chef at Seattle’s hottest new restaurant tempts her—an escape from the stormy waters of parish politics.

But fate intervenes—in the form of a stray dog and an intriguing stranger—forcing Miranda to make an impossible choice: retreat to the familiar comforts of her culinary career or weather the tempest to nurture the fragile roots beginning to anchor her heart.

About Jane Willan

Reverend Jane Willan is a pastor who writes murder mysteries. The author of the Sister Agatha and Father Selwyn Mystery series, she believes that the world of church, with its ecclesiology, liturgy, and church drama, makes for twisty plots and quirky characters. Jane is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC) and was the first to fill the pulpit in a historic New England church once occupied by Puritans. She lives in Hartford, Connecticut with her husband, their two rescue dogs Moses and Ollie, and a rescue cat named Winifred.