What happens when you combine history with fiction?

Last week I learned a new word. “Grip car.” I could figure out from the context the general idea, but I had never seen that word before. So, of course, I Googled it. It’s basically a cable car – and apparently, it is uncommon enough that the full article doesn’t make it into Merriam Webster’s free online dictionary. (200,000 other words do…but not that one). New words are just one of my favorite things about reading historical fiction. When you combine history with fiction, all sorts of ideas and experiences from different times and places enter your vocabulary.

This post was originally shared on the Real World Bible Study.

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More generally, you learn new things.

I really loved learning about some of the first women pastors in the Canadian West through Janette Oke’s books. And this week’s adventure, The White City by Grace Hitchcock, transported me to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. I love how when you read that delightful combination of history and fiction, you can walk into another time…and also appreciate things about the time you live in! With a based-on-true-crime story like this one, you can explore roads not taken. What if? What if it had happened this way? What if it’s a young woman with too much time on her hands that nails down the killer behind disappearances around Chicago? What if?

Of course, I love historical fiction for pure entertainment value, too.

But why does fiction make it’s way onto a Bible study blog so much? This blog is about God’s Word + your real life. And one of the best ways to imagine – and partner with – God working in your own life is to see how God works in so many other lives. Fiction helps us do that. It can teach us how to pray, or the value of memorizing Scripture. (I love how Winnie tries to bring to mind favorite verses in a scary situation). It can teach us that it is okay to struggle and push the boundaries, as long as we keep in the conversation with God. But it does all this, like the best teachers do, without leaving us feeling like we’ve been taught.

Would I recommend The White City?

Yes! This was a delightful read. There were some edge-of-the-seat moments (which my thriller-loving-soul delights in), but it wasn’t gruesome. I love characters that are believable and yet don’t quite fit their time or their community…I think I am a lot like them, so they help me figure out how to be me and how to walk with God in my perpetual season of out-of-place. I think my favorite part was the true test of character and love at the end (I won’t spoil it!), and that Winnie’s dad saw it too. If you enjoy mystery, crime, or historical novels, you’ll like this one.

The White City is on Tour with Celebrate Lit

About the Book

Book: The White City

Author: Grace Hitchcock

Genre: Christian Historical/Suspense

Release Date: March, 2019

Mysterious Disappearances Taint the Chicago World’s Fair

Step into True Colors—a new series of Historical Stories of Romance and American Crime

While attending the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, Winnifred Wylde believes she witnessed a woman being kidnapped. She tries to convince her father, an inspector with the Chicago police, to look into reports of mysterious disappearances around the White City. Inspector Wylde tries to dismiss her claims as exaggeration of an overactive imagination, but he eventually concedes to letting her go undercover as secretary to the man in question—if she takes her pistol for protection and Jude Thorpe, a policeman, for bodyguard.

Will she be able to expose H. H. Holmes’s illicit activity, or will Winnifred become his next victim?

Click here to order your copy.

About the Author

Grace Hitchcock is the author of three novellas in The Second Chance Brides, The Southern Belle Brides, and the Thimbles and Threads collections with Barbour Publishing. The White City is her debut novel and releases March 2019 with Barbour Publishing. She holds a Masters in Creative Writing and a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in History. Grace lives in southern Louisiana with her husband, Dakota, and son. Visit Grace online at GraceHitchcock.com.

Guest Post from Grace

True Colors—Fiction Based on Strange, But True, American Crime Stories

True, riveting stories of American criminal activity are explored through 6 unique stories of historical romantic suspense in the exciting new True Colors series.

In book one, The White City, Winnifred Wylde believes she witnessed a woman being kidnapped while attending the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. She tries to convince her father, an inspector with the Chicago police, to look into reports of mysterious disappearances around the White City. Inspector Wylde tries to dismiss her claims as the exaggeration of an overactive imagination, but he eventually concedes to letting her go undercover as secretary to the man in question—if she takes her pistol for protection and Jude Thorpe, a detective, for a bodyguard.

Will she be able to expose H. H. Holmes’s illicit activity, or will Winnifred become his next victim?

The Real Criminal Behind the Story

While Winnifred Wylde is a fictional character, Doctor H. H. Holmes was very real and became infamously known as America’s first serial killer. Learn more about him HERE.