The Lost Story of Via Belle was pure joy for me to research and write, starting with Olivia’s moonflower garden and her old, mysterious home. The enduring friendships between unexpected people and the story within a story.

Most of all, I enjoyed writing a mystery that was inspired by the novelist who inspired me when I was a young reader. Grace Livingston Hill received a lot of criticism in the 1920s through the 1940s for communicating her Christian faith through her fiction, but I loved the history, romance, mystery, and authentic expressions of Christianity in her stories. As an adult, I have tremendous admiration for her courage, tenacity, and for the way she weathered some extremely difficult personal storms.

While my novel isn’t specifically about Grace, it was inspired by her life along with two other literary icons from that ­ era—Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie (who temporarily disappeared in 1926). All three were gifted writers who navigated complex relationships in their personal lives.

The Lost Story of Via Belle is set primarily in Ohio and Pennsylvania. I was very familiar with the Central Ohio landscape where I spent most of my childhood years, not far from Kenyon College and Malabar Farm, the former home of novelist Louis Bromfield. To capture the Pennsylvania setting, I had the honor of touring Grace’s former home in Swarthmore and walking the streets that haven’t changed much since she walked them more than eighty years ago. Then I visited the old Moravian town of Lititz and immersed myself in the town’s history and important things like sampling their famous Old World pretzels at the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery.

I hiked through the woods near my envisioned setting and stayed in the attic of a beautiful Victorian mansion called Greystone Manor in Lancaster County. The Amish buggies. The rolling hills and stone house. The small lake and cemetery in the woods. It’s important for me not just to see these places before I write but stop to smell the lilac and peonies, listen to the clank under my wheels as I drive through a narrow covered bridge, and taste those pretzels and other local cuisine. Sensory experiences like these take a me right into the story, and I hope that it will take you as well into the heart of Olivia’s world.

My final highlight of the trip was an afternoon spent with the lovely Daena Creel, an archivist and the creator of gracelivingstonhill.com. We shared tea and caraway seed cookies while looking through the many Grace Livingston Hill items she has secured over the years—letters, contracts, first edition books, royalty statements, and photographs. It was a great honor to stroll through this curated collection with her.

Below are a few photos from my research. I hope you enjoy exploring some of the facts behind my fiction!

And if you'd like to read a little more about the story behind the story, click here for more info about Via Belle's Moonflower Lake.