About Francine:

Francine Rivers began her literary career at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Journalism. From 1976 to 1985, she had a successful writing career in the general market and her books were awarded or nominated for numerous awards and prizes. Although raised in a religious home, Francine did not truly encounter Christ until later in life, when she was already a wife, mother of three, and an established romance novelist. Shortly after becoming a born-again Christian in 1986, Francine wrote Redeeming Love as her statement of faith. First published by Bantam Books, and then re-released by Multnomah Publishers in the mid- 1990s, this retelling of the biblical story of Gomer and Hosea set during the time of the California Gold Rush is now considered by many to be a classic work of Christian fiction. Redeeming Love continues to be one of the Christian Booksellers Association’s top-selling titles and it has held a spot on the Christian bestseller list for nearly a decade.

Since Redeeming Love, Francine has published numerous novels with Christian themes – all bestsellers– and she has continued to win both industry acclaim and reader loyalty around the globe. Her Christian novels have been awarded or nominated for numerous awards including the Rita Award, the Christy Award, the ECPA Gold Medallion, and the Holt Medallion in Honor of Outstanding Literary Talent. In 1997, after winning her third Rita award for Inspirational Fiction, Francine was inducted into the Romance Writers’ of America Hall of Fame. Francine’s novels have been translated into over twenty different languages and she enjoys best-seller status in many foreign countries including Germany, The Netherlands, and South Africa.

Francine and her husband Rick live in Northern California and enjoy the time spent with their three grown children and every opportunity to spoil their five grandchildren. She uses her writing to draw closer to the Lord, and that through her work she might worship and praise Jesus for all He has done and is doing in her life.

The first part of unforgettable epic family saga about the sacrifices every mother makes for her daughter and the very nature of unconditional love. On the eve of the First World War, fiery Marta Schneider leaves Switzerland and her difficult childhood behind, determined to find a new life on her own terms. Barely out of her teens, Marta is haunted by a devastating loss that fuels her ambition to one day own a hotel. From the cramped quarters of a French housekeeping school to the portrait-lined halls of a stately English manner, Marta becomes a hard working domestic who has little time to dwell on what might have been.  Instead, she draws her strength from what could be. Then, Marta meets Niclas Waltert, a man just as determined as she to forge a better life in a new place. Niclas captures her heart and together they endure the harshness of life as tenant farmers on the vast prairies of Winnipeg, Canada, before following the promise of the American dream and migrating to the agriculturally rich Central Valley of California.  Marriage and motherhood bring both joy and heartbreak, as Marta must surrender her long-held ambitions for the sake of her husband and children, including her daughter, Hildemara, upon whose shoulders her own hopes now squarely rest. Only the strong survive and Marta is determined to raise a daughter as strong as she.  But as Hildie reaches young womanhood and another war is fast approaching, those hopes become too heavy a burden for Hildie to bear. Born with a heart to serve others, Hildie pursues her calling as a nurse, something Marta can’t understand. Marta’s years of hardnosed parenting have left Hildie still hungry for her mother’s love…and now for her mother’s respect. Amid the drama of WWII, Hildie falls in love and begins a family of her own. She wants her daughter, Carolyn, never to doubt her love–but the challenges of life conspire against her vow and the only person who can come to her aid is the person she remains so desperate to please: Marta, her mother. With hallmark touches of brilliant prose and gripping characterizations, Her Mother’s Hope is a rich, moving epic about faith and dreams, heartache and disappointment, and ultimately the resilience and tenacity of love.

You can read the first chapter of Her Mother’s Hope here.

We recently caught up with Francine and picked her brain about writing, faith, and the emotional roller coaster that is the mother-daughter relationship:

While reading Her Mother’s Hope, I couldn’t help but think of the quote from Anita Diamant, “If you want to understand any woman you must first ask about her mother and then listen carefully.” How has exploring the relationship between your mother and grandmother helped you understand yourself?

This is a question I would love readers to ask themselves at the end of Her Mother’s Hope.  I realized early in the story that I have many of my grandmother and mother’s character traits, both good and bad.  They both had tempers.  So do I.  They both had low self-esteeem.  I’m always striving to “measure up”.  They both chose spouses who respected them.  So did I.  Both women had strong faith and servants’ hearts, something they encouraged in me. My mother extended grace to others — a trait I want to cultivate to the end of my days.  By holding onto her anger, Grandma lacked the peace and joy she could have had in her last years.  I tend to relive past hurts.  Writing about Marta made me decide to let go, forgive and move on.  For whatever reason, Grandma couldn’t and missed out on so much joy in her last years.  Sometimes people deeply hurt as children take offense where none was intended.  Holding a grudge causes suffering, especially for the one who won’t let go.  Jesus said to forgive one another as He has forgiven us.  Forgiveness frees us, even if the other person refuses to join in the process of reconciliation.  As I examine my own life, I see how much I’ve been forgiven.  How can I not extend God’s grace to others?  The best way to experience the fullness of God’s presence in my life is to surrender it to Him.   And in that surrender, we are made more complete and joy-filled.

Mother-daughter relationships are often complicated and fraught with emotional landmines. What was your approach to exploring the complexity of those relationships in a fictional setting?

Questions, lots of questions!  Every time I told someone I was working on a book about mother-daughter relationships, people wanted to share their family stories.  As I wrote Her Mother’s Hope, I wanted readers to see through each woman’s eyes, and understand how the past shaped each in the way she responded to her mother.  Hildemara doesn’t believe her mother loves her, but it is out of Marta’s pain and loss that tough-love techniques were forged.  Marta wants to strengthen her daughter for whatever lies ahead.  Sometimes what we view as rejection can actually be an act of sacrificial love.  We seldom know the experiences that shaped our mothers, the deep hurts, traumatic events, broken relationships.  I hope women who read this book will want to share those things with one another.

Author and speaker Staci Eldredge says that “Our love for our mothers is matched only by our desire to be separate from them.” One of the things that struck me while reading Her Mother’s Hope was how each woman loved her mother, longed for their relationship to be different, and yet hungered for independence as well.  As you created the four fictional women whose lives span this series, how did you want them to grow spiritually as they navigated the mother-daughter relationship?

It’s part of our human (sin) nature to want our own way.  As a girl becomes a woman, there is going to be friction.  Without it, the child might never leave home!  Over the course of the story, Marta and Hildemara learn how they are independent of one another.  Acknowledging the differences in how we think and what we want from life teaches us mutual respect.   We are each created by God, unique and designed for His purposes.   As a mother, I wanted to rear my children to know the Lord at an early age. I wanted my children able to stand firm in faith and live for Jesus in a culture that is increasingly hostile to His teachings.  The relationship between a mother and daughter should change over the years.  My daughter doesn’t belong to me.  She was on loan from God.  His plan is better for her than any I might have – or she might have for herself.  Sometimes a mother grows up alongside her daughter.

Most author’s have an “ah-ha” moment when the idea for a novel is first stumbled upon.  What was that moment for you and how long did it take to go from the kernel of inspiration to the publication of Her Mother’s Hope?

My ah-ha moment was more a sigh.  I accepted the fact that I will never know whether my grandmother forgave my mother.   Emotions don’t always make sense.  They aren’t always fair or even logical.  I hold onto God’s promise that He will not lose anyone who belongs to Him.  Grandma and Mom both believed in Jesus and loved serving Him all their lives.   Whatever wasn’t resolved in their earthly lives, God has resolved in heaven.

At nearly 500 pages, Her Mother’s Hope is certainly a long novel.  Yet the saga is only half over at its end.  What can readers look forward to with the sequel?  And do you have a title for it yet?

The next book, Her Daughter’s Dream, will be coming out September 14, 2010.  The story continues through the eyes of Hildemara’s daughter and grand-daughter, Carolyn and May Flower Dawn.  Readers will journey with them through the emotional and spiritual battlegrounds of the Cold War years, Vietnam protests, free love movement and on to 9-11 and the present day.   Each woman has a dream, and one has a dark secret that has kept her heart imprisoned.   It takes one to bring them together under the same roof, and God to reconcile and restore them.