Kevin J. Shawda's latest book, Tales of Hope and Faith, gathers five separate stories under a single unifying idea: people finding their deepest sense of purpose only after life pushes them onto unfamiliar ground. The collection includes "Valley of Hope," "…just because they've never spoken to you," "Jerry Saw an Angel," "Brother Sully, Little Sister," and "As Fate Would Have Us." Each story brings its own cast and setting, yet all return to themes of faith, family, forgiveness, and second chances.
The collection's importance lies in how it treats hardship. Shawda's characters are not spared suffering; they emerge from it with scars, new relationships, altered convictions, and a sharper sense of belonging. That approach gives the book a broad reach across historical adventure, spiritual questioning, family drama, mystery, and humor, and it positions the volume for readers who want inspirational fiction grounded in recognizable emotional struggles rather than tidy resolutions.
In "Valley of Hope," fifteen-year-old Patrick Kavanagh reaches Ellis Island from Ireland carrying ambition, loneliness, and anger toward the father who sent him away. America brings possibility and danger in equal measure. His westward journey introduces him to Old Joe and a band of rail riders whose compassion begins to change how he sees others. The Pratts later take him into their Nebraska home, employ him in a printing business, and nurture his artistic talent, becoming parental figures. A violent assault leaves Patrick badly injured and triggers a spiritual awakening that carries him toward Salt Lake City, baptism, missionary service, and a long-delayed reckoning with his feelings about home and his father.
A different mystery drives "…just because they've never spoken to you." A stranger named John arrives in a small town with an odd purpose: he wants to spend time with its animals. Residents find him peculiar at first, but skepticism turns to admiration as animals respond to him with unusual calm. His influence reaches people as well, encouraging service and drawing the community together. The story builds toward a wildfire in which deer, elk, and other wildlife gather near a pond. John appears among the fleeing animals, seemingly guiding them to safety before vanishing into the blaze. Authorities later report few wildlife casualties and no human deaths, but John is never seen again, leaving his fate open to interpretation.
"Jerry Saw an Angel" moves into the intimate world of a family grieving Rebecca Coolidge, who dies after an eighteen-month battle with advanced ovarian cancer. Her young son Jerry struggles deeply with the loss. His connection to the Book of Mormon, a pond near the family chapel, and pages he sends across the water form one of the collection's gentlest portraits of childhood mourning. During an extraordinary gathering of fireflies, Jerry believes he encounters his mother and later reveals details he could not reasonably have known, including the location of Rebecca's own Book of Mormon. The experience does not erase the family's sadness, but it gives them a new way to carry it.
"Brother Sully, Little Sister" introduces a hard-drinking drifter who appears to have squandered his life. His accidental meeting with orphaned Madeleine "Maddie" Sinclair gradually reveals another identity beneath his abrasive exterior. Sully has a military past, unresolved grief, and an instinct for duty that resurfaces when he promises to escort Maddie safely to Wyoming. Their difficult trip forges an unlikely sibling bond and ultimately reveals Sully as Brevet Colonel Sully, a decorated Civil War veteran selected to receive the Medal of Honor for military service that included extraordinary bravery at Chancellorsville.
The collection closes with "As Fate Would Have Us," in which brothers Bobby Lee and Willie Hathaway find themselves wearing uniforms from opposing sides of the Civil War. Their reunion at Fredericksburg forces a choice larger than politics. Brotherhood wins, and the pair leaves the battlefield together. Joined later by Lillie Waltrop, they undertake a hazardous journey home filled with patrols, hunger, injury, strangers willing to help, and the persistent hope that something worth rebuilding still waits for them. Taken together, the five stories make a case for renewal without promising that it arrives easily.
