Testing Tessa

Set in 1868, the story follows Tessa, a newly graduated Mennonite nurse sent to the Amana Colonies in Iowa. Her training in treating asthma and other breathing ailments is the reason for the assignment. She once studied at a women's medical school and understands respiratory disease better than most, yet the death of her mentor ended her hope of becoming a doctor. Can she put her knowledge to use, or will being a woman stand between her and the people who need her most?

In Amana, Seth is a widower still grieving his wife, who died two years earlier. He is raising their son Caleb alone, a frail boy, and has begun to wonder why God did not answer his prayers for his family's healing.

Caleb suffers from the same form of asthma that took Anna's life, and Seth can only watch helplessly as his son weakens. He must decide whether he can trust both God and medicine, or whether faith in one excludes faith in the other.