The Mercy Tree: A Novel by Sharlene MacLaren

Its 1955, when scandalous affairs are never talked about, divorce is rare, a wife is a homemaker more often than not, and every Christian home displays its family Bible front and center. Certainly, a well-respected pastor in the conservative city of Muskegon, Michigan, would never be caught in the middle of a heinous secret that could ruin his career and break up his beautiful marriage and family. Or would he?

When Henry Griffin was stationed in occupied Japan in the mid-1940s, he met Rina Hamada, a Japanese woman who fell head over heels for him. Despite having a young wife and baby daughter waiting at home in the States, Henry had too much to drink one night, and one thing led to another He knew it was wrong. He struggled with guilt and expressed his resistance, but she professed her love and continued to pursue him.

Now, ten years later, a letter from Japan arrives and threatens to upend Henrys world. What to do and how to tell his wife are just the beginning of his troubles. Tough questions about faith, redemption, and preserving his reputation bring us here, under the shade of The Mercy Tree.