Sometimes hope for the future is found in the ashes of yesterday. EVEN NOW A young woman seeking answers to her heart’s deepest questions. A man and woman driven apart by lies and years of separation…who have never forgotten each other. With hallmark tenderness and power, Karen Kingsbury weaves a tapestry of lives, losses, love, and faith—and the miracle of resurrection. EVER AFTER (2007 Christian Book of the Year) Two couples torn apart – one by war between countries, and one by a war within. In this moving sequel to Even Now, Emily Anderson, now twenty, meets the man who changes everything for her: Army reservist Justin Baker. Their tender relationship, founded on a mutual faith in God and nurtured by their trust and love for each other, proves to be a shining inspiration to everyone they know, especially Emily’s reunited birth parents. But Lauren and Shane still struggle to move past their opposing beliefs about war, politics, and faith. When tragedy strikes, can they set aside their opposing views so that love—God’s love—might win, no matter how great the odds? Sometimes hope for the future is found in the ashes of yesterday. EVEN NOW A young woman seeking answers to her heart's deepest questions. A man and woman driven apart by lies and years of separation…who have never forgotten each other. With hallmark tenderness and power, Karen Kingsbury weaves a tapestry of lives, losses, love, and faith--and the miracle of resurrection. EVER AFTER 2007 Christian Book of the Year Two couples torn apart - one by war between countries, and one by a war within. In this moving sequel to Even Now, Emily Anderson, now twenty, meets the man who changes everything for her: Army reservist Justin Baker. Their tender relationship, founded on a mutual faith in God and nurtured by their trust and love for each other, proves to be a shining inspiration to everyone they know, especially Emily's reunited birth parents. But Lauren and Shane still struggle to move past their opposing beliefs about war, politics, and faith. When tragedy strikes, can they set aside their opposing views so that love--God's love--might win, no matter how great the odds? # 1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury is America’s favorite inspirational storyteller and filmmaker, with more than twenty-five million copies of her award-winning books in print. Her last dozen titles have topped bestseller lists, and many of her novels have been developed into major motion pictures. With the recent formation of Karen Kingsbury Productions, Karen and her team released their first theatrical feature-- Someone Like You --in 2024. The movie received the coveted “Certified Hot” from Rotten Tomatoes for its wildly popular audience rating. Her Baxter Family series was developed into a TV series, “The Baxters,” now playing on Amazon. Karen and her team are currently working on a theatrical Christmas movie for 2025, and their third theatrical film, slated for 2026. She and her husband, Donald, live in Tennessee near their children and grandchildren. Even Now/Ever After By Karen Kingsbury Zondervan Copyright © 2007 Karen Kingsbury All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-310-61023-6 Chapter One March 12, 1988 The death of a friendship was usually slow and insidious, like the wearing away of a hillside after years of too much rain. A handful of misunderstandings, a season of miscommunication, the passing of time, and where once stood two women with a dozen years of memories and tears and conversation and laughter — where once stood two women closer than sisters — now stood two strangers. But Angela Anderson had no time to consider those things, no warning that such a death was about to occur. Because her friendship with Sheila Galanter died a sudden death the afternoon of March 12, 1988, in the time it took Angela to say a single sentence: "Lauren wants to keep the baby." That was it. The look on Sheila's face said it all. Angela's teenage daughter, Lauren, had been in love with Sheila's son, Shane, since the kids were ten years old. Both families were Chicago upper crust with healthy six-figure incomes, known in all the right circles across the city, prominent members at the most elite clubs. Their husbands owned a bank together, and by all estimates the kids' futures were figured out. On afternoons when Angela and Sheila bared their hearts, snickering about the pompous women they knew, planning trips to London, and complaining about the five pounds they'd gained over the holidays, they sometimes dreamed about their children's future. The engagement that would likely come after college, the ring, and, of course, the wedding. Then, to leave room for the kids to make up their own minds, they'd laugh about how silly they were and let the dreams pass. But as the years wore on, Shane grew smitten with Lauren, and there seemed more truth than silliness to the possibility. When the kids started their junio
