By Tracy Tranory @tracy_traynor
Hello, my name is Tracy Traynor. I’m an indie-author and I love to write stories.
From a very early age I used to spend immeasurable amounts of time day dreaming; now I spend every minute I can at the computer putting day dreams to paper and creating stories, which I hope people will enjoy reading.
Grace in Mombasa is fictional, but was inspired by a woman I met in Kenya called Moira Smith. I met Moira twice in 1991, and she made such an impact on me I have not been able to forget her, and over the years I began to imagine what her life might have been like. I would be driving to work and suddenly she would appear in my mind and I started to create a fictional life for her.
I did a lot of research and the book is filled with facts, at the end of the book I mention the things that happen in Grace’s life that were the real things that happened to Moira.
This is a life – and therefore a story in two halves. The first half of her life was spent in England, and so the book’s first part is her life during World War 2 in England. The second half of the book is set in Mombasa.
Moira was an amazing woman who dedicated her life to helping the Kenyan people who came into the Coast General Hospital in Mombasa, a place where people believed they only went to die. She inspired me, and I hope I have done her story justice so that it might inspire others.
To continue with Moira’s good works for the people of Mombasa, I have hooked up with Barnabas Trust Outreach Mombasa, and I am donating 50% of all sales to them.
Sean McIntyre Missionary to Kenya with Barnabas, and minister at AOG Colchester, gave me this endorsement:
The story of Grace captures the experience of many others who, though quite ordinary by themselves, find that the love of God propels them towards quite extraordinary endeavours. Tracy is the author of Grace's story but the inspiration was Moira Smith and the author of her story was none other than God himself, described in the Bible as the 'author and finisher of our faith'. I commend Tracy's book "Grace in Mombasa" to you in the hope that, inspired by the story of Grace and Moira, you will become hungry for a story of your own and that you will turn to the great author of all our lives. He already has a story prepared for you!
The first person to read the book, besides the editors, is Wendy H Jones, Author and member/webmaster of the ACW Scotland – Association of Christian Writers. Here is her endorsement:Tracy Traynor’s writing transports you from World War 1 and 2 England to the courts of heaven, via Mombasa. With characters which pop off the page and straight into your heart, this is a book you will remember for a long time.
To tempt you to buy the book, please find the blurb below.
Inspired by true events. Grace in Mombasa is an intriguing historical saga of betrayal and loss, romance and heartbreak, and one woman’s journey in faith.
From the day she was born, Grace Clifton has navigated a life of loss and heartbreak, without a mother to guide her and through the ravages of two World Wars. With England in the midst of a Second World War, Grace, experiences the excitement of love and romance, but all too soon it turns to heartbreak. Through it all, Grace is sustained by her unwavering faith in God, but when all she holds dear is ripped away from her, Grace is left devastated and doubting everything she’s ever believed in.
As the world slowly recovers from war, Grace too begins the process of healing from bitterness and the deep wounds inflicted by life. However, her steadfastness to God is lost and she determines never to pray again. When an unexpected opportunity comes up in Kenya, Grace seizes the chance to escape the memories, hoping to find a purpose and build a new life for herself. In the city of Mombasa, Grace soon begins to realise she can’t ever distance herself from life’s complications, but if she’s prepared to open her heart, maybe her shattered faith will once more bring her hope, love and the healing that she desperately needs.
Grace in Mombasa is a story about a woman with amazing faith that is shattered when her life falls apart, but will God simply let her go? If you like heartfelt dialogue, stories seeped in fact and history, and memorable characters, then you’ll love Tracy Traynor’s moving and inspirational novel.
You can find Grace in Mombasa online at:
About Moira Smith ... the inspiration behind Grace
Moira Smith was born in 1912, in England. On 25th July 1953, aged 41, she boarded the ship SS Uganda and set sail for Mombasa, Kenya.She spent her years on the island helping people who came to the Mombasa Coast General Hospital, in any way that she could - and by taking every opportunity to spread the gospel. She never got to retire in the convent. She died in the hospital in the mid 1990s, where her last action was to give away the medicine that people brought in for her to the other patients.
Moira's ashes are buried in the compound of St Peter's Church, Nyali, Kenya.
No comments:
Post a Comment