OMAHA, Neb., Aug. 26, 2013 /
Christian Newswire/ -- In Chaka Heinze's newly released book, a bustling community center in one of America's many urban centers serves as the backdrop for a story of healing and reconciliation. The Heinze family's struggles with the severe health needs of their youngest son informed the writing of her book,
Under a Withering Sun. The message: new life can emerge in the most desolate of places, and under the most unexpected of circumstances.
Heinze says that Under a Withering Sun is "a novel about a girl going to the edge of sanity before bouncing back." While she herself knows well the subjects treated--depression, loss, grief--the book is nonetheless a work of fiction. Also, though it is a love story between a man and a woman, she "knew from the beginning that I wanted to use this book to further God's purposes."
To that end, Heinze will be donating a portion of the proceeds from her book sales to Abide Network, a nonprofit organization in Omaha, Nebraska, that Heinze describes as wanting to "transform north Omaha neighborhood by neighborhood."
Many readers will sense God's purposes at work more immediately as they hear the main character of the book, Regina Leeman, narrate her descent into, and ascent out of, a spiritual winter. Regina intends to stay aloof and distant, safely wallowing in her grief and anger, but finds herself unexpectedly on a road to healing thanks to those she encounters along the way: the students she teaches in her creative writing course, a man with Alzheimer's, and a young man named Damion who refuses to abandon her to her personal abyss.
Sometimes, despite our desire to keep people at arm's length, it is only by the strength of their arms that we are rescued.
Heinze is available for interviews at (402) 658-6024 and can also be reached by email at
chakaheinze@live.com.
