Henry Carter Hull

The Challenger family pulls together when faced with desperate times. Father has been hospitalized for a long time, and money is hard to come by in the 1930s. Mother takes to her bed while Phyllis tries to manage her siblings and their income, but they may default on rent and lose their home in the middle of winter. . .unless a miracle happens. Can the Challengers hold on long enough to see an end to their troubles?

After two years with her only living relative, Astra Everson is ready to return to the town of her childhood and live on her own. But she finds it necessary to sneak away from her cousin's control while the family is away. A chance encounter on the train brings Charles Cameron into her life just in time for Christmas. He helps her get reestablished in town, but he lacks the faith that is so important to Astra. Up against scheming sisters and unscrupulous...

Marjorie Wetherill grew up in a loving family among the wealthy and privileged-but she always knew she was adopted. And though she questioned how her birth family could give up a child, she was content and happy with her life. But when she faces her first Christmas alone after her parents' deaths, she starts to wonder about finding her first family. A letter among Mrs. Wetherill's things gives her the key to start a search that will change her life....

Now a wealthy man, Greg Sterling heads back east to make a name for himself. But on his first day home, he stumbles on a down-and-out young woman in desperate need of his help. Then just as quickly as she appeared, Margaret McLaren vanishes without a trace. As several days of searching come up empty-handed, old flame Alice Blair saunters into Greg's world, vying to win his heart-and his pocketbook. But will her coquettishness keep Greg from finding...

Former classmates Keith Morrell and Daphne Deane meet again when he comes to check his family's deserted house. But their lives-his full of wealth and society; hers focused on faith and simplicity-couldn't be more different. Despite his engagement to another woman, they are drawn to each other in friendship, and Daphne finds herself pulled into a mystery at the old Morrell home.