In 1920, returning from WWI, Paddy finds Ireland creeping toward civil war. Invisible borders separate people, including Paddy and his pregnant girlfriend. With few prospects, Paddy sails to America. However, America is far from the land of opportunity he’d hoped for. And worse, his girl refuses to follow him because of her political involvement.

Thirty years later, Patrick has moved on with his life, building a new family. A letter arrives, suggesting the child he’d assumed died may be alive. Patrick’s American daughter Mardell pushes him to find out what happened to her sister, named Juniper. Patrick anxiously sails to Ireland.

Juniper endured a childhood in institutions, and when she’s released, she moves on without the parents who left her. Operating an apothecary out of an inherited cottage where villagers are slow to trust outsiders, Juniper finally finds a home when her grandmother arrives. Just as she feels comfortable and content, her father shows up at her door, bringing shocking news about her mother.

Finding Juniper invites readers on a journey of confronting the past, healing from old traumas, and redefining what family truly means.

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About the Author

Known for the inspirational Celtic theme employed in most of her books, Cindy Thomson writes both fiction and nonfiction and has published more than a dozen books. She is co-founder of the Faith & Fellowship Book Festival, vice president of the Mordecai Brown Legacy Foundation, frequent creative writing teacher at Thurber House, and a genealogy researcher. Her love of history inspires everything she writes. When she’s not minding grandbabies, she writes from her home in central Ohio where she lives with her husband Tom.

More from Cindy

Q&A Finding Juniper by Cindy Thomson

Q: What led you to write this book?

I answer this question in my author’s note, but with this novel hearing about how soldiers returning to Ireland after WWI were treated made me want to explore how someone might have coped. It was a tough time for them but it was also a tough time to be an Irish immigrant in America with no connections. Prohibition offered easy money so it was easy to imagine how someone like Paddy Doyle might have been drawn to work as a rumrunner. I was also interested in how a young girl left at an institution might have coped once she was released. Those two story ideas sparked the writing of Finding Juniper.

Q:What was the most unexpected challenge you encountered while writing a book?

I honestly had no idea it would take me so long to write this book. I mean years. It took me about two years initially and that was because my time to write is so limited right now. I watch my grandchildren full time. When I first thought it was ready, it was not. I got some good feedback and did a lot of re-writing. When I finally got the book to my editor I discovered that working sporadically had a cost. There were too many threads in the story that went no where, mostly because I lost track of the main story here and there. I tend to be a seat-of-the-pants writer rather than a plotter and when a lot of time passes between writing sessions I get lost. I do need some kind of outline rather than what I keep in my head. So to answer your question, finishing was the biggest challenge with this particular book.

Q: Can you share a moment from your personal life that inspired a scene or character in the book?

On my first trip to Ireland my father passed away back home. It happened toward the end of the vacation. When my husband and I were in Dublin the night before the flight home, we kind of wandered aimlessly. We stopped in at pub to grab a light dinner. It was a quaint place with round tables scattered about. It was fairly early in the evening so not too crowded. I took a quick photo of our drinks and the menu. On our way out the door, the bartender handed us two small keychains bearing the name of the place. I didn’t realize until after we’d gotten home that we’d wandered into a famous place with a literary connection: Davy Byrnes. From the pub’s website: “The literary giant with which Davy Byrnes is synonymous, is of course, James Joyce. Joyce regularly visited the premises and developed a special relationship with the friendly but abstemious Davy Byrne. Joyce’s Dubliners has mention of Davy Byrnes, but the Joycean character with which the premises is most associated with is Leopold Bloom of Ulysses.” So when my characters Paddy and Mardell arrived in Dublin in 1950, I wanted them to visit the pub and to know, unlike me, where they were.

Q: How did you choose the title for your book, and what significance does it hold for you?

Choosing this title was very different from the process for my other books. The title popped into my head first. From there I imagined a journey where a father searches for a daughter he never knew. Later I contemplated changing it. There are a couple of other novels with the title. But I couldn’t. This was the story, finding Juniper. So I kept it.

Q: Were there any themes or messages you consciously set out to explore in this book?

Yes, the definition of family. The process of healing from past hurts, forgiveness, reconciliation.

Q: What research did you conduct for this book, and did you uncover anything surprising or fascinating?

Research is one of my favorite parts of the writing process. I love finding the lessons characters from the past learned and passing those on in fiction. As I mentioned, learning about Irish soldiers returning to an Ireland that was not the same as the one they left sent me researching for what I could find about this. As one fellow author who was born in Ireland told me, it was not talked about. The fact that Ireland was slower to recover from the Great Depression was another detail I wanted to include. Not everyone was poor but it was tough to make a living. Asylums in Ireland often held people who did not need to be there. Not everyone was mistreated but many were, their only offenses being too pretty, pregnant outside of marriage, or having no family to care for them. How someone heals from this was another thread I wanted to explore. And of course visiting Ireland is the best part of research, at least I think so!

Q: Can you describe a memorable interaction you’ve had with a reader about this book?

I’ve been pleasantly amazed at what readers have been saying. Those who have read my other books say Finding Juniper is my best. Readers tend to say they love this story, which pleases me greatly. One of my favorite quotes from a review by Kathy: “It’s been a long time since a book brought me to tears, evoking a depth of emotion I rarely experience from reading a novel. Finding Juniper contains that kind of depth.”

Q: Are there any characters in the book that you relate to on a personal level?

There are bits and pieces in most of them but I would have to say Mardell. I was the youngest daughter with only half siblings. Some I was raised with and some I wasn’t. The circumstances are not the same as in the novel, but I think wanting to find out things about my parents’ lives before they had me has always interested me. I would have loved to take a trip of discovery with my father. Perhaps I was unknowingly aware of that while writing. And perhaps I actually did in a way since my father moved on to heaven while I was over there.

Q: What was the most rewarding moment you experienced during the writing process?

The editing phase always brings me the most rewarding moment. When the story I wanted to tell is actually there on the pages (with the help of an editor), when I know I’m close to the end, is so very exciting.

Q: How do you approach writing dialogue, and do you have any tips for crafting authentic conversations?

I hear the conversations as though they are actually happening. Sometimes that causes me to invent a word or a sound that doesn’t exist. Another reason I appreciate editors. Dialogue needs to feel natural and not like the author is dumping in information. What would the characters be thinking, feeling, questioning? It’s the time they come alive.

Q: What was the most challenging scene for you to write, and how did you overcome it?

When reading this question the first thing I thought of was the memories Paddy has of the traumatic events he experienced in WWI. Readers needed to know what Paddy went through so they’d understand why it affected him so much. It breaks my heart, though. Oh, what these men suffered. I tried not to re-read that scene any more than was necessarily. It’s not graphic violence but it is heart wrenching.

Q: Can you share a behind-the-scenes anecdote or interesting fact about the creation of this book?

I’ve already shared some, but here’s another. Postman Evans. I love him, and I hope readers will too. He’s helpful, cheerful, and takes his duties seriously. My dad was a postal worker. There’s a bit of him in Toby Evans. There is also a bit of the wonderful Irish people I’ve met wrapped up in this one character.

Q: What do you hope readers will take away from your book?

If you are dragging around past hurts you can’t run from them. Facing them is the only way through. Whether or not you can make amends is not as important as laying them to rest is. Also, family isn’t always about blood or about those you are close to. Family is about who is in your heart. In my view, only God creates a family and we are all his children.

Q: What projects are you currently working on, and can you offer any hints or teasers for your upcoming work?

I hope that my next novel is not so long in coming. I have a good start on it, but I’m still hatching out the story. Readers will meet Juniper and many of the characters from Finding Juniper. I’m also working on a devotional for creatives.

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