The Fictional Family with Real Roots in Indiana

I wanted it to feel like a place everyone relates to... and then on top of all that, I love the name." - Karen Kingsbury

Fictional Family with a Real Location

To find the right home for her Baxter family, Karen scoured the small towns of the United States. "I really wanted a place that was not defined by a specific culture," explains Karen, "I wanted it to feel like a place everyone relates to."

Searching for the ideal setting, the 'Queen of Christian Romantic Fiction' needed a real life location with all the buildings and institutions that appear in the novels, a lake and nearby farmland. Her quest took her to the town of Bloomington, Indiana.

"Really Bloomington had everything," she says. "And then on top of all of that, I love the name." Make the trip to Bloomington and you’ll find the hospital of Dr John Baxter and the Indiana University.

Walk to the corner of South Walnut and Sixth Street and you’ll find the Wandering Turtle Gallery where Ashley sold her artwork.

Stories that Deal in Real Life Issues

Real life lives in Bloomington, Indiana. The Wandering Turtle Gallery is a real art gallery and really sells artwork. The Casablanca Café at 402 East 4th Street is a real café, and the Soma Coffeehouse & Juice Bar at 322 East Kirkwood will serve you coffee and juice.

You’ll also find real sites of the fictional family's joys, woes, triumphs and tragedies; in the Fire station at 300 East and 4th, and the Crisis Pregnancy Centre at 808 North College Avenue.

Dramas of Redemption and Renewal

19 of Karen Kingsbury’s bestselling books are set in and around Bloomington. The Redemption series (Redemption, Remember, Return, Rejoice and Reunion) which introduces the Baxter family, recently republished with insights from Gary Smalley on how God redeems seemingly hopeless relationships.

The Firstborn series (Fame, Forgiven, Found and Forever), which follows, tells the strengths of the Baxter family through the trials and troubles that can tear real families apart. While the Sunrise series (Sunrise, Summer, Someday and Sunset) draws together all the Baxter stories with a reminder of God’s unending faithfulness, concluding in the final novel Coming Home.

Author Snapshot: Karen Kingsbury

Born in 1963, Karen Kingsbury worked for the Los Angeles Daily News as a sports author. Here first novel ‘Where Yesterday Lives’ was based on a murder story she covered for the press. But it was after reading a book by another faith based fiction author, Francine Rivers, that she discovered her calling to write Christian Romantic Fiction.

As well as Christian fiction, Karen writes song lyrics for Christian musicians Gary Baker and Ritchie McDonald. Through her 'One Chance Foundation', Karen gives her readers the opportunity to support Christian adoption ministries and support families seeking to adopt.

A New Story Begins - The Chance

Her latest book, The Chance, begins with the disrupted life of 15 old Ellie and her return to her Savannah home 11 years later. Unearthing her hopes and dreams, buried in a tin box beneath an ancient oak, it isn't the only thing that resurfaces. There is much that must be revealed and forgiven before the divergent lives of Ellie and her sports star former love, Nolan, can heal the separation of the years.