Shepherd in Residence

Cindy, an ordained, experienced minister, is assigned by her church conference to the last place on earth she wants to be: her old hometown of Meribah, where everyone knew her as the towns bad girl. Now the towns new pastor, she has to adjust to Meribah and its long memories.

And still in her own heart are her own memories of Meribahof her awful childhood and of Charlie, her first love and first lover.

Natalie L. Tawes was born and educated in Maryland (she earned her degree in sociology and anthropology from Goucher College in 1952). After a full career as a social worker, she retired and, still ensconced in Maryland, turned her hand to writing for an ever-widening readership. Shepherd in Residence is her sixth Dorrance title.

How did Natalie come to write Shepherd in Residence? There were two prompts, she says: The immediate prompt was seeing the American flag at half-staff at a post office recently closed; the ongoing prompt was curiosity about the deceptions that people use to survive in social life. Natalie is perpetually curious about what makes people tick.