A Distant Hope

In this breathtaking and emotional saga, a family must travel far from home to save what they hold dear.

Hamburg 1888: After thirty prosperous years, coffee importer Peter Hansen & Sons faces hard times—and certain bankruptcy—unless three brothers can make savvy moves to save the faltering business after their father’s untimely death. For Robert Hansen, that means meeting changing demands by following the future from Vienna to Africa. He relocates his family to the German colony of Cameroon and takes ownership of a cocoa plantation.

With a spirit as adventurous as her father’s, Robert’s fifteen-year-old daughter Luise discovers an exciting new world far from the strictures of Hamburg society. The Duala people and the breathtaking natural beauty speak to her true soul. But not all are open to the culture or the challenges awaiting them in this foreign land. Soon bitter rivalries and shocking betrayals tear at the very fabric of the Hansen family, even as Luise discovers the powerful love of a young local man. It will defy the expectations of her family, rouse fearful beliefs, and force her to make a decision that will change her life.

Ellin Carsta is a pseudonym for Petra Mattfeldt, the German author of thrillers, crime novels, and books for young adults; she also writes historical fiction under the name Caren Benedikt. Her many novels include the bestseller The Secret Healer and its equally popular sequel, The Master of Medicine, as well as The Draper’s Daughter. Her historical novel Grapes of Gold made the short list for the 2017 Skoutz Award.

She lives with her husband and their three children near Bremen. More information about the author can be found at www.petra-mattfeldt.de and www.instagram.com/ellin_carsta.

Gerald Chapple is an award-winning translator of German literature. He received his doctorate at Harvard University and taught German and comparative literature at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He has been translating contemporary German-language fiction, poetry, and nonfiction for more than forty years. Among his seven translations for AmazonCrossing are four novels of suspense by the Swiss-Canadian author and journalist Bernadette Calonego: The Zurich Conspiracy, Under Dark Waters, Stormy Cove, and The Stranger on the Ice. He lives in Dundas, Ontario, with his wife, Nina, and can often be found studying birds, butterflies, and dragonflies; reading; listening to classical music; or enjoying his children and grandchildren in New York.