THE COVENANT KEEPERS
Based On A True Story 
by Andrea L. Simpson
 
About This Novel
 
A true story that has been all but lost to history, The Covenant Keepers is sweeping historical family saga ranging from Scotland and France in 1681 to China in 1900. WILL FARIES’ young life is shattered in a riding accident he must overcome with help from his family’s love and faith. In his resolve to become a force for good, he ultimately serves as the American missionary eye doctor to China’s Empress Dowager — only to face grave danger in her anti-Western Boxer Rebellion in 1900. Stories of his Covenanter Scot and Huguenot French ancestors who defied royal convert-or-die decrees in 1681 inspire him with their courage, principles, and strength.
            
The Covenant Keepers is complete at 96,000 words. This historical family saga is inspired by the true but untold story of Dr. William Reid Faries, his wife Priscilla, and their four boys in China from 1888-1903 and his two faithful, persecuted Covenanter and Huguenot ancestors in 1681. It is based on Faries family documents, letters, journals, charts, memoirs, interviews of descendants, and jade dragon netsuke and gold Huguenot cross keepsakes passed down through the generations. The author researched volumes from a Scottish highlands antiquarian bookseller and in a university China missionary archives. She visited the protagonists' multiple homelands and traced their escape routes. She became acutely aware of their suffering through epic purges lost in time. Their stories stand for those of countless survivors of forgotten events.