About the Book

Book: The Girl from Tomorrow’s Town (Enduring Hope Book 5)

Author: Naomi Musch

Genre: Christian Historical Fiction

Release Date: June, 2026

Past and Present Collide on the Railway

When life seems weighed down by challenges, there are always pillars of enduring hope and love to be discovered.

Lily Mae Dodge flees Wyoming by night to find her mother, who sent her west on an orphan train ten years ago. After she’s arrested in Chicago, help comes from a man with a rare vision impairment whom she only just met on a train. Francis Basnett is a roustabout for the famous Hagenbeck-Wallace circus, where he helps Lily gain employment. Their friendship grows into more, and it seems Lily is closer than ever to finding her mother. . .until the night a rogue troop train slams into the stalled circus train, killing dozens and splintering hope.

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About the Author

Naomi Musch is an award-winning author who writes from a deer farm in the pristine north woods of Wisconsin, where she and husband Jeff live as epically as God allows near the families of their five adult children. When not in the physical act of writing or spending time loving on her passel of grandchildren, she can be found plotting stories as she roams around the farm, snacks out of the garden, and relaxes in her vintage camper. Naomi is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, the Wisconsin Writers’ Association, and the Lake Superior Writers. She loves engaging with others and can be found all around social media or at her site.

More from Naomi

Did you ever dream of running away with the circus? I must admit, it was never something I imagined doing, but like most kids of my generation, my wonderment did soar the first time I stepped foot beneath a “big top”. Some of those sensory memories stayed with me through the decades since, and of course, made their way into my novel. Nowadays, the trains or wagons no longer roll into town. There are very few circuses still around.

I grew up in the region not far from Barnum and Bailey’s Circus World in Wisconsin, but when traveling circuses were at their peak (much earlier than my day, I will add), there were nearly 100 of them traversing the country, nearly a third of them by rail. One of the largest was the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus based in southern Indiana. (Originally northern Indiana, but they transitioned to a warmer location where they wintered their animals.) They traveled in two trains—one that hauled the animals, laborers, and roustabouts, and the other that hauled the performers with their families and other work staff.

The circus was a city within itself, and more importantly, it became like family to most of the performers. Into this world is where my cast of characters gathers in The Girl from Tomorrow’s Town. Lily Mae Dodge is in search of just such a place to call home and people she can think of as family while she searches for her mother, lost to her when she was sent west on an orphan train as a child.

I never imagined myself writing a circus story, but when I learned about the real-life history of the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus, and tragically, the terrible circus train crash that stands as the most devastating in history, I needed to get to know some of the performers and people who worked there. I also wanted to add my own characters in a way that would bring this historic circus family to life. To tell the story of the crash, it was important to me that I do it in a way that would honor the lives and memories of those who were involved.

“Tomorrow’s Town” is a circus phrase referring to the place of the next show. The traveling circus season was a busy one, and sometimes performers who were already looking ahead to the next show simply referred to the next location as “tomorrow’s town.” While The Girl from Tomorrow’s Town is set in 1918 during WWI when the tragedy took place, it is primarily a story of hope, dreams, love, healing, and found family.

I hope you enjoy Lily and Francis’s story, and that you’ll settle into dazzling discovery with the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus!

Interview with the Author

Do you read books in this genre? If so, who do you like to read?

Absolutely! I love to read historical fiction, and I always enjoy at least a strand of romance if not a straight up work of historical romance. I enjoy historical fiction that helps me learn about events or time periods I don’t fully know about. Recently I’ve enjoyed some of the fiction of another author in the Enduring Hope series: Terrie Todd. I only just discovered Jennifer L. Wright and gobbled up two of her historicals. I also adore Lori Benton, Laura Frantz, Pegg Thomas, and so many other historical fiction authors.

If a reader were to ask you what author you are like, what would you answer?

It’s hard to say who I am like, but I can tell you that some of my largest influences have been Bodie Thoene, Angela Hunt, Francine Rivers, and earlier Christian authors who made me love the genre, such as Jeanette Oke, Stephanie Grace Whitson, and Bette M. Ross. A reader once told me that my work has reminded her a lot of Francine Rivers’ style.

What helps you to write? Do you eat snacks, listen to music?

Having a dedicated time to write helps me. I need the discipline. I write in the morning, when my brain is pretty fresh. Right after my Bible reading and journaling time, I hit the computer. Three days per week, I write with a group of other writers on Zoom. (You are probably familiar with a number of them.) We encourage and build up one another. We check in together every half hour and chat for five minutes, then go back to it.

What is your favorite hymn and why?

I love so many hymns. I love contemporary music and used to love taking my kids, back when they were growing up, to summer Christian music festivals. But the older I get, God brings dozens of hymns back to my memory, and they roll off my lips. He uses them often to encourage and comfort me. Perhaps because so many of them were written by hymn writers going through their own “dark nights of the soul”, they speak to us. One of my many favorites is “I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus.” I think the friendship that hymn speaks of is what draws me to Christ. Knowing he is my very best friend, and that He will hear and care about everything I bring to Him.

Share with me a few of your favorite things.

My favorite things—oh, I love that question. My favorite things are spending time with my family. It’s a big one. My husband and I have five adult children and twenty grandchildren. They make life extremely busy and delightful. In another vein, I love to go camping in my vintage camper I call my Dreamsicle. I love the woods and meadows of our rolling farm. I love the great Northwoods of Wisconsin. I love being home most of the time. And I love to garden and put up a lot of produce.

What is one question you would like readers to ask you? What would be your answer?

My question would be: what is something you didn’t expect it would mean to write fiction? My answer: I didn’t expect that it meant God would take me through life trials that I never saw coming. In them, He has, and continues, to grow my faith, increase my empathy, and order my priorities. All of these have made me a better, stronger writer, able to write with deeper meaning and real emotion. Life’s trials are honing me, keeping me turning my face to Him, and making me a purposeful writer.