Fionna Donneral

Fionna Donneral is the stepmother of John Avery Whittaker, joining the family after the death of young John's own mother, and she is also mother to Charlotte. Warm and good-humored, she wins over her grieving stepson with horseback rides and jokes, patiently earning a love he does not give easily at first. When a riding accident - a sudden fall caused by a low elm branch - leaves her permanently blind, every doctor pronounces her condition hopeless, yet Fionna carries a deep, settled peace that the boy can hardly understand. She teaches him her own mother's old Scottish prayer, which thanks God a thousand times for the roses and asks His help in giving thanks for the thorns, and through her quiet gratitude John first comes to faith in Jesus.