Ordinary Women of the Bible (Connilyn Cossette) Books in Order

Ordinary Women of the Bible is a multi-author fiction line that imagines the lives of women who stand close to the great events of Scripture. Connilyn Cossette’s contributions to the series keep the focus small and personal, following women whose stories might otherwise be mentioned only in a few lines of the biblical text.

In The Healer's Touch: Tikva's Story, she introduces Tikva, the wife of a Jewish sailor who has been bleeding for years after a traumatic loss. Doctors and healers have taken all of her money and hope, leaving her weak, isolated, and ceremonially unclean. When rumors spread about a rabbi who heals the sick with a touch, Tikva must decide whether she can face another disappointment or risk everything on one final reach for mercy.

The Life Giver, Shiphrah's Story moves back to the book of Exodus and into the world of a midwife. Shiphrah comes from generations of women who help bring babies into the world, but her own childhood was marked by slavery and separation from her family. After she saves the life of her master’s wife and child during a dangerous birth, she gains a measure of freedom and the chance to practice her calling more openly.

Her new life, however, is overshadowed by Pharaoh’s brutal order that Hebrew baby boys must die. As a woman committed to preserving life, Shiphrah is thrust into an agonizing conflict between royal command and the quiet voice of a God who values every child. The novella traces how her choices ripple outward, shaping the future in ways she cannot yet see.

These stories read as stand-alones, so readers can pick them up without having followed Connilyn Cossette’s larger series. At the same time, they carry many of the same signatures found in her longer novels: careful attention to historical detail, deep compassion for characters on the margins, and a clear sense that God meets people in the middle of fear, grief, and impossible decisions. For readers who want a shorter introduction to her writing, the Ordinary Women of the Bible volumes are a gentle, heartfelt place to begin.