Stephen Elder

The Shining Man's Wife Stephen Elder

At the end of Frank, Saint Francis was released from his centuries-long emissary duty to marry Elaine Azerian, a small-town veterinarian. In The Shining Man's Wife, the saint is recalled to "active duty," and is sent west on a mission to a national park where a startling chain of events unfolds. A local TV station films Frank and Elaine's dramatic rescue of a bison herd, and "Ride through Fire" goes nationwide. Elaine appears on Larry King and Oprah, and Ms. Winfrey inspires her to start up a foundation to help the underfunded national parks. Frank and Elaine soon attract the attention of a secretive philanthropic organization called Filiae Mundi (Daughters of the World). The Daughters ask them to solve an environmental problem at their remote mountain headquarters. In between helping the Park Service and Filiae Mundi, Frank and Elaine discover that their godson has a strange healing power and they must protect him from unwanted attention.