The Prayer Box

The Prayer Box (2013) is a work of contemporary Christian fiction by American author Lisa Wingate, and it is the first book in the Carolina Heirlooms series, which also includes The Story Keeper (2014) and The Sea Keeper’s Daughters (2015). A young mother running from a dangerous past discovers a hidden collection of prayer letters written by her recently deceased landlady, which unravel a secret history of faith, resilience, and quiet service on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The novel, which is preceded by the novella The Sea Glass Sisters, explores themes of The Healing Power of Forgiveness and Community, Redefining Prayer as an Act of Witness and Service, and The Corrosive Nature of Secrets and the Freedom of Truth.

A national best-selling author known for works like Tending Roses, Wingate is a multiple Carol Award winner recognized for her inspirational fiction. The Prayer Box is deeply rooted in its geographical and historical context. The storm-battered but beautiful Outer Banks setting provides a backdrop for physical and spiritual renewal, while the historical narrative of Iola Poole explores the pressures of maintaining a secret multiracial identity during the Jim Crow era, framing her Christian faith as a necessary refuge and a form of resistance.

This guide refers to the 2013 Tyndale House Publishers e-book edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of physical abuse, emotional abuse, addiction, substance use, death, pregnancy loss, and racism.

Language Note: The source text uses the offensive term “mixed race” to refer to a person with both Black and white ancestry. This study guide refers only to multiracial people.

Plot Summary

Tandi Jo Reese, a young mother running from a dangerous past, lives in a rental cottage on Hatteras Island with her two children, 14-year-old Zoey and 9-year-old J.T. Fleeing an abusive relationship in Texas, Tandi is financially desperate and recovering from a painkiller addiction. When she notices that the usual signs of life from the main house have ceased, she investigates and discovers her reclusive, elderly landlady, Iola Anne Poole, has died peacefully in her bed.

After Tandi reports the death, local deputies confirm Iola died of natural causes and had no known next of kin. Facing eviction with her rent overdue, Tandi is relieved when Brother Joe Guilbeau, the music minister from the neighboring Fairhope Fellowship Church, offers her a deal. The church expects to inherit Iola’s property, and he proposes that Tandi stay in the cottage rent-free in exchange for cleaning out the main house. Tandi accepts, hiding the precariousness of their situation from her children.

As Tandi begins cleaning the cluttered Victorian house, she is unsettled by its strange atmosphere and the presence of a mysterious one-eared black cat. In an upstairs turret room, she finds a recent letter written by Iola to her “Father.” This leads her to a hidden closet filled with dozens of decorated boxes. Inside each box are letters Iola wrote for every year of her life. Realizing these are Iola’s prayer boxes, Tandi begins to read them. The earliest letters, written in a child’s hand in the 1930s, reveal that Iola was a multiracial child sent away from her family in New Orleans to a mission school.

While Tandi delves into Iola’s past, she struggles with her present. Her relationship with her rebellious daughter, Zoey, deteriorates, while her son, J.T., withdraws into video games and finds solace doing odd jobs for locals like Geneva Bink, the market owner. Tandi’s new boyfriend, Ross, offers an escape but is impatient with her children and jealous of her budding friendship with Paul Chastain, a local science teacher. Tandi’s guilt over her past failures as a mother intensifies as she reads Iola’s story of loneliness and resilience.

Through the prayer boxes, Tandi uncovers Iola’s hidden life. She learns of Iola’s service in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II, where she passed as white and secretly married an officer named Marcus. Their marriage collapsed after the loss of a child and Marcus’s discovery of Iola’s multiracial heritage, which led him to abandon her. A major revelation comes when Tandi discovers Iola was the illegitimate granddaughter of Girard Benoit, the original owner of the house, and a Creole housekeeper. Because her parentage was concealed, locals came to believe that Iola had manipulated the Benoit estate, fueling decades of resentment that masked the truth of her inheritance. The letters also detail Iola’s sisterly bond with her half-aunt, Isabelle Benoit, and reveal a lifetime of anonymous philanthropy, funded by selling antiques from the house to support local families and causes.

Tandi’s life begins to improve. She befriends Sandy, the owner of Sandy’s Seashell Shop, who hires her to repair storm damage. Using skills she learned from her father, Tandi finds a new sense of purpose and is welcomed into the “Sisterhood of the Seashell Shop.” Her friendship with Paul deepens into a supportive bond and, inspired by Iola, Tandi starts her own prayer box.

This newfound stability is threatened when Tandi learns the county plans to condemn Benoit House to create borrow pits for storm-water management. Simultaneously, her estranged sister, Gina, arrives unexpectedly. Gina gives Tandi valuable jewelry she recovered from Tandi’s abusive ex, but she quickly becomes a disruptive force, undermining Tandi’s authority and influencing Zoey with promises of a more glamorous life. The conflict culminates when Gina takes Zoey out of school for a shopping trip on her 15th birthday, causing her to miss a surprise party Tandi and the community had planned. Tandi’s relationship with Ross ends after she finds him with Gina in Iola’s house, leading to a bitter confrontation where Gina threatens to expose Tandi’s secrets.

With the fate of Benoit House to be decided at a county commission hearing, Tandi, Paul, and the community rally to save it. They compile Iola’s letters, photographs, and newspaper clippings into a presentation showcasing her secret life of service to the Outer Banks. At the hearing, Tandi delivers a powerful speech, sharing Iola’s story of love, sacrifice, and devotion to the island. Despite Gina’s attempt to discredit her, the commissioners and the public are moved by the revelations of Iola’s quiet, impactful life.

The community’s effort succeeds, and the county agrees to preserve Benoit House as a historic site and community center, with Tandi overseeing the renovation. Her relationship with Paul blossoms into a romance, and her children begin to thrive in the stable, supportive environment. While packing Iola’s prayer boxes for preservation, Tandi makes a profound discovery. A letter from 1986 describes Iola comforting a small, sad girl with mulberry stains on her feet who was visiting the house with her grandfather, an insurance adjuster. Tandi realizes that she was that child, the “Mulberry Girl” Iola had prayed for over the years, revealing a connection that had unknowingly shaped both of their lives. The novel closes as Tandi, surrounded by her new community and family, embraces her future and the legacy of grace she inherited from Iola.