“The life of Hester Haak, a widow with no children of her own, takes an unexpected turn when she opens her Kansas home to children from the bustling streets of New York City. The orphan asylum has entrusted her with two sisters and a young boy, and Hester is determined to provide a safe and loving environment for them. Despite the looming uncertainty of their stay, she rises to the challenge, embracing the opportunity to make a difference in their lives.
Meanwhile, Callum Holbrook is grappling with the loss of his wife and the despair that followed. Unable to provide for his family, he made the heart-wrenching decision to place his daughters in an orphanage, promising it was only temporary. Now, with a stable job and a renewed sense of purpose, Callum is horrified to learn that his daughters have been sent halfway across the country. Fueled by determination and love, he embarks on the difficult journey to bring them back.
Through their struggles and triumphs, Hester and Callum discover that family and love can be found in the most surprising places—and that the journey home is paved with hope.”
Series: As of now, it seems to be a stand-alone novel.
Spiritual Content- 1 John 4:11 at the beginning; Scriptures are quoted, mentioned, & remembered; Many prayers & thanking God; Church going; Many talks about God, Jesus, His plans and His will, & those and events in the Bible; Most ’H’s are capital when referring to God and Jesus (some Scriptures read do not have the ‘H’s capitalized); Evelyn is mad at God for taking away her mother, *Spoiler* but at the end, starts to pray again and realize that her mother is happy in Heaven, so she shouldn’t be mad at God *End of Spoilers*; Callum stopped praying and going to church after God didn’t answer his prayers to let his wife live, so he is angry at God and wants to solve his own problems instead of praying about them; *Spoiler* After a conversation with Evelyn, Callum realizes it doesn’t help to be mad at God and he needs God’s help *End of Spoiler*; Many mentions of God, Jesus, & His plans and His will; Many mentions of prayers, praying, answered prayers, thanking God, & blessings over food; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & those and events in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, Sunday school classes, services, a preacher, & sermons; Mentions of Easter & Jesus’s resurrection; Mentions of Heaven; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; A couple mentions of hymns; A couple mentions of godsends;
*Note: A few mentions of luck & being lucky (most in the context of not needing it because the character has God); A mention of superstitions.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘stinkin’’, two forms of ‘stupid’, and three ‘dumb’s; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Evelyn lies (and once feels guilt over it); *Spoiler* Evelyn thinks about stealing money from Hester, but someone catches her *End of Spoiler*; Evelyn cheats/copies her answers from a classmate’s homework; Evelyn tears up notes from her teacher (to keep Hester from seeing them); Evelyn promises to do something, but crosses her fingers where the other person can’t see; *Spoilers* Towards the end, Evelyn realizes that she does want a “new mother” and wants it to be Hester; She apologizes to Hester for being awful to her & asks if she can call her “Mother” *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of deaths & grief (including parents, Hester for her late husband, & Callum for his late wife); Mentions of a wife passing away in child birth (a mention of a lot of blood); Mentions of possible deaths; Mentions of illnesses like influenza and pneumonia & the possibility of it turning deadly; Mentions of injuries, pain, concussions, & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of possible robbers & break-ins; Mentions of parents giving their children over to an orphan asylum because they can’t care for and/or feed them (including Callum); Mentions of children being given to a “poor farm” when not adopted; Mentions of an adopted boy running away from his new family who mistreats him & the parents feeling stuck with the boy; Mentions of an economic depression & jobs being hard to find; Mentions of lies, lying, & deception; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of bullies & kids being bullied; A few mentions of children being whipped for misbehaving; A few mentions of eavesdropping; A couple mentions of wars; A couple mentions of potential kidnapping; A couple mentions of fights; A couple mentions of someone robbing a bank (not true); A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of the death of a beloved dog; A mention of a possible murder (did not happen);
*Note: Evelyn doesn’t believe that she and her sister were supposed to be put on a train out west because their father would be coming for them, so she is rude and hateful to Hester & has the little sister act badly to keep from them getting separated; Hester’s parents died when she was young and she was sent to an orphan asylum with her little sister being taken away from her; Mentions of a car brand; Mentions of brand names (Kool-Aid, Campbell’s soup, & Frigidaire); Mentions of a book & fictional characters (Little Women); A mention of Macy’s.
Sexual Content- Two barely-above-not-detailed kisses; A handful of touches, embraces, nearness, & blushes (barely-above-not-detailed); Some young teen girls giggle and blush over a cute boy & tease Evelyn for his interest in her; Mentions of a young woman being pregnant out-of-wedlock, the couple being said to be having a “have-to wedding” because of the situation, & both sets of parents being very mad and not wanting the grandchild (The woman comments on her father being ashamed of her and that she is concerned about loving the baby when she hates the father; *Major Spoilers* Towards the end, Callum gives the money for the young woman to go to New York to stay with a friend until she gives birth; After the baby is born, she writes a letter to Hester to see if she will adopt him and Hester agrees *End of Spoilers*); Mentions of chaperones & reputations; Very light love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: A few mentions of Hester being unable to biologically carry a child.
-Hester Haak, age 38-39
-Callum Holbrook
-Evelyn Holbrook, age 13
-Scotty
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1931
353 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
I’ve been very excited for this book for multiple reasons, but particularly because I knew this author would do a fantastic job with this plot and the characters. Which she definitely did! I’ve read many books by Kim Vogel Sawyer and while this newest book doesn’t quite beat out “The Librarian of Boone’s Hollow” and it’s sequel, I will gladly put this in the number three spot of my favorites of her books. The faith content was truly wonderful, the characters were either already lovable or had some character development that made them lovable, and I really enjoyed seeing all four view points in this book. In some books, four or more points of views can feel like too much, but it was very well-done for this story.
Set in the early 1930s, this book might be viewed as a bit of a rose-tinted glasses view of adoption, but I still enjoyed it so much. Hester’s heart was so admirable and I loved seeing her faith on-page and lived-out even through trials. Her heart’s desire for being a mother was precious and I greatly appreciate how clean this book was. I would have no hesitation recommending this book to 13/14+ unless the girl is very sensitive to books about orphans, but even then it could potentially be helpful seeing Evelyn’s POV. The romance was incredibly light and really didn’t even come into play until the very, very end.
On the end, I will note that while the ending wasn’t really rushed per say, the last couple of chapters move quickly with many months being caught-up. I was a little disappointed in this because the rest of the book moved at a slower pace throughout a couple months time and then the end covered over half a year in a quick fashion. It didn’t hinder my enjoyable or affect my rating, but I would have gladly had a longer book to see more about Hester and her growing family.
I think those that enjoy sweet found-family and family-centered historical books would probably really enjoy this one like I did. It reminded me at times of the “McAlister Family” duology by Carrie Turansky, so fans of those two books would probably enjoy this book too with the adoption threads and strong faith content.
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Waterbrook Multnomah) for this honest review.
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