MY REVIEW:
I have learned that when I open a novel by Kim Vogel Sawyer I can usually expect a story that delves into the depths of human emotions. It is also quite possible that it will cover at least one issue that many do not find especially comfortable to discuss. Kim always manages to depict her characters and their difficult situations in a tactful manner that also leaves the reader encouraged and hopeful. “When Mercy Rains” is definitely one that meets those criteria.
Suzanne Zimmerman made a poor decision as a teen and was sent away from her family because of it. During the following twenty years she earned a nursing degree and managed to make a good life for herself and her daughter. Summoned home to help care for her injured mother, Suzanne and her daughter Alexa reluctantly return, hoping to mend old wounds but in many ways receiving the reception she feared.
“When Mercy Rains” covers approximately two months in the lives of the Zimmerman family, complete with family tension, guilt, revealed secrets, forgiveness, and reconciliation. It is not always a pretty story but it is one of changed lives. Everything does not turn out exactly as the reader might expect but the end is probably that much more realistic for that very reason. Not only that, but its ending does leave things wide open for possibilities in the next book of this series, “When Grace Sings”.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. I look forward to “When Grace Sings” for more about the Zimmerman family.
This book was provided for review by Blogging for Books.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
But God reveals all things, in His timing.
And He redeems them.
Suzanne Zimmerman was only seventeen and pregnant when her shamed mother quietly sent her away from their Old Order Mennonite community in Kansas. With her old home, family, and first love firmly behind her, Suzanne moved to Indiana, became a nurse, and raised a daughter, Alexa, on her own.Now, nearly twenty years later, an unexpected letter arrives from Kansas. Her brother asks her to bring her nursing abilities home and care for their ailing mother. His request requires that Suzanne face a family that may not have forgiven her and a strict faith community. It also means seeing Paul Aldrich, her first love.Paul, widowed with an eight-year-old son, is relieved to see Suzanne again, giving him the chance to beg her forgiveness for his past indiscretion. But when he meets Alexa, his guilt flickers in the glare of Suzanne’s prolonged secret—one that changes everything.Suzanne had let go of any expectation for forgiveness long ago. Does she dare hope in mercy–and how will her uncovered past affect the people she loves the most?
Kim Vogel Sawyer is a best-selling author highly acclaimed for her gentle stories of hope. More than one million copies of her books are currently in print and have garnered awards including the ACFW Carol Award, the Inspirational Readers Choice Award, and the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. Kim lives in central Kansas, with husband Don and their four feline companions. She enjoys spending time with her three daughters and ten grandchildren.
