The Struggle by Wanda Brunstetter

 The Struggle by Wanda Brunstetter is a stirring read!  

Book 3 in the Kentucky Brothers series coming July 17, 2012.

When Timothy Fisher, his wife Hannah, and their daughter Mindy leave Pennsylvania to begin a new life in Kentucky, Hannah finds it hard to adjust. Will Christian County ever feel like home? Nothing Timothy does seems to please Hannah. Has the move from Lancaster spelled the beginning of the end? When a tragedy occurs, an inconsolable Hannah blames her husband for their loss. Timothy can barely rise beneath the weight of guilt, his wife’s hostility, and stress of his job. What dramatic second chance will God provide to heal their grief?

Can a couple rent by grief find renewal?

Timothy Fisher’s decision to move his family from their home in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, isn’t a happy one for his wife, Hannah. Everything she knows is in Lancaster County—her mother—her home—her friends. But what choice does Hannah have? Realizing that her place is with her husband and young daughter, she reluctantly goes but finds her new life a hard adjustment.

Nothing Timothy does pleases Hannah, and his best-laid plans are beginning to crumble before him. Then a tragic accident occurs, further driving a rift in their strained relationship. Hannah is inconsolable and blames Timothy. Between the stress of his job, dealing with his wife’s hostility, and feeling the burden of guilt, Timothy can barely cope.

Hannah’s resentment drives her back to Pennsylvania, where she hopes to find peace and healing for her troubled soul. Timothy turns to his pillar of strength and pleads with God to restore his marriage. Amid the ashes of grief and struggle, will renewed love, faith, and hope emerge?

Hannah does not want to leave her mother in Pennsylvania Amish country to live in Kentucky with her husband, Timothy's brothers.   They move anyway and Hannah complains and acts standoffish with the local Amish community as well as family members.  Bonnie at the Bed & Breakfast tries to befriend her too, but Hannah is very determined to convince Timothy to move back.  Tragedy strikes and the marriage is ripped to shreds.  Can they ever repair the relationship?  Will Hannah's mother be a help or a hindrance?  Will Hannah ever be able to hear God in the midst of her grief and anger?

I have read many of Wanda Brunstetter's books and loved them.  This one was no different.  In fact, I found it hard to put it down and quit reading.  I finished it over the course of 2 days.  This book was different from some of her others. For one thing, I did not see where the family actually attended church worship services over the course of the book, other than a few weddings and funerals.  The one time they did attend worship in an Amish home, they had to travel 3 hours to get to the home. {clarification/correction:  Wanda Brunstetter left a lovely comment here on my blog, with clarification that it was a 3-hour long service for church but not a 3-hour drive to get to the service as I thought...sorry for my error....that's one problem I find when reading ebook--it's harder for me to look things up afterwards to check them.} I was not clear if this was the way they always worshipped in this Kentucky Amish community.   I felt the characters seemed more human in this book of Wanda's as they expressed anger, disappointment, grief at moving.  Moving away from all that we know and love is hard for all of us, whether we are Amish or not, and I like how Wanda Brunstetter used this as a theme for this book.

 Indeed, it was "a struggle" for many of the characters for a variety of reasons.   I definitely give this book a 5 STAR RATING!  Read it!  I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I did!!  It offers hope for forgiveness, reconciliation, peace, and new beginnings.    

for Video trailer of The Struggle:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmbklDMrrMc

About the Author:

Wanda Brunstetter has Amish roots in her heritage and married a Mennonite-raised man.  She and her pastor husband live in Washington state. Richard takes photographs of Amish scenery and sells them. Wanda has written many Amish novels, novellas, several series of children's Amish books, and is an award-winning author.   

You can check her out at her website: www.wandabrunstetter.com

I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and Barbour Publishing in exchange for my honest review.