Review of "The Journey Home"

Review of The Journey Home

by Hope Kessler

In the eyes of the community, Birdie Miller is a loyal daughter and a church member in good standing. 

Birdie knows this is a lie. 

Soured to the faith by an unhappy childhood, she made the difficult decision to leave her home and not make final vows to the church. But when a terrible accident injures her mother, Birdie is forced to return home, where her father’s act of deceit results in her vowing to follow a path she’d planned to reject. 

Caleb Troyer is as certain in his commitment to the Amish path as any young man can be. He’s mapped out his future, and those plans include marriage, a home and possibly church leadership. 

When the woman he loves derails those plans by choosing another, he decides to start fresh in a new community, so he takes a position left vacant by the young farrier killed in the same accident that injures Birdie’s mother. 

For Birdie, the arrival of a handsome single man of marriageable age does not interest her. For how can a man of such deep and certain faith find common ground with a young woman who feels every inch a prodigal fraud? 

As Caleb grows to understand Birdie, he longs to help her. But can a man of faith reach the heart of a spiritually wounded young woman with a reputation for rebellion? Is the spiritual path home lost to Birdie forever, or can love’s light guide the way?

MY REVIEW:   I read a lot of Amish fiction and this one is quite different in that the young Amish woman, Birdie, is not submissive to others as the Amish teach women to be.  She has a difficult relationship, especially with her father.   He lied to get her to return home to care for her mother.   Birdie sees her father acting in a cruel and gruff manner with her mother, in particular.   

Birdie's father is a deacon of the church and is ashamed of the fact that Birdie left and lived in the English world for a time.  He is not entirely honest with the community concerning the issue.   But Caleb has come to the community and he and Birdie immediately take notice of each other.   I think I saw much of myself in Birdie and so I related to her.   It was a very interesting view of a young Amish woman.   I greatly enjoyed this book and hope that readers will read it to find out if Birdie can work out her differences with the world and live happily as an Amish woman.   Will she find love and marriage or be doomed to live alone for the rest of her life? The book is a lesson in forgiveness.   I rate this book 4 stars and highly recommend it.   

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review.   

About the Author:

Hope Kessler is not new to writing but she is new to the Amish genre.   She makes her home in Virginia.  Hope enjoys reading, sketching, gardening and spending time with her two cats and corgis.