When the Soul Mends

I recently finished reading When the Soul Mends, by Cindy Woodsmall. As seems to be my trend lately, I have been choosing books that are second and third in a series. This book is the third book in the Sisters of the Quilt series. The fortunate thing is that the author does a fine job of making sure that you get enough of the back story, that you are not lost even if you haven't read the earlier books. She even starts the book with a cast of characters from the earlier books, along with a little back ground on each.

This story meets up with Hannah (Lapp) Lawson as she makes her first trip home to Owl's Perch, Pennsylvania. The home that she fled in disgrace two and a half years ago. Hannah is from an Old Order Amish family, but has been living more like an "Englisher" for the past couple of years - first with her shunned aunt and then in the cottage behind her boyfriend's house.

As the story opens, we learn that her sister has reached out to her, as a good friend of hers has had a bad accident. As the story unfolds, the reader gets to learn more about Hannah and her life. Family issues cause her to return to Owl's Perch a few more times and as she spends more time there, she comes to recognize how she has changed and how much Owl's Perch and it's residents mean to her.
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Cindy Woodsmall does a great job sharing the story of her Old Order Amish and Mennonite characters in this book (and the others that I have read!). Part of her "secret" to really knowing about the Amish is that she has a friend that is Amish that helps her with details and with whom she visits regularly and experiences facets of Amish life.

I enjoyed this book and think I might have to go back and read the first two books in this series, even though I already know what happens in the third book.

No compensation was received for this post. I received a complimentary copy of When the Soul Mends through Blogging For Books.