I
am not a huge fan of Amish or Mennonite novels but I really do like
the Finding Sanctuary series by Nancy Mehl. Sanctuary, Missouri is a
town where conservative and progressive Mennonites, as well as those
not Mennonite at all, live together. And another feature, not all of
the Mennonites are perfect. That makes for a style of fiction I
really enjoy.
Our
main character in this novel is Sophie Wittenbauer. She was raised in
a strict Mennonite home in Kingdom but left as soon as she was
eighteen. She had been terribly mistreated by her father and made
some poor choices herself. She's now a new reporter at a newspaper.
Wanting to move beyond her entry level reporting jobs, she aspires to
that one story that will make her career.
When
she overhears office chatter about a possible lead in a decades old
robbery and murder, she decides this is her big chance. She knows the
convict who sent the letter to the newspaper. He had overheard one of
the murderers mention Sanctuary as a place to hide out. Sophie takes
some time off, creates a likely reason for her visit, takes on a new
name, and heads to the small Missouri town.
Imagine
her surprise when one of the first people she meets is Jonathon, the
young man she loved as a troubled teenager back in Kingdom. He's now
the pastor of an evangelical church in Sanctuary. He doesn't
recognizer her at first although he is puzzled by his inner feelings
toward her. She still loves him but knows he could never still love
her – not after all that had happened.
I
love this town of Sanctuary. It's a place where the Mennonite and
evangelical churches get together for dinners, where the pastors are
good fishing buddies, and where people look out for each other. It is
also the place where a murderer can hide out with some anonymity.
Before too long, Sophie's probing investigation stirs up trouble.
Will she be able to identify the murderer before it's too late? Will
Jonathon stay by her side and help her?
We
meet some great (and not so great) characters in Sanctuary. There are
no hotels in Sanctuary so Sophia stays with Esther, an elderly woman and my favorite.
What a dear – and she is much smarter than Sophie anticipates. We
get reacquainted with others of the town we've met in previous novels
in the series too.
One
of the themes running through this novel is getting beyond a troubled
religious past. It is hard for Sophie to go to Sanctuary. She has to
keep reminding herself it is not Kingdom, with its bad memories.
There is much she must overcome, including a dismissal of God as
caring for her. I really like it that Mehl has made Sophie's
conservative Christian background very realistic. Readers with a less
than ideal childhood in a conservative Christian setting will
certainly identify with Sophie.
Another
issue in the book is Sophie's drive to be a successful crime
reporter. Surrounded by wonderful people, and a potential beau,
Sophie has to rethink her priorities. I kept hoping she'd make the
right choice.
I
highly recommend this novel. There is good suspense, a wonderful
community through which the story flows, great characters, and some
lessons to learn about living. This is the third book in a series but
reads very well on its own.
You
can read my reviews of the earlier books in this series: Gathering Shadows and Deadly Echoes.
My
rating: 5/5 stars.
Nancy
Mehl is the author of over twenty-one books. She and her husband live
in Festus, Missouri. You can find out more about her and her books at
http://nancymehl.com/.
Bethany
House, 320 pages.
I
received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for
the purpose of an independent and honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment