Monday, February 28, 2011

When The Heart Cries by Cindy Woodsmall ~ review

When the Heart Cries (Sisters of the Quilt, Book 1)
About the book from Goodreads:

When Hannah dares to love across the boundaries of tradition, will she lose everything?


Despite being raised in a traditional Old Order Amish family, seventeen-year-old Hannah Lapp desires to break with custom, forgo baptism into the faith, and marry outside the cloistered community. She’s been in love with Mennonite Paul Waddell for three years, and before returning to college for his senior year, Paul asks Hannah to be his wife. Hannah accepts, aware that her marriage will change her relationship with her family forever.
On the evening of their engagement, tragedy strikes and in one unwelcome encounter, all that Hannah has known and believed is destroyed. As she finds herself entangled in questions that the Old Ways of her people cannot answer, Hannah faces the possibility of losing her place in her family, in her community– and in the heart of the man she loves.
When the Heart Cries is book one in the Sisters of the Quilt series.

My take on this book:
Seventeen year old Hannah Lapp an old order Amish teen is in love with Paul Waddell a Mennonite boy. When Paul asks her to marry him, she accepts, knowing that it could possibly change the relationship with her family . Walking home after Paul has just ask her to marry him, an unspeakable act by a stranger will change Hannah's life forever. That unspeakable act results in a pregnancy, and her family and community question the story she tells them. As Hannah comes to terms with the fact that she will have a baby, things again take a tragic turn, causing Hannah to make some tough decisions about whether she will stay in her community or go somewhere else and make a fresh start.
I read this book when it first came out several years ago, and in rereading it I felt the emotions of Hannah all over again, parts of this story were very hard to read, and brought tears to my eyes. It was very hard to read how Hannah was treated after the rape, and just how vicious her sister was in spreading rumors about her.  The author ends the book in such a way that leaves the reader anticipating the next book in the series.


rating 5/5

Book provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

3 comments:

  1. love, love, loved this book and the whole series. My book club won the first two books and an author call from Cindy. so much fun!

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  2. Beckie, Wow an author call from Cindy,your book club was very lucky indeed! I read this book several years ago, but was still just as impacted by the story when I reread it! Now I feel compelled to reread the rest of the series.

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  3. oh my gosh, this sounds so intense! I don't even know if I can handle reading it. Does Paul support her and believe her at least? Wow how horrifying!

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