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A review by celia_thebookishhufflepuff
The Hope Jar by Wanda E. Brunstetter
5.0
As a nonreligious person, I had no intentions of falling in love with this book with heavily religious characters at its core. Yet somehow, the story just drew me in.
The premise is that Sara Murphy, a young woman of 24, finds out about her grandparents after her mother dies, and attempts to visit them. However, due to a communication mixup about dates, Sara is not the girl they meet at the train station. Instead, it is Michelle Taylor, a woman who has been abused through her whole life. When the Amish Mary Ruth and Willis Lapp meet Michelle at the train station, she is looking for somewhere to start a new life. She is so desperate that she claims to be the granddaughter they are looking for. Throughout the summer, Michelle pretends to be Sara, getting the mail every day so that her grandparents will never see the real Sara's letters. As she develops relationships with her "pretend grandparents" and their community, she learns more about herself and reflects on who she's been.
The story would not have worked if, as I had predicted, it only ran on Michelle's point of view. But no, the book actually starts out from Sara's perspective, and then is written in mostly Michelle's voice, but with large sections of chapters also narrated by Sara, as well as the grandmother Mary Ruth and others in the Amish community.
There is just so much to love about the writing style and the character development throughout the novel. They all discover so much about themselves and about truth and lies and the world. It's really also just amazing.
Also I have this problem where I read first novels that kind of haven't even come out yet and then I immediately want the second one but then I remember the first one has barely been published and yeah my life....books. =)
Disclaimer:
The premise is that Sara Murphy, a young woman of 24, finds out about her grandparents after her mother dies, and attempts to visit them. However, due to a communication mixup about dates, Sara is not the girl they meet at the train station. Instead, it is Michelle Taylor, a woman who has been abused through her whole life. When the Amish Mary Ruth and Willis Lapp meet Michelle at the train station, she is looking for somewhere to start a new life. She is so desperate that she claims to be the granddaughter they are looking for. Throughout the summer, Michelle pretends to be Sara, getting the mail every day so that her grandparents will never see the real Sara's letters. As she develops relationships with her "pretend grandparents" and their community, she learns more about herself and reflects on who she's been.
The story would not have worked if, as I had predicted, it only ran on Michelle's point of view. But no, the book actually starts out from Sara's perspective, and then is written in mostly Michelle's voice, but with large sections of chapters also narrated by Sara, as well as the grandmother Mary Ruth and others in the Amish community.
There is just so much to love about the writing style and the character development throughout the novel. They all discover so much about themselves and about truth and lies and the world. It's really also just amazing.
Also I have this problem where I read first novels that kind of haven't even come out yet and then I immediately want the second one but then I remember the first one has barely been published and yeah my life....books. =)
Disclaimer: