"The Hope of Refuge" by Cindy Woodsmall

I spent this weekend reading this book and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. In fact, I went to Borders and bought another one of her books to read.
This story is about an outsider or Englischer woman who feels drawn to come back to an area she knew only in dreams from her childhood. She is running to escape an abusive and hard life. What she finds, is a lifestyle very unlike her own, the Amish lifestyle and faith. She finds family, she finds friends, and she finds love but not without her struggles with finding her own faith. The characters in the story are very believable and I wouldn't be surprised if they are based on true lives somewhere. Even though they have a strict lifestyle and faith, they are full of the same feelings and needs and fears that we all experience. The Amish lifestyle is portrayed very honestly and accurately in each of the characters. The act of shunning is something I have never understood in the Amish faith and this story actually deals with that and how the consequences of our choices can sometimes be painful.
The author has strong connections to the Amish community. She was recently seen on ABC's Nightline and you can see the video here


Author Bio:
Cindy Woodsmall is the author of When the Heart Cries, When the Morning Comes, and The New York Times Best-Seller When the Soul Mends. Her ability to authentically capture the heart of her characters comes from her real-life connections with Amish Mennonite and Old Order Amish families. A mother of three sons and two daughters-in-law, Cindy lives in Georgia with her husband of thirty-one years.

To read one of Cindy Woodsmall's books you can go here to buy a copy