Generally I am quite satisfied with this novel - as a family drama. The three voices (grandmother, mother and daughter) are believable (especially the jaded mother, which might be the most realistic of them in the reality of her pain (however some of it is self-inflicted)) and I have enjoyed to read about their way back to the togetherness. Surely, the love is very realizable in the times of pain, there and then you see that you might hate, but you certainly love the person above all else. The way (back) to faith is also nicely done - while quite swift and without any big catharsis, yet there is a sweetness present.

Well, but as the mystery - this novel does not work for me. The story of a long-lost sister that was supposed to serve as a motivation and connecting point somehow got lost in all the family and generational subplots; and also it is resolved too easily and happily. Yes, God is good and things like these happen - yet my mystery lover´s heart can not be satisfied with such an easy, quick ride to solution.

So, the verdict - read this as a family drama. And while at it review your own relationships and hidden pains. Maybe they are not as easily solvable as the ones here - but you deserve peace. Believe that.

Hazel DeFord is a woman haunted by her past. While berry picking in a blackberry thicket in 1943, ten-year old Hazel momentarily turns her back on her three-year old sister Maggie and the young girl disappears.

Almost seventy years later, the mystery remains unsolved and the secret guilt Hazel carries has alienated her from her daughter Diane, who can’t understand her mother’s overprotectiveness and near paranoia. While Diane resents her mother’s inexplicable eccentricities, her daughter Meghan—a cold case agent—cherishes her grandmother’s lavish attention and affection.

When a traffic accident forces Meghan to take a six-week leave-of-absence to recover, all three generations of DeFord women find themselves unexpectedly under the same roof. Meghan knows she will have to act as a mediator between the two headstrong and contentious women. But when they uncover Hazel’s painful secret, will Meghan also be able to use her investigative prowess to solve the family mystery and help both women recover all that’s been lost?

Another great read by Kim Vogel Sawyer that readers will surely enjoy

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK

One thing I appreciate about Kim Vogel Sawyers books is the way she weaves living a Christian life in the lives of her characters. In Bringing Maggie Home, I love the way she eased the Gospel into her story, especially in the life of Sean. I really like Sean, the Christian that stood up for his faith and his God, but didn’t act holier than thou! He was just a nice guy and I was really rooting for him and Meghan to get together. Hazel was the sweetest old lady and my heart ached for her and the heartache she lived for 70 years. Diane was a little different. I did not like her and her arrogant ways and attitude. In the end, I warmed up to her more.

Hazel’s sister Maggie has disappeared when their mother sent Hazel blackberry picking and sent three year old Maggie with her. Despite the community searching effortlessly, Maggie was never found. Hazel and her parents were never the same. Life was hard, bitter and so sad from that day on. Hazel went through life with Maggie’s lost a secret from her family. It was when her granddaughter came to stay with Hazel to heal from an accident that the secret was accidentally brought to surface. Follow the journey of Hazel, her daughter Margaret Diane, her granddaughter Meghan and Meghan Cold Case Crime partner Sean as they investigate this seventy year old case of missing persons.

I received this book from the publisher and Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 55.

I am a huge fan of Kim Vogel Sawyer and have read many of her books. This book does not disappoint! Beautiful story spanning three generations. The lives these women lead are based on circumstances none of them can really control and showcases the truth that lies in every relationship whether good or bad, and that's the fact that you can't go back and change things and the consequences of our actions can be felt like ripples in a pond, for many generations to come. Great story, wonderful characters and a book filled with emotion and drama!

I would like to thank Net Galley, the author Kim Vogel Sawyer and the publishers Waterbrook and Multnomah for the opportunity to read this book. This is a beautiful book of lost family and lost faith. It centres around Hazel Mae and her little sister Maggie who goes missing while under Hazel’s care. What follows is a lifetime of guilt for Hazel as she watches her family fall apart from the loss. The book has wonderfully strong female characters that I found myself associating with, especially in their childhoods. I wanted desperately for Dianne and Hazel to become close. This book will renew your faith in people and show you how their belief in a greater power can give the, strength to carry on even when their world is crumbling. I don’t think it matters what religion you are, you should be able to understand the story

(4 stars) - a multi-generation family story about God's healing (once we let Him)

This book was a little different; it was a mystery, a romance, and a conversion story. The focus on the 3 generations of women damaged by a 70+ yr old tragedy & their wounded relationship with God is central. Christian themes are woven in, thru, and around the story as much explicitly as implicitly. The mystery and the developing romance exist secondarily to that.

It's an exposition of the aftermath of a traumatic event, and how it affected not just the lives of those immediately involved, but like ripples in a lake, continued its waves of damage down thru generations.

The story is mainly told thru the perspectives of a grandmother, her daughter, and her granddaughter. Initially, the rotating perspective coupled with the memories from different points on their timeline was a little confusing. It was easier once the chapters were limited to one labeled perspective. I had mixed feelings about the rotating viewpoints because, on the one hand, it worked well in telling the story and inserting memories where they would help with the explication, but at the same time, it ended up drawing out the story which made the pacing slow.

So, even though the development of the story felt natural and was very much "show don't tell" exposition, unfortunately, it almost felt like it was happening in real time.

The characters are well written and likeable, except sadly, for Diane who comes off as a bitter, ungrateful shrew for most of the story. However, the ending wraps up everything beautifully, at least, and leaves you with a happy, satisfied feeling to glow on.

Clean romance level: sweet kisses
Religion: Fundamentalist Christian viewpoint, Scripture verses are quoted generously & even some Christians might find it preachy, though I felt it fit the story for the most part.

Bringing Maggie Home perfectly depicts how an event can effect our entire lives and generations to come. When Hazel’s little sister, Maggie, is lost while they are picking blackberries, her entire world turns upside down. The ramifications of that day begin a spiral of events that changes her family. Hazel and her parents each deal with the guilt they have over the loss in separate and devastating ways. It will effect their relationships not only with each other but with others especially when Hazel becomes a mother.

Margaret Diane struggles to get along with her mother, Hazel, as she felt smothered by her during childhood. She is jealous also of the relationship her daughter, Meghan has with Hazel. When an accident forces Meghan to take a leave to recoup, she chooses to send that time with her Grandma prompting Margaret Diane to join them as well. This visit unearths a long buried secret and puts several things in motion that will change each of their lives and relationships.

I found this book very enjoyable even though it tackles a heavy subject and a lot of emotions. I received a complimentary copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

Nice enough story for an afternoon. Reminds me of some historical event from the 20's or 30's of some woman stealing children of poor parents to sell to rich people who wanted children. Horrible adoptions. Any way, it is a family mystery story. A child vanishes and haunts her older sister's life, affecting her own daughter and grand daughter. It's well written and entertaining.

Hazel spent her whole life in the shadow of the disappearance of her 3-year-old sister, Maggie. It colored the way she parented her own daughter, Diane. And, it impacted how single mother Diane parented Megan. So many untold stories; so many secrets among these three women. They are thrown together for a few weeks when Megan needs to rehab from a car accident. Creating a scrapbook of family memories, the women delve into Hazel’s story about her little sister, Maggie.

Megan is a detective by trade. Her workplace department puts a team onto the cold case of Maggie’s disappearance and the story moves between 70 years ago, 30 years ago, and the present.

This story touched my heart in such a deep way that I felt compelled to message the author my gratitude when I was about three fourths of the way through the book. Reading this book felt like looking into a mirror from a variety of angles. While not everyone will have that experience, everyone will be touched by the depth of emotion evoked by Kim Vogel Sawyer through the lives of Hazel, Diane and Meghan DeFord.

Hazel had lived most of her life with a childhood secret that continued to impact the next two generations of her family. The secret's revelation and the restoration that followed could only have been orchestrated by God. Bringing Maggie Home is an intensely emotional story of forgiveness, hope, and faith. Ultimately it is a story of peace, the peace that passes all understanding.

I think NetGalley and WaterBrook for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was under no obligation to provide a positive review and received no monetary compensation.

This book features three women: a grandmother, a mother, and a daughter all from the same family. Meghan, the daughter, breaks an ankle in a very serious auto accident. She is a cold case detective and has been given 6 weeks recovery time, So she heads to her grandmother's home in Nevada where she discovers her mother has shown up as well. There is a great deal of friction between the grandmother and mother as her mother was very much a "helicopter Parent" when Diane was growing up. Diane has been just the opposite with Meghan pushing her independence and not showing much emotional connection with her so Meghan has received most of her hugs and cuddles from her grandmother during summer visits.

This is a book about love, learning, second chances, and forgiveness. As the three women attempt to go back in history and discover the real story behind the disappearance of Grandma Hazel's baby sister with the assistance of Meghan's cold case partner, Sean, each of them begins to understand how the past had a domino affect on their actions and emotional connections to one another. The romance between Meghan and Sean took a back seat to the cold case which I thought made the real meat of the story even stronger. The wonderful spiritual content especially as Grandma Hazel and Sean lived out their faith and witnessed to Meghan and her mom was amazing. The ending definitely called for some tissues even though it was predictable.

Another well written book for Kim Vogel Sawyer.

I don't know how I missed this book when it first came out, it is wonderful! It holds your attention from the very beginning till the end. Don't miss this wonderful book. Thank you Waterbrook via NetGalley for the free copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.

Oh, wow! How did I miss this when it came out in 2017? What an incredible book!

Her past haunts Hazel Deford. When she lost her three-year-old sister Maggie her entire life changed, and for years she has lived with the guilt for years. This guilt would mar how she raised her daughter Diane who grew up to resent her mother for being so possessive, which affected how Diane raised her daughter Meghan. All of this sets the stage for an incredible tale of loss, inspiration and spiritual healing.

This book was a hard one to put down, and it left me in tears. It speaks to the complexity of mother/daughter relationships, and it has a strong salvation message that believe it or not, was not at all preachy. On top of that, there was a very intriguing mystery to solve.

This one is a keeper!

I loved this book. The author did a great job switching viewpoints among Meghan, Diane, and Hazel to fully tell their stories. There are quite a few flashbacks, but I never felt lost in the storyline. Everything flowed together very well. This is a touching story of how each life touched another through the decades. There’s a sweet romance, too, but it never dominates the story. This story goes beyond just finding out what happened to Maggie. It’s about finding faith and hope in any situation and trusting God’s timing.

I received a copy of this book for review. I was not required to give a positive review. This is my honest opinion about this book.

Not Amish? Who Cares!

I first became familiar with Karen Vogel Sawyer through her amazing Zimmerman Restoration and Sommerfield trilogies. Both Amish. Both marvelous. But when I saw her latest release, Bringing Maggie Home. I was entranced by the cover and its summary. I knew this would be an amazing book, and I wasn’t wrong. Not Amish? Who cares?!

Bringing Home Maggie follows three generations of women – all strong, all longing for something they do not have. There’s 80-year-old Hazel, her daughter Diane, and her granddaughter Meghan. At the epicenter is the decades-old case of Hazel’s 3-year-old sister, Maggie, who went missing while on Hazel’s watch. Hazel has done her best to bury that time of her life, but when her daughter and granddaughter descend upon her house, everything comes to the surface. Can Meghan, a cold case agent, figure out what happened to little Maggie all those years ago? Read and find out!

I was given Bringing Home Maggie in exchange for my honest review. I thought it was spectacular. The characters were well-thought-out and believable. So believable, in fact, that I wondered if she had somehow peaked into my own family dynamics! At times, the novel seemed slow, but then I realized: I really wanted to skip to the end and find out what happened! I’m so glad I patiently waited for the dramatic conclusion; it was worth it! This is a perfect novel to sink you teeth into, especially with Mother’s Day approaching…you’ll see what I mean.

WOW! This book reiterates second changes. Three women from three different generations in one family learn of tragedy and they all together through it. From the first sentence to the last page it kept my interest. I cried, laughed and cheered them on. Can't wait to see what Kim writes next.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this wonderful book. I was not required to write a positive review, and the opinions expressed are my own.

Bringing Maggie Home by Kim Vogel Sawyer is an amazing, can’t put down until you’re finished book about love, loss and God’s grace. A most horrific event turned around realistically. I felt that this author did a great job of painting an authentic, lifelike story that touches the heart. There were times that this story had me cringing and other times where I wanted to pray for the lost in the story. When victories came around it had me jumping for joy as tears streamed down my face. If you’re looking for a book that has hard issues, mystery, and a very honest presentation, I recommend this one.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Interesting story concept but painfully cheesy execution. My overall impression: a lackluster effort to capture some of the success of Lisa Wingate's "Before We Were Yours". Not only a failed, but laughable, attempt.

I very much enjoyed the main plot of this story - finding a missing child 70 years on - and felt this was handled well and believable. However I found other elements of the story rather too contrived and over-simplified - Diane and Hazel's resolution and Meghan and Sean's relationship. I appreciate that this is also a novel of Christian witness but, personally, find this aspect of it not to my taste.

Heartwarming is the word that immediately and repeatedly comes to mind when I think of this book. BRINGING MAGGIE HOME is perfect when you're looking for a feel-good and yet deeply emotional story. Sawyer is a true storyteller in the best sense of the term. I fell in love with the sweet character of Maggie and then couldn't believe we moved forward in time and I had to wait to find out what happened to her! That kept me turning the pages for sure. This novel should appeal to fans of multi-generational stories, especially about strong women. Populated by multi-layered characters, BRINGING MAGGIE HOME will stick with me for a long time and the theme packs a meaningful punch. Well-done.