This is such a heartbreaking but also heartwarming story! All though, I did suspect what had happened to Maggie, the author wove a beautiful story of love and forgiveness through this event. I loved the way the author told the story through the eyes of each one of the characters. Highly recommended!

It’s been awhile since I have read a book with this much emotion that had me crying so much. It is so beautifully written you can’t help but devour each word. It’s funny that I could relate to each character at some point. I saw myself in Hazel as a small child. She was so despondent over something that happened she couldn’t forgive herself. It hurt to read that her parents blamed her and to carry that guilt over the years broke my heart. I thought she was a warm and loving person. The author writes her character with a strong faith in God. I loved how she wanted thing wanted to mend her relationship with her daughter and solve a mystery thst has kept her a prisoner for so long in her mind.

Diane and her mother have not had a great relationship. She blames her mom for being overprotective and not allowing her to ever do anything. Diane was very stubborn and I had to laugh when she shows up at her mom’s house at the same time as her daughter Meghan. There is a strain you can feel between Hazel and Diane. I loved how Hazel stood her ground and tried many times to get through to her daughter. I saw a pattern forming as they each shared their childhood and how they felt smothered by their mother. My children will tell you I am a very overprotective mother. I wanted to keep them safe and was so afraid to let them out of my sight. Diane experienced that as she grew up and has made her bitter towards her mom.

Meghan decides to visit her grandmother when she needs to recuperate from a car accident. I loved how the author showed a soft side to Meghan and how much she wanted her mom and grandmother to mend their relationship. The bond between grandmother and granddaughter was so moving and I could feel the closeness they shared. I loved the mystery the author wrote into the story and when it is revealed it will explain a lot about why Hazel has carried guilt for seventy years. The story has so many good things in it I didn’t want to put the book down. I cried so many tears because for me it brought back memories that are painful for me while growing up. I connected so well to the storyline about mother and daughter relationships.

The book is rich in history and takes readers on a journey of forgiveness, mending relationships, finding faith and experiencing unconditional love. I have to say this has been one of my favorite books of 2017. With such gripping emotions and connecting with characters, the story was written with such passion I could feel the author laboring over each word. Don’t miss the story of three generations and a mystery that will have you crying and cheering at the same time.

I received a copy of this book from LitFuse. The review is my own opinion.

Bringing Maggie home

A book about three generations, grandmother, daughter and granddaughter and the relationship between each one and how something that happened when Hazel (the grandmother) was young could affect the each generations. A book I enjoyed very much from start to finish. Very inspirational. Maggie is the long lost sister of Hazel and 70 years later they are trying to find her. Love the characters, the dogs are a special addition to the story. I don’t believe there was anything I did not like about the book. I received the book from the publisher thru NetGalley.

I have not read much by Kim Vogel Sawyer, but I found the plot teaser very interesting. The story centers around Hazel, an elderly woman who is haunted by the loss of her three-year-old sister. The story also includes Hazel's daughter, Diane, and grand-daughter, Megan. The story flips back and forth between the past and present day, but is not hard to follow. I had to finish the book quickly to answer the all important question, is Maggie dead or alive?

I found the character of Hazel to be a nice mixture of sweet and tough-as-nails. I liked her from the start. The character of Diane is a little hard to swallow. She is nit picky, harsh, and doesn't care who she mows over. Her character changes throughout the book so I grew to like her later. And Megan is caught in the middle, trying to be the peacemaker. There is a little romance in the book with the arrival of Megan's detective partener, Sean.

I enjoyed reading Bringing Maggie Home. I thought it was well written, with good description of the characters and the settings.

Maggie stole my heart in the very first chapter of this book! She was sweet and innocent, and just a bundle of joy. When I got the end of chapter one, I found my heart had fallen on the floor. Then when I turned to the first page of chapter two and found the timeline had jumped to seventy years later, I gasped. You mean I am not going to find out what happened right away?! Silly me, it is part of the whole story line! Never fear though, this is the beginning of a back and forth between past and present.

Sawyer pin1Sometimes I find that jumping back and forth can be a bit confusing, more so when you are dealing with the same characters. Not the case here at all, as Kim Vogel Sawyer has managed to go back and forth seamlessly. Every single part had a purpose, and by seeing Hazel’s past and all that she went through, you understood how she came to be the mother and woman she was today. On the flip side, you see a little bit of her daughter, Diana’s point of view, and you can sympathize with her in how difficult it must have been to have Hazel as a mother growing up. This is definitely a story where I could not take sides, as I agreed to some extent with each of them!

Much more than a story about searching for a long lost sister, this is a story about grace, reliance on God, second chances, and forgiveness. The storylines flowed together effortlessly, and I found myself sad once I reached the last page. And without giving the ending away, I do hope that we see more about a certain character’s POV in the future – I think it’d make for an interesting sequel!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Bringing Maggie Home by Kim Vogel Sawyer centers around Hazel's search for her baby sister who has been missing for decades. However, the story is much richer than that as it brings up mother-daughter relationships in various life stages. It also is a story of forgiveness. Heartwarming characters and great dialogue make this a cozy read!

Bringing Maggie Home is a brilliant novel following the lives of three generations of women in the same family. Each of them has been impacted by Hazel’s past and the disappearance of her younger sister Maggie although her daughter Diane and granddaughter Meghan do not know about Hazel’s past and the loss of her sister.

When Hazel’s sister disappears, her world is shattered. It tears apart her parents and she carries a guilt that no child should bear. As Diane and Meghan later learn, the impact on the remaining years of her childhood and teen can be greatly seen in pictures and Hazel’s refusal to talk about what happened. Maggie’s disappearance causes Hazel to later on in life hold on too close to Diane, to the point where Diane felt smothered and anger towards her Mother.

When Meghan decides to investigate more into Maggie’s disappearance, the family dynamics begin to change. Hazel becomes more open and Diane becomes more understanding. It is amazing the amount of damage that one secret can cause! Hazel’s refusal to talk about her sister caused a great rift between her daughter and herself. If she had chosen to speak to Diane about it in the beginning, Diane may have appreciated more why her Mother was so protective and overbearing.

Bringing Maggie Home is a well written novel showcasing forgiveness, compassion, hope and love. It shows us that we need to be honest with those we love and to learn to show compassion and forgive each other for our mistakes. I laughed and cried along with Hazel, Diane and Meghan always keeping my fingers and toes crossed for the happy ending that this family deserves. This is a definite must read novel!

If you are a mother or a daughter, you need to read this book. Mother-daughter relationships, like all relationships are fraught with misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and hurtful words. It’s easy to judge, to think we would do a better job, without knowing or understanding the truth behind the motivations of others.

Bringing Maggie Home beautifully unwinds the tangled relationships of 3 generations of women, where secrets, guilt, and regret have kept them for melding together into the close family Meghan always longed for.

Kim Vogel Sawyer brilliantly threads a three-fold cord of the lives of Hazel, Diane, and Meghan. I loved the flashback scenes that bring meaning to their current situations. I also loved how she marked each scene with date, location, and POV (point of view) character, as needed. That made it simple to follow, while skipping between the past and present.

You’ll not want to rush through this book. Take your time and savor every word. With beautiful turn of phrase and realistic descriptions, this story comes to life. A bit of romance, a bit of mystery, a bit of suspense. I got goosebumps when Maggie disappeared. I loved the exchange between the little girls in the opening, especially Maggie’s, Hazoo Mae. As the older sister, I understand Hazel’s feelings of both annoyance and responsibility.

This book is not a light-read. It has a depth of emotion and faith that I will never forget; the kind of story that stays with you. A storyline both predictable and unexpected at the same time. I had to take frequent breaks to absorb it all.

I enjoyed this character study woven into the plot of finding a sibling missing for seventy years. Because Hazel felt responsible for her younger sister having gone missing, she was very protective when she raised her own daughter, Diane. Diane resented the control and raised her own daughter to be very independent. Misunderstanding and resentment are in full force when the three generations of women are together.

It was interesting to see how the revelation of actions in the past helped the women to understand their behavior in the present. Understanding brought compassion and renewed love between them. Once Diane lost her resentment, she was open to the life changing power of the gospel. That was a touching aspect of the novel.

In addition to the character transformations, I enjoyed reading about the cold case investigation. It did seem to be solved way too easily and I thought there were a few loose ends about how the actions seventy years ago. But then, the emphasis of the novel is character transformation, not solving the mystery.

I do recommend this novel to those who enjoy a good study of how personalities are affected by events of the past and how those personalities can change when truth is brought to life. You'll get a little mystery and romance too.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Litfuse. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Bringing Maggie Home by Kim Vogel Sawyer is a delightful Christian novel about the power of love and loss. It moves backwards and forwards seventy years from 1943. It is a read that really impacted me and my emotions. The reader 'sees' life through the eyes of three generations, at various stages throughout their lives.
The novel shows how a loss has the power to affect a family throughout the years, as the events ripples outwards. The pain that a small girl experiences then dictates how she runs her life and has a knock on effect for the generations to follow.
Alternative ways of parenting are revealed in the novel as each generation is determined to parent better than the one before.
God is over the whole novel. He is the perfect parent and yet His children wander from Him. "It took only one generation of neglecting God to turn a faithful family into a faithless one." God never abandons us but waits and longs for our return.
There is power in prayer. "God doesn't sleep. He's listening." God is available twenty four hours a day. He is always just a prayer away. God always answers but in His way and His timing. "God... I sometimes wonder if you listen to me at all."
It is important to know our ultimate destination. If we know God and we know we are going to heaven then we know that death is not the end. It is a temporary parting, however painful.
There are the themes of guilt and forgiveness. Sometimes we sail through life and then our guilt catches up with us. As we draw ever closer to God, so He will open our eyes to our wrong doings. We need to both give and receive forgiveness. Holding a grudge will destroy us. Forgiveness is freeing.
Memories are powerful. They have the ability to either haunt our sleep or bring us sweet dreams.
Objects have the power to send us back to a moment in time.
Bringing Maggie Home was an emotional read. The characters were all uniquely drawn but lodged in my heart. A wonderful plotline had me hooked from the start. A mystery to be solved had my heart racing. A love that both bound together and split the generations apart but a love that remained long after the novel had ended.
A perfectly delightful read.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.