How the Light Gets In

GIVEAWAY

PETERSHEIM, JOLINA
HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN

From the highly acclaimed author of The Outcast and The Alliance comes an engrossing novel about marriage and motherhood, loss and moving on.

When Ruth Neufeld's husband and father-in-law are killed working for a relief organization overseas, she travels to Wisconsin with her young daughters and mother-in-law Mabel to bury her husband. She hopes the Mennonite community will be a quiet place to grieve and piece together next steps.

Ruth and her family are welcomed by Elam, her husband's cousin, who invites them to stay at his cranberry farm through the harvest. Sifting through fields of berries and memories of a marriage that was broken long before her husband died, Ruth finds solace in the beauty of the land and healing through hard work and budding friendship. She also encounters the possibility of new love with Elam, whose gentle encouragement awakens hopes and dreams she thought she'd lost forever.

But an unexpected twist threatens to unseat the happy ending Ruth is about to write for herself. On the precipice of a fresh start and a new marriage, Ruth must make an impossible decision: which path to choose if her husband isn't dead after all. 

My Review:

Well, I'm gobsmacked! Seriously speechless. This book was everything I didn't expect it to be and that ending!!!! I'm still coasting on the shock waves and it's been a week since I reached the end. A week of mulling over plot points and characters, wondering if I'd actually read what I...well, read! lol And how do I possibly compose a review without revealing spoilers? I'm stymied. 

How the Light Gets In is profound and moving. A raw and honest exploration of grief. And Ruth's grieving is all the more difficult because of her broken marriage. The agony of not being able to go back and change things or have the opportunity to go forward and fix things makes for a heart-wrenching read. But it's also a story that embraces the wonder and hope of new beginnings; of learning from the past in order to build a better future. 

But be forewarned -- there are plot twists galore and Petersheim delivers them with  the kind of impeccable pacing that left me reeling. Left hook after left hook until my head was spinning! So many rich layers -- from setting to characters to that wicked pummel-me-senseless storyline. Phew! Prepare to be caffuzled and addlepated by the time you finish!

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of How the Light Gets In, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday June 22 2019. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!

The Divide

GIVEAWAY

PETERSHEIM, JOLINA
THE DIVIDE

In the gripping conclusion to The Alliance, nearly six months have passed since Leora Ebersole's Old Order Mennonite community fled to the mountains for refuge after an attack destroyed the region's power grid and altered life as they knew it. Since then,  Leora has watched and waited for news of Moses Hughes, the young Englischer pilot who held off invading looters long enough for everyone to escape. Unsure Moses even survived, Leora has begun to warm to the affections of Jabil Snyder, who has courted her patiently. But she struggles to see herself as the next bishop's wife, especially when she learns that Moses is alive and has now joined a local militia.

An unexpected encounter in the woods deepens Leora's crisis, as does a terrifying new threat that brings Moses's militia into the community's shaky alliance with the few Englischers left among them. When long-held beliefs are once again put to the test, Leora wrestles with the divide between having faith and taking action. Just how much will her shifting landscape changer her?

My Review:

An eerily compulsive read especially in these unsettled times. This is the sequel to The Alliance, and I do think it's better if you have read that book first. There's just so much that happens before the opening scene in The Divide, and though the author does a great job of covering the important stuff, you'll feel all the emotional nuances in this one more if you've experienced Moses and Leora's journey from the very beginning. And what a journey it is!

Chaos reigns as people struggle to eke out a livelihood in a post apocalyptic US. It's a grim and bleak world where lawlessness is the norm as divisive groups fight for power. Though rife with danger and hardship, Petersheim still manages to weave a thread of hope amidst despair. as she highlights the best and worst in humanity. A desperate setting for love to blossom, but that makes it all the more precious.

This is the kind of story that really makes you think. Assess your values, your faith and contemplate what you would do if it was all threatened. A triumphant page-turning conclusion that may not give us all the answers but does give us enough hope to believe that good really can come from evil.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of The Divide, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add your email to a comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easier for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday November 19 2017. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck.

The Alliance

GIVEAWAY

PETERSHEIM, JOLINA
THE ALLIANCE

When Leora Ebersole sees the small plane crash in her Old Order Mennonite community, she has no idea it's a foreshadowing of things to come. Soon after the young pilot, Moses Hughes, regains consciousness, they realize his instrument were destroyed by the same power outage that killed the electricity at the community store, where Englischers are stranded with dead cell phones and cars that won't start.

Moses offers a sobering theory, but no one can know how drastically life is about to change. With the only self-sustaining food supply in the region, the pacifist community is forced to forge an alliance with the handful of stranded Englischers in an effort to protect not only their supplies but their very lives.

In the weeks that follow, Leora, Moses, and the community will be tested as never before, requiring to make decisions they never thought possible. Whom will they help and whom will they turn away? When the community receives news of a new threat, everyone must decide how far they're willing to go to protect their beliefs and way of life.

My review:

Kind of eerie and a little uncomfortable to read but totally compelling. I was riveted from the very first page. Complex characters and an intriguing plot made The Alliance a real page-turner. And my goodness, this story has left me with a lot to think about.

Dystopian fiction can be tricky because it shows so much of what is bad in humanity and that can get depressing. But while Petersheim doesn't shy away from the harsh realities of this new bleak world, she is careful to weave in messages of  faith and hope as well.

The Alliance is told from two points of view -- nineteen year-old Leora, an Old Order Mennonite woman and returned soldier Moses, the pilot who crash lands in her family's field. Such a contrast in views! I found myself alternately siding with both as they strive to find the best way to navigate this new chaotic world.

There are so many layers to their backstories. Both Leora and Moses have suffered difficulties and loss before they become entangled in this dystopian catastrophe. The kind of depth that keeps you up at night so you can read one more chapter and then another and another...Captivating stuff.

The hint of an impossible romance blooms even though Leora has ties to a community man. It seems that everything she understood to be true is challenged in just a few short weeks and that leaves Leora questioning where her allegiance lies.

The ending left me breathless and aching for more because there's a second installment due out in the spring. The Divide. I can't believe I have to wait until then to get full closure but you better believe I'll be first in line to buy the sequel! A stunning and thought-provoking book and well worth the read.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

 If you would like an opportunity to win a copy of The Alliance please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you post a comment and add your email address, please use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in the address to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email please remember to put the title in the subject line so that it's easy for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday August 28 2016. Offer open to international readers. Good luck!

The Midwife

PETERSHEIM, JOLINA
THE MIDWIFE

The story about a mother who risks everything to save a child not genetically hers . . .

The Past — Graduate student Beth Winslow was sure she was ready to navigate the challenges of becoming a surrogate. But when early tests indicate possible abnormalities with the baby, Beth is unprepared for the parents’ decision to end the pregnancy — and for the fierce love she feels for this unborn child. Desperate, she flees the city and seeks refuge at Hopen Haus, a home for unwed mothers deep in a Tennessee Mennonite community.

The Present — As head midwife of Hopen Haus, Rhoda Mummau delivers babies with a confident though stoic ease. Except in rare moments, not even those who work alongside her would guess that each newborn cry, each starry-eyed glance from mother to child, nearly renders a fault through Rhoda’s heart, reminding her of a past she has carefully concealed. Past and present collide when a young woman named Amelia arrives in the sweeping countryside bearing secrets of her own. As Amelia’s due date draws near, Rhoda must face her regrets and those she left behind in order for the healing power of love and forgiveness to set them all free.

My Review:

What an astounding book! A profound story about life and loss and ultimately hope. A wonderful witness to the glory of God's master plan and his divine ability to heal the deepest wounds.

Petersheim has a unique writing style. Rich descriptive passages paint vivid images that add depth and vibrancy to a compelling plot. Unusual too, because the story is written in first person point of view. Pay attention to the headings and dates because The Midwife is told from different characters' viewpoints, both past and present. That took a bit of getting use to in the beginning, especially since some scenes were written in past tense and others in present tense, but once I got the hang of it, the words flowed until they built to an astonishing crescendo. Honestly, there is more than one gobsmacking surprise buried in this emotional tale.

There's also unspeakable sorrow as well. Experience has taught Rhoda to guard her heart and she has turned herself into an outcast in many ways. The broken pieces of her past mesh with the shattered ones in her present and turn into something so hopeful and good it defies description. An incredible read.


*My thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Outcast

GIVEAWAY

PETERSHEIM, JOLINA
THE OUTCAST

Raised in an Old Order Mennonite community, Rachel Stoltzfus is a strong-willed single woman, content living apart from mainstream society until whispers stir the moment her belly swells with new life. Refusing to repent and name the partner in her sin, Rachel feels the wrath of the religious sect as she is shunned by those she loves most. She is eventually coerced into leaving by her brother-in-law, the bishop.

My Review:

This is a sobering book. There is a distinct absence of light-hearted moments but it is a gripping, often dark tale that I found compelling to read. The author draws on her family Mennonite history to lend real authenticity to a gritty story about condemnation and ultimately forgiveness. It was hard to read at times because I'd become so infuriated over the injustice of it all! I'd have to give way to a bout of ranting before I could continue on with the story.

This is Petersheim's debut novel and I was really struck by her maverick writing style. Chapters alternate between Rachel's first person point of view and the omnipotent point of view from a recently deceased bishop who narrates the scenes dealing with all the other characters.  It was a bit jarring at first and I found it difficult to adjust to this particular literary rhythm.

Definitely a different look at the popular Mennonite/Amish genre and certainly a read I won't soon forget.

Giveaway Opportunity:

If you would like an opportunity to win a copy of The Outcast, please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you post a comment and add your email address, please use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in the address to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email please remember to put the title in the subject line so that it's easy for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday August 18 2013. Offer open to international readers. Good luck!