Review and Giveaway: My Heart Remembers

In My Heart Remembers, Kim Sawyer returns with a book that starts with a punch of emotion that doesn’t stop until the last page. I have really enjoyed each of her books so far, and this one lived up to what I've come to expect from her:

-- a historical setting that I am transported to,
-- characters who are far from cookie-cutters, and
-- a historical hook that captures my attention.

Kim is a skilled author, and this book is a great addition to her body of work.

Orphaned in a tenement fire, three Irish-immigrant children are sent to Missouri to be adopted. Despite eight-year-old Maelle’s desperate attempts to keep her siblings together, each child is taken by a different family. Yet Maelle vows that she will never stop searching for her brother and sister – and that they will be together one day in the future.

The years pass, and Maelle continues to look for her siblings even as her hope of truly finding them is waning.

This story bounces between the perspectives of the three siblings. Each of them have had very different experiences with their new families, and their backgrounds are now so different I wondered if they’d ever recognize each other. The book also focuses on the plights of the abandoned children who were forced to work as some sought to institute child labor laws.

As a reader, it occasionally got frustrating to see the siblings so close, yet know they had no idea. Yet the barriers that kept them apart weren’t artificial. Each rang true. And the characters developed on many levels through the book.

The message of hope rings loud and clear in this book. Even when all seems lost, we can find hope when we place our lives in God’s hand.

This book will be a wonderful addition to your reading if you love historicals rich with characters you can root for.

To be entered for a chance to win this book, leave a comment with a way to reach you if you win.