Customer Reviews

When the Morning Comes (Sisters of the Quilt, Book 2)

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you loved When the Heart Cries, you are really going to love this sequel. The story begins with Hannah searching for her Aunt. She ends up all alone, cold and hungry. You can't help but feel for her since the ending of the last book brought out the many injustices she faced at the hands of people who were supposed to be there for her. Of course, she does finally find her aunt and her life starts to finally turn around.

Meanwhile, Paul hasn't forgotten Hannah, and her sister Sarah is completely losing her mind as a result of Hannah's disappearance. There is drama with other members of Owl's Perch, too, but I won't spoil it by sharing the details. In short, this story was just as hard to put down as the first book in the series. I personally think it was even more romantic. But you start to feel torn. Of course, the author resolves just enough of the issues that you aren't freaking out when the story ends, but she leaves some loose ends that make you crave the next installment. I can't wait to read the third book in this series to find out what Hannah decides to do with her life.

Book two in the Sisters of the Quilt series, When Morning Comes is the perfect sequel to When the Heart Cries. As Hannah comes of age in this journey of faith, she's exposed to a new world of opportunity. A world where many of her dreams can come true. Woodsmall is a gifted writer who once again turned off my inner editor, enabling me to suspend disbelief and experience Hannah's life-changing challenges.

Have you ever read a sequel to a book you loved, and the author took the story in a direction you didn't want it to go? I was surprised with the end of When Morning Comes, yet it had a certain rightness to it, a satisfying end. But it isn't the end. There's more to Hannah's story to come. I for one, can't wait to read it.

Hannah Lapp's baby is dead, and she believes her fiance, Pall Waddell has rejected her. Fleeing from the anger and condemnation of her family and community, Hannah goes to her shunned Aunt Zabeth, in Ohio. She has a new life, new friends, new work. Aunt Zabeth is delighted to have her and Hannah enjoys the freedom of the Englischer life, but she misses her home and family. She misses Paul too, but she's met a man to whom she is attracted. One who is willing to accept her as she is.

Back home, the people who rejected her are forced to face their own behavior and the way they treated Hannah. The person most affected is her sister, Sarah, who becomes less connected to reality every day. Although Hannah doesn't want to return to her family, she may not have a choice.

Cindy Woodsmall has a gift for capturing the essence of the Old Order Amish and Mennonite communities. When The Morning Comes is an intriguing story about a young woman who has lived through great tragedy and survived. Full of emotion, conflict, and faith, it's a great addition to the Sisters of the Quilt series.

Once again Cindy Woodsmall grabs the reader right from the start. I loved that Cindy starts this story exactly where the other story ended. Cindy has a way of taking the reader and having you see and feel Hannah's pain and struggle, which makes it real. It was fascinating how Hannah explores and discovers new things in this Englischers world. It's not like anything she was raised in. It's extremely hard to get used to, but she can't go back to being shunned in her Amish community. Lies were being spread about her and there was nothing she could do to make them go away. No one believed that she was faithful to her God - she did nothing wrong but everything was made to look and feel so terrible. She had left a note for Paul (the love of her life) and even called to see if they could be together, but he had begun to believe the lies also. She couldn't believe how fast he could turn on her - just like everyone else did. She was all alone to face a new life by herself. But, there was still one family member that might take her in - her aunt. She knew her aunt would understand her plight. Hannah had to reach out and try to connect with her - it was her only hope.

Back in Hannah's Old Order Amish community, they all start to regret their decision which forced Hannah to run off. They talked to one another and found out that she was telling the truth. How could they have abandoned her in her time of need? How could they live with themselves? How would this young woman make it on her own? Paul wants to run after her, but no one knows where Hannah went. Why hasn't she called or written? Everyone waited for the day that Hannah's heart was healed and she would want to come back to the community she was raised in. Then they could show her the love they had for her. Would they ever get that chance?

Cindy Woodsmall has many gems in her book mixed amongst the seriousness. The book has humor and gems of advice like "You need to forgive yourself. You need to believe what you did is not more powerful that what God can do from this point forward." Amen to that. Wow!

I loved how Cindy goes back and forth between the events in these two different worlds. In the first, the Old Order Amish Community, we see how life continues in this world while everyone deals with Hanna's disappearance. The second world is a new, exciting and terrifying world that Hanna has escaped to. Here, we see how she learns to take care of herself and find some peace in this unknown environment. She doesn't want to look back...she can't. It's just too painful!

You will be totally absorbed in this fascinating story of self-discovery, forgiveness, love and the really important things that make this life worth living. I can't wait to read the last installment of this series.

Nora St.Laurent

[...]

A riveting sequel to "When the Heart Cries". Hannah Lapp is determined to flee the Amish Community that has betrayed her and the man who had turned his back on her when he found out about the circumstances of her pregnancy. With the help of her few remaining allies, Hannah forges out on her own to find the aunt whom her father have never mentioned. Meanwhile, back in Owl's Perch, Paul is faced with the possibility of Hannah never returning to Owl's Perch. I don't want to give away too much of the plot but overall I would give this book a four and a half star rating because the ending is another cliff-hanger since we probably have to wait to another year to find out what happens next to Hannah, Paul, Sarah, Mary, Luke and Matthew. I will be looking for the third book in this awesome series!

This review is from: When the Morning Comes (Sisters of the Quilt, Book 2) (Paperback)Book two in the Sisters of the Quilt series, When Morning Comes is the sequel to When the Heart Cries. When book one ended with poor forsaken Hannah, weak from delivering her stillborn baby girl, I rushed to the library to find the sequal. I had to know what would happen between her and her fiance Paul. My heart broke for the main character as she was wrongly accused and deserted by family and community. From an old letter found in her father's room, Hannah learned she of Aunt Zebeth, though the family never shared her existence. She sets out to find her long lost relative. Providence leads Hannah to her aunt and she starts to heal. Cindy Woodsmall's insight into the Amish communtiy comes from her close friend, Miriam Flaud, a woman immersed in the culture of Old Order Amish. However, it seemed Hannah was mighty quick to shift from her Amish ways to her new lifestyle. Cars and cellphone and a spunky attitude gave me pause. Thankfully the third book in the series set the world aright.

WHEN THE MORNING COMES, book two in Cindy Woodsmall's Sisters of the Quilt series, picks up where WHEN THE HEART CRIES ended and offers the same intriguing blend of Amish-themed romance and misfortunes.

This is not a stand-alone novel, so you'll want to read the series in order. A cast of characters included is helpful in picking up the storyline. In WHEN THE HEART CRIES, we met Hannah Lapp, the 17-year-old daughter of an Old Order Amish family who was engaged to an older Mennonite college student, Paul Waddell. Although Hannah had grown up with a traditional Amish lifestyle on a farm in Owl's Perch in Perry County, Pennsylvania, she yearned for something more. When Hannah is brutally assaulted, setting off a string of tragedies, Hannah flees her community --- and her fiancé --- and strikes out on her own.

WHEN THE MORNING COMES opens with Hannah broken in body and spirit. She's made it to Alliance, Ohio, where she believes her father's estranged twin, Zabeth, might take her in. Unable to find her aunt, Hannah ends up hospitalized and under the care of Dr. Lehman. When she recovers, he takes her under his tutelage and hires her to work with Amish women. He also encourages her to complete her education.

Meanwhile, Paul, Hannah's fiancé, is riddled with regrets about how he handled the news of Hannah's assault. "Now he had to find Hannah. He'd messed up by not being there for her, but from this point on, he would be --- if he could find her... He prayed that the Lord would soften her heart toward him and that she'd trust him enough to give him another chance."

Woodsmall includes some nice sub-themes here, picking up the loose ends from book one. Hannah's troubled 15-year-old sister Sarah discovers the full extent of the damage she did to Hannah, and this knowledge sends her over the edge of reason into mental illness. Soon, barns burn down under mysterious circumstances and Sarah roams the Amish community, looking for Hannah and a baby. But Sarah's stubborn father refuses to believe Sarah needs more help than God and the community can offer, and soon Sarah's mother, already bitter about his treatment of Hannah, turns against him. Will she lose both her daughters?

Hannah's brother Luke is ready to tie the knot with Mary Yoder, one of Hannah's best friends, but the buggy accident in book one has left Mary in precarious health. When Mary lies to Luke about her healing and they marry, disaster seems right around the corner. Readers will feel the tension build as Mary becomes pregnant --- and doesn't tell Luke what her eventual pregnancy may cost them.

One of the most likable characters in WHEN THE HEART CRIES is Matthew Esh, a good friend of Hannnah's who stuck by her in her troubles, and his story continues in this installment. Matthew's romantic interest, Elle Leggett, decides to give the English way of life a try for six months and leaves with his blessing. But six months stretches into 12, and soon Matthew wonders if she will leave the Amish --- and him --- forever.

Some new characters make appearances in book two. Hannah's Aunt Zabeth, dying from cancer, takes Hannah in and shows her by example the power of love and forgiveness. Through Zabeth, Hannah meets Martin Palmer, his sister Faye, and Faye's two children, and is drawn into new romance and responsibilities just as she's beginning to find her identity. Woodsmall creates a nice give and take between Hannah and Martin as they become friends, and then something more. But Paul is still looking for Hannah. Will she give her heart to another before he can ask for her forgiveness and win her back? This nice tension keeps the pages turning.

Woodsmall occasionally frustrates the reader with the characters' misunderstandings (Paul sees Hannah but leaves without communicating with her after a long search --- painful!), but Woodsmall's story is engaging, and Hannah's continuing search for identity is appealing.

WHEN THE MORNING COMES ends with Hannah heading back to Pennsylvania after news arrived that some of her loved ones have been in a terrible accident. It's a great cliffhanger to ratchet up anticipation for book three, WHEN THE SOUL MENDS. Readers won't be able to resist.

--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

I so enjoyed these two books from Cindy Woodsmall. I was wondering when she will, or if she is going to write a #3 in the series? I will be looking foreward to it.

Thanks,

Norma Poulson

EXCELLENT! IT WAS HARD TO PUT THIS BOOK DOWN. I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT BOOK COMES OUT. IT MAKES YOU WONDER WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO HANNAH AND ALSO WHAT WILL BECOME OF SARAH. ALSO WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN HANNAH RETURNS TO OWL' PERCH.

This is a very compelling novel regarding the values of the Amish faith and the struggle to survive in modern culture. Its storyline includes drama, humor, romance and suspense. It definitely makes you eager to read the sequel!