Customer Reviews

When the Soul Mends (Sisters of the Quilt)

5 star:		(80)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From the beginning of the first book to the end of the last book, this Sisters of the Quilt series is the BEST Amish series I've ever read, and I've read plenty!! Cindy's writing is amazing. Her story is both realistic and unique, and it will keep you turning pages into the wee hours of the morning. I could NOT put these books down! And yes, you'll shed some tears but, like most readers, I felt a personal connection to the characters and can't begin to share what all insights I gained about myself and life. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Two and half years ago, then seventeen year old Hannah Lapp left in disgrace the Old Order Amish community and her family home in Owl's Perch, Pennsylvania. Her equally shunned Aunt Zabeth Bender took her teenage niece into her home in Winding Creek, Ohio. Hannah vowed never to return although she misses her family, even though her father who's shunning of her means to him she is dead. Hannah has found contentment with her beloved Martin Palmer and the children they raise.

However, when her troubled sister Sarah frantically calls her, Hannah, in spite of her sibling spreading the rumors that led to her exile, rushes home to help her. She quickly realizes the community loathes her for her choices; her father demands she leave. With the help of her former fiancé Paul Waddell, Hannah tries to help Sarah with mental health issues while she also wonders if she made a mistake when she left her home.

The third Sisters of the Quilt tale (see WHEN THE HEART CRIES and WHEN THE HEART CRIES) is a terrific ending to the Hannah Lapp saga as readers obtain a deep understanding of the faith Mennonite and Old Order Amish families. However what makes the story line engaging and inspiring is Sarah, a unique person in terms of the Amish or for that matter inspirational fiction in general as she suffers with mental issues. Readers will appreciate this excellent entry in the Lapp saga as Hannah returns home to help her sister while her parents and siblings struggle with shunning and welcoming.

Harriet Klausner

I read the first two books by Cindy Woodsmall in this series and highly recommend that before reading this book. I waited and waited until I could afford this book and glad I finally got it.
I like the way the book deals with family, relationships and how circumstances can change what we expected out of life.
Hannah never would have gone off into the Englisher Community had it not been for circumstances beyond her own control. Family sometimes does not understand but all those things worked to make her a stronger person.
Yet when her sister makes a frantic call to her needing help, she listens and responds. That plea brings about another change that Hannah is not expecting. She comes back to the Amish Community where she has experienced so much hurt and little by little God moves in and begins to bring healing.
If Hannah had not gone out to the Englisher Community and learned a trade, she could not have helped her friend, her sister, or the guy she onced love and pledged to marry.
Amish or Englisher you can find healing and learn forgiveness toward others. You can see how God moves sometimes in what we would term hard circumstances to bring about something good.
Does she marry the Englisher or the Amish guy she once pledged to marry? I would not give that away as you need to read the book.
I liked how Cindy wove instances all through the book that worked hard feelings, forgiveness, overcoming problems, and moving forward. One never knew what to expect. Another great read. I have not read any of Cindy's books that have not been a blessing to me.

After more than two years away from her Amish community, 20-year-old Hannah Lapp reluctantly returns to face her family and estranged fiancé in WHEN THE SOUL MENDS, Cindy Woodsmall's intriguing third installment of love and forgiveness in the Sisters of the Quilt series.

Woodsmall includes an updated cast of characters that will help readers pick up the loose ends of the story left dangling in book two, WHEN THE MORNING COMES. These are not stand-alone novels, so you'll want to read the series in order. The series storyline is full of romance, tragedies and misunderstandings. In book one, WHEN THE HEART CRIES, we meet 17-year-old Hannah Lapp, an Old Order Amish girl engaged to Paul Waddell, a college student and Mennonite. A chain of tragedies causes Hannah to flee her family's farm in Pennsylvania, looking for a new start and a home with her estranged aunt in Ohio. WHEN THE MORNING COMES follows Hannah as she makes her way to Alliance, Ohio, and creates a new life for herself. She completes her education and finds her identity in the medical field. As she blossoms, following her dreams Hannah also discovers she can love again.

WHEN THE SOUL MENDS opens as Hannah heads for Owl's Perch and her friends and family in the Amish community after being called home when a friend is seriously injured. To her surprise, "life seemed to have changed for everyone else as much as it had for her." She's determined to be independent and unhurt by anything her family and friends might say or do: "They'd trampled her spirit once. She'd not give them another chance."

Woodsmall follows Hannah as she navigates the touchy relational territory between herself, her family and her Amish community. She also continues the secondary storylines in the previous books: the off-and-on-again romance between Matthew and Elle, the guardianship Martin and Hannah now have over Faye's children after Faye deserted the family, the complicated pregnancy of Mary, and the serious mental problems of Hannah's sister Sarah.

As Sarah spends time in her Amish community, she revisits places associated with the horrors of her past and lays a few ghosts to rest. However, for fans of the series, the main attraction will be the reuniting of Hannah and Paul, and the reconciliation they must accomplish. Both must forgive the other. But will the love they lost be rekindled, or will they each build a life with someone new? As Hannah and Paul ponder forgiveness for those who have wronged them, Hannah asks, "Is it possible that faith in God over our future must outweigh our feelings in the things of today? And maybe there are lots of types of forgiveness just like there are lots of types of love." Readers will be glued until the final pages, wanting to find out who ends up with who.

Throughout the series, Woodsmall reminds readers of the power of forgiveness, the importance of honesty, the damage that guilt can do, and the devastating results of long-held misunderstandings. She also throws in a few surprises, and some of the romances between characters come to unexpected conclusions. The ending provides a good dose of redemption and some needed closure. Although this trilogy ends, fans will be happy to see that a new Amish series appears to be in the works as well (a sample chapter is included at the end of the book). Stay tuned.

--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

Hannah, an old order Amish young woman, has left her home in disgrace after her fiance, Paul, has refused to hear her side of an unexpected pregnancy. After giving birth and being kicked out of her father's home, she left and looked up an Aunt who had also been banned from their Amish family. Hannah moved in with her aunt, learned to love her immediately, and through her, met Martin, an Englisher with plenty of money and the responsibility of raising his sister's two children. Hannah nursed her aunt through illness and death. Hannah and Martin fell in love, and an older Doctor in the town befriended her, nursed her back to health after her high risk pregnancy, gave her a job and a will to live and follow her dream of becoming a nurse.

An unexpected emergency back home called Hannah back. She was hesitant, but still loving her family and home, she drove the four hours to be with her sister, Sarah, who had become a total mental case and whose father refused any outside intervention. Hannah was basically shunned and ignored by the townspeople because of the way she had left, the Bishop's verdict and the fact she was now living as English. Hannah was determined to get Sarah some modern mental health help and her life becomes entangled with her old fiance Paul, who is now a mental health counselor and the one assigned to oversee the care of Sarah. Hannah feels she really does not fit in anyplace anymore, but is anxious to get back to Martin, the love of her life. Paul has a new girlfriend who figures hugely in the outcome of this love mystery.

Eventually lives collide, old hurts return, new ideas seem wrong, and her best friend Mary has kept her doctor's report a secret since her accident, and defied his counsel by becoming pregnant. Hannah has enough medical knowledge to know a catastrophe is waiting to happen.

She is met with opposition no matter which way she goes. Yet, she sticks to her convictions and gets help for both Sarah and Mary --both at a terrible cost and worry to her and those who love her. The book contains intrigue, mystery, religious conflicts and a very tumultuous love story.

I was completely surprised with the book's ending, and to say anymore would be to spoil this lovely series' ending. I am looking forward to more books by this author.

What a beautiful story...the emotional struggles and hurt that Hannah experienced...and a wonderful ending. Kept me wondering how this story would end. Cindy Woodsmall is a great inspiritional writter. Finished reading "When the Soul Mends" as the New Year 2009 arrived on Jan 1st.

When the Soul Mends by Cindy Woodsmall is the third book in the Sisters of the Quilt series.

Book Three opens with the protagonist, Hannah, returning to her Old Order Amish community in Pennsylvania. She had left two years before in a cloud of disgrace, misunderstanding and hurt. But Hannah is not the same woman who left. Although she has held onto many of her simple Amish ways, she has blossomed and thrived with the love and acceptance she has received in the "Englischer" world to which she fled. She has adapted to some of the modern ways and gained confidence, education, self-respect and a strong sense of who she is and how she should be treated.

When the Heart Mends is Hannah's crossroads story. Will she return to her Amish community or stay in the Englischer world? Will she marry the man with whom she has fallen in love in the Englischer world or can forgiveness and new understanding bring her back to her first love and former fiance when she lived in the Amish community?

This is a great story and opens a mostly unknown world to us "Englischers". It's a story of forgiveness, trusting God, and making a life for oneself that feels authentic and right. Hannah needs to figure out what works for her from the Amish world and what works from the modern world. She's such a likeable character and she's surprisingly strong; you will find yourself pulling for her every step of the way.

I will admit jumping into the story with the third book in the series is a little difficult, but the author kindly puts a summary of the characters and a snippet of what's happened at the beginning of the book so you can catch up. This "cheat sheet" is essential for the first several chapters. After that, you'll be so into the story, you won't even notice you missed the first two books. However, given the quality of When the Heart Mends, the other two books in the series, When the Heart Cries and When the Morning Comes are well worth taking the time to read as well.

What a fabulous conclusion to a strong series. When the Soul Mends is as deep an compulsively readable as the rest of the series. You could try reading it as a stand-alone but I think it's much more effective if it's read within the series. The author did a great job in regards to drawing me in. I was as confused as Hannah was about who I wanted her to end up with. But the author made such as great case for each situation that I changed my mind several times over the course of the series. I am ecstatic with how it ended, too. It seemed impossible, but Cindy pulled it off.

I loved the spiritual thread, which was subtle, yet effective. The part about forgiveness was very well done and portrayed the way life really is. It's one thing to say you should forgive someone and an entirely different thing to follow through with your intenstions. I also really enjoyed the roles the minor characters played in the story. It gave it a richer quality. I just wish the series didn't have to end. This is the kind of story that makes you want to pick up the phone when you turn the last page and talk to someone about it. I highly recommend When the Soul Mends.

Rarely is the third book in a series better than the two previous ones, especially when the others are bestsellers. But Cindy Woodsmall has outdone herself.

When the Soul Mends is an amazing finale to this series. Woodsmall does more than weave a great story; she can change your mind without you realizing she's done it. I had firmly sworn my allegiance to certain characters, and I don't change my mind easily. I've been known to throw a book across the room halfway through if it doesn't go the way I want it to. With the finesse of a master word weaver, Woodsmall makes the characters' changes subtle and incremental. In other words--real life.

When the Soul Mends is filled with conflict from beginning to end as Hannah battles not only obstinate family members, but the desires of her own heart. I couldn't put it down and finished it in one spell-binding sitting.

Not often does a series settle into my soul like the Sisters of the Quilt series has, and When the Soul Mends gets Novel Reviews and my highest recommendation. It's a 5-star read.

Wow. That is the main thought that I am left with after finishing this magnificent book. Cindy Woodsmall has done an amazing job with her debut series and I cannot wait to read more from this fabulous author. I enjoyed the first book and really was full of emotion for the characters. I cannot tell you how many times throughout the series I was brought to tears or screaming in anger when the characters would not for themselves.

When the Soul Mends is an incredible book about such depth with a vast amount of heart wrenching drama that is so real and so needed to be read. You could read this book alone, but I strongly suggest you start from the beginning, because only after going through When the Heart Cries to the When the Morning Comes can you really appreciate the beauty and fully healing affects of When the Soul Mends. Can you see how perfect these titles are?

I'm practically speechless, but I want to ramble about how great this book is. The characters are so real, as are their troubles and joys. Cindy really brings you into an Amish/Plain/Englisher world and shows the good, as well as the bad in all cases. After falling into their world in the first two novels and screaming for answers with the cliff hangers those two left me in, Cindy has answered everything in more depth and better than I ever could have imagined. I'm completely satisfied with this series and you can bet it is on my keeper shelf.