I love a good mystery, and that’s what drew me in and want to read, Bringing Maggie Home by Kim Vogel Sawyer. This is the first book I’ve read by this author so I didn’t know what to expect.
The story starts out in 1943, when young Hazel is watching her 3- year-old sister Maggie. She only turned her back for a few seconds, but that’s all it took and little Maggie was gone. What happened? Would they ever know? Hazel and her family were devastated by the loss. Its impact would ripple down and impact future generations. Fast forward to present day, Hazel’s granddaughter Meghan is coming for a visit only to be surprised and find her mom Diane there too. When the long-held secret comes out about Maggie, Meghan has hope, that as a cold case investigator, she may be able to finally bring some closure for her grandmother that she loves so dearly.
Bringing Maggie Home turned out to be a little different than I anticipated. It focused mostly on the people and their relationships. Through this story, you can see how one horrible event can impact people far beyond the initial tragedy. There were times, I felt like the story dragged a bit, because I was wanting to get on to solving the mystery. When in fact that’s secondary to understanding people.
I struggled with the character, Diane. She was just downright unpleasant and I wanted to slap her. She was rude and I didn’t like her. But as the story went along I came to understand her more. I really liked the characters Hazel and Meghan and their loving and caring relationship. Another likeable character was Sean. I liked how he lived out his Christian faith. I greatly appreciate it when the Gospel message is woven in to a book by a Christian author.
For those of you who love solving mysteries, don’t worry, you’ll get to the bottom of what happened to Maggie in due time. That part of the book was interesting too. I wish it had been a bigger part of the story.
But all in all, I recommend Bringing Maggie Home by Kim Vogel Sawyer. There were times reading it was painful because of the bitterness, hurt and anger the characters were dealing with. But it caused me to reflect on my own life and relationships. I went through a range of emotions as I read this book. I found it hopeful in that characters grew and changed overtime and you saw the Lord at work in their lives.
I love finding an author whose work is new to me. Not only did I get to enjoy Kim Vogel Sawyer’s newest book Bringing Maggie Home, but now I can go back and read her earlier books.
I would like to thank Blogging for Books and WaterBrook Publishers for the opportunity to read Bringing Maggie Home for free. I was under no obligation to give a favorable review.
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