The Return by Suzanne Woods Fisher - A Book Review

   

     I first met Anna in Anna’s Crossing, a story of one of the first groups of Amish to leave Germany to settle in the New World. The Return is largely the story of Anna’s daughter, Tessa, although many others play major roles in the story’s development. The story is one of finding one’s self and one’s place in the world. Some discoveries are made quite by surprise, some grow out of tragedy, and some are slowly revealed. Not all those seeking to know themselves and the direction of their future are as young as you might anticipate.

     While this book, in my opinion, got off to a slow start, by the end of the book, I was lost in the story, unable to put it down. Fisher develops the characters in a way that causes her readers to care about what happens to them, both those they have a strong compassion for, and those they find a bit irritating. The scenario they find themselves in during the last third of the book compels the reader to read on to find out how things work out. For some the ending is tragic, while others discover possibilities that didn’t exist before.

     I would encourage readers of The Return to hang in there if they too feel like the book is a little slow at the beginning. It is well worth reading to the end. There is enjoyment to be had and lessons to be learned. I thank Revell publishing and the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for providing this book in exchange for my honest opinion. I received no monetary compensation for providing a review of this book.