Raised in foster care and now the widowed mother of a little girl, Cara Moore struggles against poverty, fear, and a relentless stalker. When a trail of memories leads Cara and Lori out of New York City toward an Amish community, she follows every lead, eager for answers and a fresh start. She discovers that long-held secrets about her family history ripple beneath the surface of Dry Lake, Pennsylvania, and it’s no place for an outsider. But one Amish man, Ephraim Mast, dares to fulfill the command he believes that he received from God–“Be me to her”– despite how it threatens his way of life.
Completely opposite of the hard, untrusting Cara, Ephraim’s sister Deborah also finds her dreams crumbling when the man she has pledged to build a life with begins withdrawing from Deborah and his community, including his mother, Ada Stoltzfus. Can the run-down house that Ada envisions transforming unite them toward a common purpose–or push Mahlon away forever? While Ephraim is trying to do what he believes is right, will he be shunned and lose everything–including the guarded single mother who simply longs for a better life?
Book Info:
Award winning local newspaper offering world, regional and local news, opinions and columnists. Now a member of the “New York Times” family.,News and Features for the people of Seneca County NY,Wanda E. Brunstetter s A Sister s Hope, the third book in her Sisters of Holmes County series, continues with the story of the Hostettler sisters and their ,The First Word On the Book Publishing Industry,WRITINGS BY THE AUTHOR: BOOKS. An Evening Walk. An Epistle; in verse. Addressed to a young Lady, from the Lakes of the North of England (London: Printed for J ,You never know whos listening. Dont miss the series premiere of TURN. April 6 on AMC.,The Heritage Foundation is the nations most broadly supported public policy research institute, with hundreds of thousands of individual, foundation and corporate ,The original Warriors series, released from 2003 to 2004, consists of six books: Into the Wild, Fire and Ice, Forest of Secrets, Rising Storm, A Dangerous Path, and ,The Vampire World (NOTE: Instead of vampire, the authors use the variant spelling vampyre throughout the book series. This convention is also applied to the words ,1. As The Hope of Refuge begins, Cara is a child trying to piece together her reality with fragments of newly disclosed secrets from her mothers past.
* Books Details:
- Sales Rank: #63690 in Books
- Published on: 2009-08-11
- Released on: 2009-08-11
- Original language:
English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .73″ h x
5.18″ w x
8.02″ l,
.58 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 352 pages
Christianbook.com: The Hope of Refuge, Ada’s House Series
1. As The Hope of Refuge begins, Cara is a child trying to piece together her reality with fragments of newly disclosed secrets from her mothers past.
House of Night – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Vampire World (NOTE: Instead of vampire, the authors use the variant spelling vampyre throughout the book series. This convention is also applied to the words
Warriors (novel series) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The original Warriors series, released from 2003 to 2004, consists of six books: Into the Wild, Fire and Ice, Forest of Secrets, Rising Storm, A Dangerous Path, and
Research – The Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation is the nations most broadly supported public policy research institute, with hundreds of thousands of individual, foundation and corporate
Videos AMC
You never know whos listening. Dont miss the series premiere of TURN. April 6 on AMC.
William Wordsworth : The Poetry Foundation
WRITINGS BY THE AUTHOR: BOOKS. An Evening Walk. An Epistle; in verse. Addressed to a young Lady, from the Lakes of the North of England (London: Printed for J
GalleyCat – The First Word On the Book Publishing Industry
The First Word On the Book Publishing Industry
A Sister’s Hope, Sisters of Holmes County Series #3
Wanda E. Brunstetter s A Sister s Hope, the third book in her Sisters of Holmes County series, continues with the story of the Hostettler sisters and their
Seneca Daily News
News and Features for the people of Seneca County NY
Worcester Telegram & Gazette – telegram.com
Award winning local newspaper offering world, regional and local news, opinions and columnists. Now a member of the “New York Times” family.
- Sales Rank: #63690 in Books
- Published on: 2009-08-11
- Released on: 2009-08-11
- Original language:
English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .73″ h x
5.18″ w x
8.02″ l,
.58 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 352 pages
Raised in foster care and now the widowed mother of a little girl, Cara Moore struggles against poverty, fear, and a relentless stalker. When a trail of memories leads Cara and Lori out of New York City toward an Amish community, she follows every lead, eager for answers and a fresh start. She discovers that long-held secrets about her family history ripple beneath the surface of Dry Lake, Pennsylvania, and it’s no place for an outsider. But one Amish man, Ephraim Mast, dares to fulfill the command he believes that he received from God–“Be me to her”– despite how it threatens his way of life.
Completely opposite of the hard, untrusting Cara, Ephraim’s sister Deborah also finds her dreams crumbling when the man she has pledged to build a life with begins withdrawing from Deborah and his community, including his mother, Ada Stoltzfus. Can the run-down house that Ada envisions transforming unite them toward a common purpose–or push Mahlon away forever? While Ephraim is trying to do what he believes is right, will he be shunned and lose everything–including the guarded single mother who simply longs for a better life?
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful.
Enjoyable Book!
By K. Herbrand
My synopsis: Cara felt like she had been on the run with her daughter forever. But now that Mike had found her again, and this time knew her daughter’s name and school – she needed to really get lost. Unfortunately Cara had been “lost” her whole life. Her mother died when she was 8 and her father left her at a bus stop and told her to wait for someone named Emma Riehl who was going to come and get her. Emma never showed up and Cara ended up in foster care. It was while she was here that she met Mike. As a teenager she had tried to go to the police about him, but they did not believe her. She married when she was 17 to get protection from him. When her husband died a few years later, she was left to raise their daughter Lori alone. Mike soon found out and began to stalk her again.Discovering an address in a journal that her mother Malinda had kept, Cara sets out with Lori with little money and just the clothes on their backs. They are headed to Dry Lake, Pennsylvania, an Amish community. Cara has not been able to trust anyone for so long, that when she shows up in Dry Lake she hides out in a barn with her daughter. She feels as if she knows this place though, but doesn’t know how or why. They attend a local auction with the hopes of finding some food when Cara hears the name Emma Riehl again. She knows she must get some answers, but doesn’t know what she is going to do for food and shelter in the meantime.Her stay in the barn does not last long as a local has called the police. They claim they have seen a drunken thief in the area and that she appears to be living in this barn. Before the police can take her away, Ephraim steps in and tells them that she and her daughter can stay with him. He is not quite sure why he has done this, as it will cause problems in the community. Especially if she is who he thinks she is – the daughter of Malinda Riehl, who was banished from the community many years before and left much hurt in her wake. He remembers playing with her for a week when he was a child and has never forgotten her.Cara’s presence in Ephraim’s household does indeed cause problems. He is shunned, more severely than normal. This means he is not allowed to speak to any other Amish person, nor sit with them at a table, nor take something from their hands or hand them something. He has also been banished from working at his cabinetry business. In spite of all this, he hears “Be Me to her” when he is having his greatest doubts and feels deep inside that he is doing the right thing. He has no clue how all this will end though.My thoughts: This was really my first “Amish” book – and I know there are a lot out there right now! I really enjoyed it though, and it gave me a look into a world that I did not know anything about. On one hand, I don’t know how people live without electricity, cars, TV, etc – but on the other hand life would be so simple! I am not sure that I would be happy like that forever though. I believe in the same God that they believe in, but I am not sure that if you are not born Amish that his would be a society that you would ever truly belong to. This says it is an Ada House novel, so I am hoping that there are more to come. There were a lot of background characters – Deborah (Ephraim’s sister), Mahlon (Deborah’s fiance), Ada (Mahlon’s mom) and Anna Mary (Ephraim’s girlfriend) that I would like to learn more about. I have a feeling that there will be some good stories there!Oh – there is a cute puppy in the book which Ephraim names Better Days which makes for some good one liners!
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful.
She’s Done It Again!
By C. Janes
Cindy Woodsmall has done it again! She’s got a knack for writing a good Amish story that is different from anything else available on Christian bookstore shelves. Just like all of her other books, she has written a great story in The Hope of Refuge that will stay with me for days.This book has probably one of the most believable storylines for Amish fiction that I’ve read in a long time. Cindy has created convincing characters with real flaws and real reactions to the circumstances that surround them. She also has great skill in being able to draw you into the lives of these characters, and it’s like you are right there with them through the good and the bad.What Ephraim did for Cara by taking her into his home took a lot of guts considering his commitment to the Amish lifestyle. He had to face some harsh treatment from his family and friends for obeying God’s command for him to “be Me to her.” I felt that the author hit the nail on the head by adding that small statement to this book, and it made me wonder how much we apply that to our daily lives.Trust me, you will not be sorry if you get the opportunity to read this great book. As I said before, it’s a book that will stay with you and have you thinking for days. I am already looking forward to the next one that Cindy has coming out…thankfully, I only have a couple of months to wait!
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
Amish Fiction Done Well
By Gayla M. Collins
In truth I have tried a few Amish fiction books and just couldn’t take to them. They seemed too sugary and plain. So, with a bit of trepidation, I started “The Hope of Refuge” and was delighted to be drawn in immediately.Cara Moore is broke, practically living on the streets and being stalked by a jealous maniac…..just as she begins to feel safe in a small town as a waitress he strikes again. Grabbing up her daughter, a few bucks, and the clothes on their backs they run for Pennsylvania where drifting memories encourage her to go.Though she isn’t readily accepted into the Amish community at first, Cara works hard to feed her daughter and find out the secrets of the memories she feels and she see’s in other’s eyes. She is helped by a few of the Amish who know she is in trouble and feel in their hearts it is the thing to do.Nice mystery, much information about the Amish and their beliefs, arrogance, mistakes, and redemption all figure into this lovely book that now has me ordering Ms. Woodsmall’s “The Sister of Quilt’s” series and her new one for Christmas. I appreciate good writing and Ms. Woodsmall is a fine writer.
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