The Promise of Dawn by Lauraine Snelling

The Promise of Dawn by Lauraine Snelling is the beginning of this authors new series, Under Northern Skies.  This is the story of Rune and Signe Carlson's immigration to America.  Rune's uncle, Einar sent a letter offering land and passage to Minnesota in exchange for working for him lumbering in the forest he owned and caring for his ailing wife.  Signe who is pregnant with their forth child does not want to go.  She loves living among their families even though they are so poor that they mostly eat porridge every day. Rune sees America as an opportunity that he would never get if they stayed in Norway and accepts the offer to move his family which included 3 sons to Minnesota.  The trip over the ocean was much harder than any of them but then when they get to the farm they find it in much worse condition that they expected and the work much harder than they expected.  The boys, Bjorn, Knute, and Leif, were all school aged but Einar expected them to all work like men.  Einar was a hard man never asked always demanded and always, always was stern.  Gern his wife was always screaming to Signe for something that she wanted and was also demanding in her own way but since she had gotten so weak and sick with her heart was unable to  be as demanding as Einar.  Signe stood her ground however when Einar said that the boys would not be able to go to school and so the 2 younger boys went to school when September came leaving only Bjorn to work in the forest with his dad and Einar.  Bjorn had a love of timbering and was glad not to go to school and oddly enough even Einar was more pleasant in the woods.  Signe on the other hand was in the house with Gern.  Signe had decided that she would make Gern well and started demanding that she move and get out of bed and at least sit in a chair.  Gern slowly but surely became stronger and as she regained her health she also became more nice and less demanding.  All were learning English, the boys were learning in school, and things continued to look up until the horrible accident with Bjorn.  How would they continue?  Well partly by Signe and Rune standing up to Einar and Signe figuring out just how much they owed Einar and realizing that they had already paid him back with all their hard work.  Read this book to find how this God loving family meshed with their hard unfeeling relatives and become one family.

I loved this book though I am not nearing as patient as Rune and Signe were with their relatives.  I believe most any older girl or woman would enjoy reading this delightful book on their coming to America.  There is little violence in this story and what there is would have been considered strict discipline in those days. There is no sexual content.  Any child who wished could read the book if they had the ability.   I received this book from BethanyHouse for this review.

The Beloved Hope Chest by Amy Clipston

The Beloved Hope Chest by Amy Clipston is the 4th installment of the Amish Heirloom Series by this author.  Where the others in the series feature the 3 daughters of Mattie and Leroy Fisher this segment of the series looks back into the life of the parents, Mattie and Leroy and how they spent their childhood as the very best of friends and though Leroy always knew that he loved and wanted to spend all his life with Mattie it took some convincing for Mattie to realize the great love that she had for Leroy. Mattie catches the 3 girls looking through her beloved hope chest just after they find the baby boy's clothing.  Mattie can no longer keep the secret that she and Leroy had never shared with the family.  Mattie in fact had met and in a whirlwind courtship had married Isaiah and at the beginning of the novel is pregnant and eagerly anticipating the birth of their first child.  Isaiah had run to the bank quickly before lunch but when he didn't return for lunch and then the police officer had knocked on their door to change her life completely.  The officer reported to the family that Isaiah had been in the bank during a robbery and in order to protect a woman had been shot pointblank in the chest.  Mattie doesn't know how she will be able to care for herself and the expected baby but moved back into her parents tiny home.  Within 4 months time though Leroy stepped forward and offered to marry her and help her care for the expected baby.  Mattie loved Leroy but only as a friend, Leroy on the other hand had always loved Mattie as much more than a friend from childhood.  This is the story of how Leroy and Mattie grew to love each other and even though the great tragedies that threatened to tear them apart in their first year together their love grew to be the one that would be a strong base for their family.

I loved this story quite possibly the best of the series.  Often an author starts out a series with the best story and then the others fill out the plot begun in the first.  But this series held the interest for the build up to the 4th installment it seemed to me.  I love this author's ability to tell a story and make the reader fall in love with her characters.  Great job Amy Clipston. 
 I received this book from BookLook for this review.

Get Out of That Pit by Beth Moore

Get Out of That Pit by Beth Moore is the newest book by this Christian author/educator.  This book is about Beth's advise on getting out of your own "pit of despair", whether it be drug dependency, sexual deviance, drinking, or gossiping.  All are sins and equally sinful.  Beth preaches that it doesn't really matter how you ended up in your slippery pit of filth but that you can get out of it and more importantly stay out of it.  She backgrounds her advise with scripture as always and usually the subject of honor in this book is Joseph with his famous coat of many colors who was thrown into his pit by his brothers.  Beth very openly discusses her own pit of sexual exploits as well as many of the causes.  Beth further explains that though she was abused as a child and that started her journey that Beth had to get out of her pit for her own well being as well as the future family who would have suffered needlessly if she had not.  Beth states that her family benefitted but that she had to do it for her own good.  Beth further states that though she had to work very hard at doing this herself with very little help from family or friends she could not have done it without the help of her friend and savior, Jesus Christ.

This book is sad in that it tells some of the story of Beth's sad childhood and tells further how adults can so easily and deeply injure the very being of who a child will turn out to be as an adult.  It also tells of how even though she could have wallowed in the self pity of her disastrous childhood and wallowed further in the pity of others she could not have an eternal life of joy until she made that long slippery climb out of that pit and stayed out of it.  She tells of how the enemy would entice her back into the pit, sometimes successfully, but when she finally climbed out of the pit for the last time how her life can only be truly happy when she lives a clean healthy life staying far away from the pit.  She states that she no longer will ever go back to the pit but the enemy continues to tempt her and that she remains strong but the help of God, scripture, prayer and her family.  Read this book if you need assistance getting out of your own pit or know someone who needs help getting out of their pit.
I received this book from Handlebar for this review.