An Old Order Mennonite couple’s vows and beliefs are challenged in this stirring contemporary novel for fans of Cindy Woodsmall or Shelley Shepherd Gray.Anthony and Marty Hirschler are part of an Old Order Mennonite community in Pine Hill, Indiana. The couple has grown apart since a doctor confirmed they would never have children. Marty longs to escape the tight-knit area where large families … large families are valued, and the opportunity to do so arises when her childhood friend, Brooke Spalding, resurfaces with the wild idea of rebuilding a ghost town into a resort community. Brooke hires Anthony to help with the construction, drawing the Hirschlers away from Indiana and into her plan, and then finds herself diagnosed with cancer. Moral complications with Brooke’s vision for a casino as part of the resort and the discovery of a runaway teenager hiding on the property open up a world neither the Hirschlers nor Brooke had considered before. Will they be able to overcome their challenges and differences to help the ones among them hurting the most?
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I always enjoy a story of personal struggles and eventual triumphs. But Ours for a Season takes it up a notch. Kim sensitively weaves in a contemporary social issue that we all need to care more about. Both Marty and Brooke set an inspiring example of true Christian love. Well done, Kim!
This book deals with human-trafficking in a whole new way. It is very well written and will stay with you after you finish the last page. The author has also included tips at the end on how we can help bring an end to this vile, harmful practice. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for a honest review.
One of the more realistic books that I’ve read lately. As a woman I could really relate to the heartache of this young woman and feel the frustration she felt. An excellent book to read and reflect one’s own personal thoughts on touchy subjects that we might not think about often.
Ours for a Season swept me away from the first page until the last. Sawyer’s ability to create true-to-life characters shines in this unforgettable tale. Run, do not walk, to your nearest bookstore and buy this book!
What begins as a seemingly predictable ‘we can’t have a baby’ novel turns into a ripped-from-the-headlines heart-wrenching story. Marty, Anthony, and Brooke came to life, each with his or her own challenges. As they worked to resolve these challenges, I learned along with them…about life, love, and ultimately hope.
Ours For a Season (2018) by Kim Vogel Sawyer is a phenomenal stand-alone novel. This book comes in all forms including eBook, and is 352 pages in length. With a full-time job and a very busy six-year old at home, this novel took me six days to read. I received a copy of this book in ARC paperback form from the publisher, WaterBrook. In no way has this influenced my opinion of the story. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. I give Ours For a Season 5+++++ STARS. This story is a Contemporary Christian Fiction novel.
Our earth hurts people. Women who desperately desire to be mothers are barren. Children who long for a family are homeless, hungry, and alone. Humans battling horrible illnesses are dying no matter how hard they fight. And, marriages that long to be happy are falling to pieces. Sometimes, it is easy to look at this earth and all its awful, demoralizing, devil-induced problems and fall into a sense of overwhelming despair. But God doesn’t want us to give in to the ugly. God made each of us for an amazing purpose that might not change the entire world, but that can absolutely change ours for the better if only we give in to His will for us.
Ours For a Season is a book unlike any I’ve read before. I had no idea what I was getting into when I began this book. Honestly, I thought is was going to be another stereotypical Amish-y type story that I would be able to read through quickly. Yeah, that’s not what this book is AT ALL! This novel took me six days to read — probably the longest I’ve ever taken to read a novel. Ours For a Season is beautifully, flawlessly written. It is a well crafted book filled with characters who are beyond endearing. And, the plot flows so well. But, this book is hard to read. Ours For a Season deals many tough issues — a broken marriage, a cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatments, homelessness, and sex trafficking just to name a few. All of the stressful and painful topics in this novel are dealt with respectfully and honestly, but made for a story I had to walk away from for a couple of hours in order to catch my breathe. I recommend a box of tissue or two while you’re reading this story!
This story is told via three perspectives: Marty, her husband Anthony, and her best friend Brooke. I really appreciate when an author shows me multiple character points of view. To me, it makes the story all the more rich, and I feel like I get to know the characters better. Of the three main characters, I identified with Brooke the most. Brooke has had a very rough childhood — her father is nonexistent and her mother is an abusive alcoholic. Of the many issues Brooke traverses in her fictional lifetime, it’s the notion of not having a father that struck a chord with me. Brooke never knew an earthly father, and her mother was never a mother to her, which means that Brooke has had to always do life on her own. Brooke doesn’t need anyone. When she is 36 years old, she finally is confronted with a weakness that forces her to rely on someone else. It is during this time of weakness that Brooke realizes she needs to fall into the arms of the only Abba that actually matters, our Heavenly Father. It takes her some time to build trust in God, but once she takes the leap, Brooke realizes that God’s love and security as a Father is all she really needs.
The notion that God is the only Father I will ever need really resonated with me. I am blessed to have two earthly fathers — my biological dad and my step-dad. I love both of my fathers very much, and do feel like God has blessed me big time by putting these men into my lives. But, as do all humans on this earth, my two dads have some flaws that I superimposed onto my benevolent Heavenly Father. My biological dad is smart and funny and genuinely cares as best he can, but he is also angry and runs away from everything and everyone. My step-father is wise beyond his years, loving, and excellent to talk to, but he has a mean streak that has punched my heart a time or two. Before my walk with God matured to where it is today, I used to think that God the Father was a big meanie. Yes, He loved, created, and cared, but He also could be angry, mean, and absent. As I got older I realized that I was unfairly attaching my earthly fathers’ negative qualities to my Heavenly Father, and sought to discover God’s true qualities. Like Brooke, it took me some time, and lots of Bible study and prayer, to uncover God’s true fatherly qualities, but once I accepted that God loved me as a dad should, that He’s my one true Abba, my life totally turned around for the better.
Ours For a Season is another fabulous novel that I cannot do justice to in one review. This novel is poignant, beautiful, heartbreaking, and hopeful. It made me cry hard. It made me angry. And, it made me so happy and hopeful. I definitely ran the gamut of emotions with this one! Ours For a Season is another 2018 must-read that I highly, highly recommend.
Kim Vogel Sawyer’s newest novel, Ours for a Season, is an atypical Mennonite story.
Marty and Anthony Hirschler, unable to have children, are floundering in their marriage. Neither knows how to cross the ever-widening chasm that is growing.
Marty’s best friend since childhood contacts her wanting to hire Anthony, who is a general contractor, to rebuild a “ghost” town, thus offering them a change of scenery and pace.
I felt a myriad of emotions during the reading of Ours for a Season. My heart ached for the Hirschler’s and their inability to have children, along with growing antipathy toward each other. The story also deals with some weighty issues, from teenage runaways to sex trafficking, infertility and cancer.
I took a little time to warm up to Marty. I felt she was a little harsh with her husband. I also felt Anthony wasn’t as sympathetic and understanding as he could have been. However, as the story progressed, I came to care for both of them, along with the other characters who are introduced.
The story flows well, from one situation to the next without your feeling as if you’re on a roller coaster ride. There is a lot of insight and spiritual profundity in the story, which will leave you thinking about it for a long while after reading it.
I received this book from WaterBrook Publisher’s, NetGalley and the author. However, I was under no obligation to post a review.
I enjoy everything she writes!
I loved this book although I don’t think life would ever really work this way but it didn’t take away my enjoyment of this book.. I love all of Kim Vogel Sawyer’s books that I’ve read.
An amish book with a unique plot
Wonderful and in treating
How far would you go to get what you always dreamed of? How would you react if that dream was taken from you? That’s exactly the positions two childhood besties find themselves in. For very different dreams and very different reasons. Marty, a Mennonite woman only ever wanted a family. And family means children, not just a husband. Her dream, her only dream, was taken from her with a miscarriage and her husband contracting mumps as an adult. It’s not like this happened yesterday but even the few intervening years does not lesson the ache of her loss of family. The ache of being around others, especially others with children. She finds herself withdrawing more and more from her community and her husband. How would you react if your dreams were taken from you? Brooke on the other hand was raised by an alcoholic mother, no father to even name, and a childhood that no one dreams of. Her goal is to retire at 40 and she’s so close to exceeding that goal. One more project, this last property flip and the beach dreams of her retirement will come early. Until cancer. How far would you go to get what you always dreamed of? Two women, two completely different backgrounds, one time of growing up besties and they both have to decide how they want to move forward when their life doesn’t match their dreams.
Let me caution you here. While this is just another amazing book that truly draws you in and embraces you in a way that only Kim Vogel Sawyer can do. However, there are some hard topics in this book. Not on miscarriage and infertility but childhood neglect, depression, marital strife, and even deeper into sex trafficking, youth homelessness, and child abuse. Due to these topics, this book may not be a good choice for all readers. I strongly recommended this book however I am also aware that some of these topics might be triggering for some readers. That being said though the title is really pivotal in this book for me. In everything there is a season. A season of hurt (through miscarriage, infertility, marital strife, even homelessness). A season of hope (through friendship rekindled and marriage regrown). A season of contentment (just trust me here). Everything in life, everything we have, everything we struggle for, everything we lose is really ours for just a season. This theme goes so much deeper into the story than just what I’ve shared but spoilers ya know. Seasons. The passage from Ecclesiastes (3:1-8) really resonates for me throughout this book.
These characters aren’t perfect, and sometimes they are downright annoying. Marty can sometimes come off as whiny and Anthony can be overly self-absorbed. I struggled with Brooke from her sketchy start at life to townhouse in the city to living in a construction trailer. Her flipping from overly independent to excessively needy. She was the best and worst of Marty and Anthony thrown together in one person really. The difference is they find themselves living complex lives with complex events in a complex world. I think all of use would come across as all of these not so positive traits if our lives were dissected down the just a snapshot of time. I like to believe that I am more than the sum of my reactions during a season of time. I really did enjoy getting to know these people and sharing a season of their life. I learned a few of my own strengths and weaknesses through them and through their struggles. Life is not all sunshine and roses. But it’s also not all stormy skies and hazy gloom. Life is a mixed bundle of what may come. Life is seasons. Life is really just embracing each experience God grants you, learning all you can about yourself and the world through those experiences, and passing that forward. Happiness and Joy are not the same thing. Live your seasons. Learn to be open to where God wants you to be. Find Joy.
I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Edelweiss+. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
Kim Vogel Sawyer has done it once again with Ours for a Season. While reading this story, I experienced a variety of emotions – from giggling to grabbing a box of tissues. I honestly was not sure what I thought of Brooke at first, but she grew on me within the first quarter of the book. I absolutely loved Marty from the start. Her and Brooke had a special bond. So great to see such a great friendship. This plot to me was relatable with true to life issues.
Ours for a Season gives me yet another reason why Kim Vogel Sawyer is one of my favorite authors. I highly recommend for those who love a good, clean, and inspiring story. I give it a well deserved five plus stars.
I received this book from the author, but was not required to write a review. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.
Marty has grown quite discontent, and even angry, with both God and her husband, Anthony. She was a happily married Old Order Mennonite young woman, until the fateful day when the doctor pronounced that Anthony would never father any children due to him having the mumps. Marty stopped commuting with God and her marriage grew distant. Children were all she’d ever wanted. She couldn’t bear to see the families in the community or enjoy visiting with family members who had young children. Her arms would never hold her and Anthony’s own child.
Marty and her childhood friend, Brooke, have communicated through letters since adulthood. Although, Brooke isn’t Mennonite, or even a Christian, the two are very close friends.
After a desperate plea to God to get her out of the community, she receives a packet in the mail from Brooke with instructions it is to be opened with both her and her husband present.
Anthony owns a construction business which often takes him out of the area and away from Marty. She patiently waits for him to return from an out of town job so they can open the letter together.
Much to their surprise, Brooke has purchased an old ghost town and wishes to bring it back to life as a resort. And, she wants Anthony and his team to do the work. This would mean leaving their home in Indiana to live in Kansas for eighteen months. One stipulation is that Marty accompanies him to Kansas. Brooke is aware of the distance in the marriage and realizes them being apart for so long would not be beneficial to their relationship. Marty feels this is what she so desperately needs. After prayer and speaking to the leaders in their church, Anthony accepts Brooke’s proposition. He doesn’t say anything to Marty, but if all goes well, once the job is complete, they would have the money to try for adoption.
Brooke has just received a diagnosis of cancer and leans on Marty to care for her and take her to and from doctor appointments. Marty, along with another wife who accompanied her husband to Kansas, cooks and feeds the work crew.
A teenage girl is found hiding on the property after they realize food is being stolen and they become aware of human trafficking.
A wonderful story that will get you caught up in the characters, as well as human trafficking and the need for foster care. Characters learned to lean on God in good and bad times. Some turned to God for the first time. And, some learned that what they thought was the only thing that would make them happy and complete was not what God had in mind, and we know that He always knows what we need long long before we do.
Kim Vogel Sawyer is one of my favorite authors.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Waterbrook & Multnomah through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Ours for a Season is the latest novel by Kim Vogel Sawyer. Martha “Marty” Hirschler lives with her husband, Anthony in Pine Hill, Indiana. Anthony owns Hirschler Construction and is frequently gone on construction projects for weeks at a time. The pair have grown apart since they learned that they cannot have children of their own and adoption is not a venture they can afford. Marty has lost her faith in God since her prayers have failed to be answered and desperately wants to get away from her family oriented community. Marty is surprised when she gets a letter addressed to both herself and Anthony from her English friend, Brooke Spalding. Brooke along with a group of investors have purchased land in northeast Kansas that used to be a thriving town. Her plan is to restore the town into a resort and she wants Anthony to oversee the construction. Brooke hopes the time away will help Marty and Anthony repair their marriage. When Brooke is diagnosed with cancer, she needs Marty’s help to get through this difficult time. It draws Brooke and Marty closer together along with giving Brooke an opportunity to learn about God. Anthony becomes faced with a moral dilemma when he learns Brooke plans to have a casino on the property. Then a runaway teenager is discovered on the grounds and the group learns the horrors of human trafficking and the difficulties teen’s experience in the foster care system. Anthony, Marty, Brooke and their workers will face a variety of challenges while in Kansas. Will they be able to overcome these hurdles and how will it impact their future?
Ours for a Season contains good writing, but the story is a slow starter. I had a hard time getting into the story. Ours for a Season improved as I got further into the book along with the pacing. It was hard to like Marty in the beginning. Marty is depressed over her childless life. She sees families, pregnant woman, babies and children everywhere she goes in her town. Marty does not want her husband going away so often for work because she feels alone. However, Marty does not want to be around family or friends. When the opportunity from Brooke arrives, Marty feels it is the perfect solution (to run away where there are no children). Anthony could have been more understanding (though it has been two years) and sympathetic to Marty’s feelings. I began to warm up to the characters as the story progressed. I did feel that the first part of the story was too long (it became a Marty pity party). I liked Brooke Spalding. She is a strong, smart female who had a dream and did everything in her power to achieve it. However, Brooke was kind, thoughtful and never ruthless. I would have liked more on Brooke especially at the end. The point-of-view switches between Marty, Anthony and Brooke. It can be confusing (at first), though it does allow a reader to learn what each character is thinking and feeling. Ours for a Season has a good flow as we transition between the characters and situations. The ending was good, but it felt rushed. The author handled the subject of human trafficking deftly. It is a serious problem and I liked the solution presented in the story. The Christian theme is present throughout the book (having faith, power of prayer, God is in charge of our lives). There are good spiritual insights presented and you will continue to ponder on them long after you finish Ours for a Season.
This was a lovely and inspirational story. I cried several times throughout and felt deep joy other times. This was a very emotional ride. The characters were so real and I grew to care about them and what happened to them. The subject of human trafficking and homeless teenagers was brought to the forefront and was very heart wrenching. It also was inspiring to the point of wanting to see what the situation is in my own community.
Marty, a Mennonite wife, has been unable to conceive in her many years of marriage. She blames God for something she wants so badly, to be a mother. God it seems always has better plans we just can’t always see them at the time.
Anthony, her husband, has his own construction company. To help Marty’s best friend growing up with a new project, the two of them with part of the construction crew, travel to another state. Her friend Brooke is experiencing health problems along with her plans to renovate a ghost town to usefulness as a resort.
God’s plans for all of them begin flourishing through their prayers and their willingness to let Him lead.
I highly recommend this novel!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher but was not required to write a review.
Very good, original, heartwarming story!
You might want to have the tissues handy as you read this book, what a journey the author has given us.
There are several subjects that are touched on and they are brought to the forefront by the author, and we are able to put faces on all of these.
We walk in Marty’s shoes as she goes through life without the foremost desire of her heart, a baby, and yet you will see that God has bigger plans for her, and yes, it is hard to accept and move on.
Brook, I felt God put these people in her life, and we soon find out why, and she and Elliot are here for a reason, and oh how blessed we are to get to know them.
Come and enjoy Marty and Anthony’s story and find how touched you are going to be, and when the last page is turned, I still wanted more!
I received this book through the Publisher Waterbrook Press, and was not required to give a positive review.
It should be no surprise to any of Kim Vogel Sawyer’s many fans that she has written another meaningful story. This book has some difficult themes: infertility; cancer; depression; and sex trafficking of teenage girls. But Kim Vogel Sawyer is an amazing writer, and she’s able to bring all of these things together to create an inspiring story filled with faith and hope.
The characters of Marty, Anthony, and Brooke are complex. Each of their stories are absorbing, especially in how they relate to each other. All three care deeply about each other. Marty and Anthony have grown apart in their marriage because of a tragedy and are struggling to hold on to their faith to find hope again. Marty and Brooke are life-long friends. Marty takes care of Brooke in the aftermath of her cancer treatments, and knows she needs to renew her own faith to be able to offer to Brooke the hope in Christ she so desperately needs.
There are some difficult moments during this story, but there’s joy to be found as God works in their lives in unexpected ways.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Ours for a Season by Kim Vogel Sawyer is the first of this author’s work I’ve read in awhile. I suppose you could say I enjoyed it; let me explain, it made me weep and rejoice at the same time. Thus, it was a really good read.
Two women, best friends since childhood, Marty Hirschler and Brooke Spaulding have maintained contact over the years, mostly by letter. Marty is the spouse of Anthony, both members of an Old Order Mennonite sect. Brooke is a successful business woman preparing for what could be the biggest development project of her career.
Both women are dealing with some major disappointment in their lives; Marty has become bitter and emotionally estranged from her husband after learning they would never be able to have children of their own. When Brooke receives a devastating medical diagnosis, she steps up her plans for the development of an abandoned community in Kansas. There is only one thing holding it all back, she wants Marty’s husband to be the construction company to do the work. When Anthony and Marty receive permission to accept the job, they leave their Pine Hill, Indiana home to travel to Kansas for at least a year.
Marty soon finds her hands full lovingly caring for Brooke as she endures brutal cancer treatments. Meanwhile, Anthony and his crew discover that they are not the only people in the small abandoned community.
When a young squatter is found in one of the buildings, a serious problem in the nearby town comes to light. As this and building delays accrue, a year is soon up and the two must decide if they will continue or return home to Pine Hill.
When an unknown detail comes to light, the couple strive to determine the best decision, leave Kansas or stay, permanently.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and am under no obligation to write a positive review. All thoughts and opinions, therein, are solely my own.