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Review of “Forgiven” by Shelley Shepard Gray


PUBLISHER DESCRIPTION

Tragedy strikes­—a brother and sister find themselves facing a situation that will shape the rest of their lives.

When a fire destroys the Lundys’ barn, Winnie is injured trying to get the animals to safety. Confined to a hospital for weeks, out of touch with her loved ones who live too far away to visit by buggy, she must depend on Englisher Samuel Miller to keep her company. Though his family is part of Winnie’s tight-knit Amish community, Samuel left years earlier to pursue a university education. Through conversations, and Samuel’s dedication to her recovery, a friendship forms. But despite their growing attraction, Winnie knows it can never develop into something more as long as Samuel chooses to remain in the outside world.

When Winnie returns home, she finds her brother, Jonathan, struggling with his own dilemma. Cigarette butts were discovered in the debris of the barn and Jonathan is determined to find out who is responsible for destroying his property and putting his family at risk. But in a community founded on grace and forgiveness, will his unwillingness to move on eat away at the trust that is the foundation of their lives.

My Review:

As the title indicates, this book has a theme of forgiveness.  The author looks at forgiveness from three viewpoints:  forgiving those who have wronged us; forgiving ourselves and accepting the forgiveness of others; and receiving the forgiveness that God extends to us.  This story has some thoughtful concepts for the reader to consider as the story progresses and the characters wrestle with these issues.

There’s also a sweet, clean romance between two of the main characters, Winnie and Sam.  As their friendship grows into love, there’s some serious issues that had to be addressed since Sam had left the Amish faith and Winnie was still a member of the Amish church.  I especially liked Winnie, and I was very interested in following her story.

This is the last book in a trilogy.  I had not read the other two books, but I had no trouble at all in following this one. I’m looking forward to reading this whole series.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shelley Shepard Gray is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time HOLT Medallion winner. She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.

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