Christian's Hope

About The Book:  Christian's Hope (Herald Press, October 2016)  When Christian Hochstetler returns to the Amish after seven years in captivity, he finds that many things have shifted.  Captured as a child during the French and Indian War, Christian has spent much of his life among Native Americans, who cared for him and taught him their ways. Now that Christian is home, his father wants him to settle back into their predictable Amish life of farming, and Christian's budding friendship with Orpha Rupp beckons him to stay as well.  Yet Christian feels restless, and he misses his adoptive Native American family---who raised him as their own son. When faced with a life-altering decision, will Christian choose the Amish identity that his father desires for him? Or will he depart from his family and faith community yet again?  Christian's Hope tells the story of the younger brother of Joseph and son of Jacob, whom readers have come to love in the first two books in the Return to Northkill series. Based on actual events and written by a descendant of the Hochstetler family, Christian's Hope brings the sweeping epic of the Return to Northkill series to a soul-stirring end.

About The Author:  Ervin R. Stutzman is author of Jacob's Choice, Joseph's Dilemma, Tobias of the Amish, and Emma, A Widow Among the Amish. Born into an Amish home in Kalona, Iowa, Stutzman based the Return to Northkill series on the life of his ancestor, Jacob Hochstetler. He has been featured on TLC's Who Do You Think You Are?

My Thoughts On The Book:  This book was the third in a series and I have read the other two books.  I struggled with this one.  I asked to review it because it was based on a factual account and it was written by a descendant of the family.  I struggled to get into the book because for some reason I did not like Christian.  He seemed like a spoiled, coddled kid....and then I realized he was taken from one world, thrust into another, then sent back to the original world all before he was 18.  I guess he had a right to act the way he did.  By the time I finished the book I was drawn in to their lives.  This book is a stand alone although I believe it would help if you read the other two first.  If you are a fan on historical fiction, Indians, and Amish this is the book for you.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book  from Herald Press and Litfuse.  I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”