Through The Deep Waters

Sometimes the person we have a difficult time forgiving is ourselves. Sin has a way of doing that. Ingraining itself into your soul, tormenting you every minute of the day and night, reminding you of your mistakes over and over again. Yet nothing can free us from that feeling unless we are willing to turn it over to God first. Nothing we do, can erase that guilt and sin like He can.

In Kim Vogel Sawyer's latest novel, Through the Deep Waters, Dinah Hubley has lived every girls nightmare. Making a decision at 16 to save her mother from being thrown out on the streets when she became ill working at the Yellow Parrot, a brothel in 1883 in Chicago, she does the unthinkable. When the owner of the brothel, Flo, informs her that no one stays for free in her hotel unless she can pay, she offers Dinah a one time opportunity for just the man willing to pay her to settle her debts to care for her mother. She takes Flo up on her offer and suddenly realizes her mistake, But before she can leave, the man refuses to let her go and forces Dinah to fulfill her commitment.

Knowing that she will be forever scarred by that one act, she flees to Kansas to work as a Harvey Girl as a server in their hotel. She hopes with distance, she can leave her past in Chicago. Only the night terrors and guilt will keep her in bondage even at her new job. Since she isn't quite 18, she takes a position as a chambermaid, cleaning rooms with another girl, Ruthie, who hopes that they will become close friends. But since Dinah carries so much guilt with her, she can't even see the honest friendship that Ruthie is offering her. Instead she forces herself to remain alone in a self imposed prison hoping to do her work well enough to get hired as a server.

But Dinah's beauty will only serve as an invitation to many men who fancy her good looks, and none more so than the local chicken farmer, Amos Ackerman. He's been praying to God to send him and wife, but knows that the wagon accident he had a child living him with a limb, will likely live him living alone without the possibility of a wife or family. He can only hope that someday, someone like Dinah might see something more in him than the disability that limits what he can do! Will God find a way to answer his prayers or will be forced to live a life all alone with nothing but his chickens for company?

I received Through the Deep Waters by Kim Vogel Sawyer compliments of Waterbrook Multnomah for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions expressed here are strictly my own. This is such a beautiful story of forgiveness and redemption among the least of us that deserve it. It also highlights the awareness to childhood sexual abuse and the implications that can be carried throughout the lives of those impacted for years. Just the burden they have to carry with them can be more painful than the act itself and one they feel that they are to blame. Such a beautiful story of how happily ever afters can happen even in light of something so horrible! I easily give this one a 5 out of 5 stars. A reading discussion guide is included at the conclusion of this novel for book clubs.

For more information about Through the Deep Waters, Kim Vogel Sawyer or where to pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Through the Deep Waters by Kim Vogel Sawyer

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To read more reviews on Through the Deep Waters, please visit Waterbrook Multnomah's website.