Daybreak

What if everything you ever believed about your upbringing and the life your parents had lived was nothing but a lie? What would that make you think about all the decisions you've made that were called wrong when instead they could have been right, if only the true were allowed to shine through? Now you have the premise behind the latest novel from Shelley Shepard Gray in her new series The Days of Redemption. In the first book, Daybreak we are introduced to the residents of Daybreak Retirement Home where Viola Keim has been working in Mennonite community. Even though she herself isn't a Mennonite, but a New Order Amish, she finds herself wondering just how children can abandon their parents to live out the rest of their lives in the care of strangers instead of living at home with them.

She finds herself particularly drawn to an elderly man named Atle Swartz who is wheelchair bound but is ornery as they come and lately only Viola can dish it back to him in a manner that creates a wonderful relationship despite the age difference. However when Atle shares the letters from his son volunteering in mission work in Nicaragua, she isn't pleased when Edward returns home to see his father. She has a hard time coming to terms between the differences in caring for aging parents and feels obligated to share her concerns with him. However it seems there might be more sparks there than just anger but can they work through their differences before Edward has to return to Nicaragua?

When Viola learns that even her own family has been hiding secrets of their own, it opens her up to the possibilities that not everything as it appears on the surface. She learns that her own mother was born English and have hidden the facts of their lives before marriage from their children. Now Viola's parents have to come to terms that what people think about them as the perfect family isn't really true and that those same standards they have placed on their children growing up has made life more difficult than they could have imagined. What implications will that have not only on their immediate family but in the Amish community as well? Will this new knowledge help Viola move towards having a softer heart towards Edward and his own father?

I received Daybreak by Shelley Shepard Gray compliments of Avon Inspired, a division of Harper Collins Publishers and Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review. Once again Shelley does an exceptional job at writing a series that defines some valuable lessons in between, about judging a book by its cover! In this instance Viola is judgemental when it comes to how Edward deals with his father based on her own values in growing up Amish, but she doesn't understand what has motivated them to make the decision that worked for them. Much like how she has judged her own parents based on what she saw on the outside without really knowing the truth about their own pasts. I LOVED novels that offer a duality about them, incorporating an wonderful story with some valuable life lessons we can all relate to. I rate this one a wunderbaar (wonderful in Amish) 5 out of 5 stars and can't wait for the next book Ray of Light in this heartwarming The Days of Redemption series. You get a teaser chapter at the end of this one!

For more information about Daybreak, Shelley Shepard Gray or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Daybreak by Shelley Shepard Gray

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To read more reviews on Daybreak from the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance tour, please click here.