Christian's Hope

I love it when I come across an Amish novel that conveys a story line I hadn't come across previously in other novels. Christian's Hope is the third novel by Ervin R. Stutzman in the Return to Northkill series, that is based from a true historical event. In this amazing novel, Christian Hochstetler is reunited with his Amish family after being taken captive by the Shawnee Indians 7 years ago, as part of an agreement with the British to return those held captive back to their families if they still existed.

It was this same tribe of Shawnee Indians that killed his mother and two siblings and took his father and brother Joseph captive as well while they tried to escape. Only Christian was held captive much longer than they were and now finds living in the white man's world something he can't do. He can't imagine a life living in a home, cutting his long hair and spending a life as a farmer instead of running wild in nature, hunting and fishing. Even though they have all had to make adjustments upon returning, Christian doesn't believe that he is capable of returning to the Amish lifestyle and tries to convince his brother Joseph to join him in returning back to their Indian families at least for a few days to see if he can fit in either world any longer.

His main drive to return to his Indian family is a longing for a woman named Morning Dew that he believes he loves and wants to marry so perhaps he can still find a way to exist in both worlds somehow. Even though his father Jacob is reluctant to let him go, he knows he can't force him to change his ways and understands that it has to be a decision that Christian makes of his own accord, not something anyone in the family can pressure him to do. But it seems like some in the Amish town of Northkill are not too happy to have Indians living among them, especially ones that took lives of the ones they loved or burned their property and that includes Christian. Is it possible to have it both ways or will he have to make the touch decision to walk away from the only life he has ever known?

I received Christian's Hope by Ervin R. Stutzman compliments of Herald Press and Litfuse Publicity. This is the third book in the series and deals with the story of the circumstances surrounding this real life event from Christian's perspective. In previous novels Jacob's Choice, being the first and then Joseph's Dilemma each take a different perspective in the eyes of three men who had to figure out how to reconcile with what happened to each of them and how to restore what was left of their lives. I absolutely LOVED this novel, first because it offered up something I hadn't read before in other Amish novels and secondly, because it was based on a historical fact which makes the reader like me most interested because you are learning again about another piece in American history most have never heard of before and that is precisely why I give this novel a 4.5 out of 5 stars in my opinion. Since I hadn't read the other two novels I thought I might get lost in this one, but the author did a brilliant job in the introduction giving you enough insight into this novel that you can appreciate it as a stand alone or as part of the series.

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Christian's Hope by Ervin R. Stutzman

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