When Mercy Rains

In Sawyer’s first book of a new trilogy (after Through the Deep Waters), we meet the Zimmermans, a large Old Order Mennonite family living in rural Kansas. Teenage Suzanne Zimmerman becomes pregnant and is sent to Indiana to avoid shaming her family, weaving a web of lies and deception that persists for two decades. Nearly 20 years after her forced departure, Suzanne’s siblings implore her to return to nurse their widowed, invalid mother. Suzanne’s arrival not only stokes new resentment from family members, it opens up long-festering wounds and triggers revelations not everyone is equipped to handle. The presence of Paul Aldrich, Suzanne’s widowed high school boyfriend, and his eight-year-old son further complicate matters. Sawyer’s characters are multidimensional, struggling with regret and remorse yet still showing compassion and grace. This is a tale of hope, an engaging account of what can happen when even the best-intentioned behavior hurts loved ones and of the power of forgiveness to heal those hurts, no matter how long they have lain unattended. Agent: Tamela Hancock Murray, Steve Laube Agency. (Oct.)