A Home For My Heart By Anne Mateer Book Review

// A Home For My Heart //

 

By Anne Mateer

 

{Review By Bethany}

 

 Title: A Home For My Heart
Author: Anne Mateer
Source: Review Book from
Bethany House Publishers
Number of Pages: 352
ISBN: 0764210645
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Publication Date: September 15th, 2013
Bethany's Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

// Book Synopsis //

"Sadie Sillsby works as the assistant to the matron at the Raystown Home for Orphan and Friendless Children and dreams of the day she’ll marry her beau, Blaine. But when the matron surprises everyone by announcing her own engagement, Sadie is suddenly next in line for the job. For a young woman who was once an orphan herself, a shot at such an esteemed position is a wish come true.

But the matron of the Home cannot be married. Is Sadie willing to give up her dreams of a life with Blaine and a family of her own? Is she prepared to forego daily involvement with the children as she manages the finances and logistics of the ministry? And when it’s revealed that the Home is spending a lot more money than it’s taking in, can Sadie turn things around before the place is forced to close forever?"

// Bethany's Book Review //

In the style of Janette Oke comes this heartwarming story from author Anne Mateer, set in the 1900s over the backdrop of  the charming Home For Orphans and Friendless Children orphanage.

 

This is the second book that I've read which was written by Anne Mateer, and once again I've been extremely impressed with her novels! I loved A Home For My Heart so very much, and am very glad I had the opportunity to review it as I'll probably want to re-read it one day.

 

This story is set at the Raystown Home For Orphans and Friendless Children, which is based on a real orphanage bearing the same name in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania during the late 1800's to early 1900's. I found this very interesting that while this novel was a work of fiction, it still bore the legacy of the real orphanage which sheltered children long ago.

 

I loved how this setting brought forth the aspect of the different children that lived at the Home, and their unique circumstances coupled with how the workers dealt with those things and provided comfort for the children. In short, I loved how their were so many children in this book, and loved even more how much the author sought to display how children are special and are gifts from the Lord no matter what their circumstances - unlike the worlds popular view that they are a bother and distraction from attaining goals in life. On the contrary Anne Matter displayed the fact that for the main character, Sadie, these children at the home were her goal in life, which brings about Sadie's difficult decision to choose marriage or the children as she can't have both because of a rule at the Home that workers cannot be married.

 

Another thing I liked about this novel was the character development among the many characters ranging from children in the home to workers, to possible future husbands. I especially loved the character development and bonding between Sadie and Miranda, and think the author had a specific purpose for that relationship when thinking through the plot. I think the relationship added so much to the story and taught a lesson on not judging a book by it's cover. Another thing about this novel is that it's written in first person setting from the view of the main character Sadie. While sometimes I don't like first person writing styles, mainly because it's hard to get different views on the situation, I think this one was well written and no con at all since the characters were already so well developed.

  

Probably one of my favorite aspects of this novel aside from it being set in an orphanage and being very child friendly, was how low romance it was. Aside from Sadie deciding if she should marry, which was really a short decision considering what she'd have to give up, there wasn't hardly any romance. So for ladies who don't like a lot for romance in their novels, then this is a novel just for you. I really appreciated how the author choose to focus on children versus men and romance in her book. Another thing was how even though this novel was low romance it certainly wasn't lacking in things to keep the story line going and exciting as it was anything but a boring novel!

 

In all I found this novel to be a very nice light novel based on an orphanage with plenty of excitement without the romance that focused a lot on children and stretched the importance of how God views children - especially ones that are in difficult situations. I'd highly recommend this book to any Janette Oke fans, or fans of books that put a high emphasis on children. I eagerly look forward to future Anne Matter novels!

N O T E :: I'd like to sincerely thank Bethany House publishers for my complementary copy of A Home for My Heart, which I received for free to read and review. I was not paid to review this book, and all thoughts expressed in this review are my own, and completely honest and unbiased.