Waiting for Summer's Return (Waiting for Summer's Return Series #1)

Set on the early 1900's mid-western prairie, "Waiting for Summer's Return" is masterfully written. A glimpse into the old Mennonite way of life, a sprinkling of German, a handful of elegantly crafted characters, and Sawyer's attention to detail makes for delightful historical fiction.
With delicate skill, Sawyer lays out the clear plan of salvation and a God-ordained prescription for coping with and overcoming withering grief. However, do not be deceived by the book's weighty topics. "Waiting for Summer's Return" is well-rounded with an enchanting plot complete with touches of gentle humor that break the tension at just the right moments.
This is one of the better books, I have read recently. Recommended.

Kim Vogel Sawyer created a believable story of a mother and wife suffering the pangs of grief after the loss of her four children and husband.

Summer Steadman finds herself alone in a small Mennonite community in Gaeddart, Kansas during the fall of 1894. So deep in mourning that she finds food repugnant, she has allowed her body to become weakened. Her soul has become as emaciated as her body. No longer sure that God loves her or anyone else, Summer's only real wish is to join her family in death. It seems God has other plans for her, though.

Peter Ollenburger, a local gristmill owner, is in need of a teacher for his son, Thomas. Since the young boy is housebound after an accident resulting in broken ribs and can't ride his horse to school, he is falling behind in his studies. Peter's wife, Elsa, would be the logical choice to be his teacher, but she died six years earlier. Peter needs someone to live on his property and give the boy his lessons until he is fully recovered. After learning that Summer Steadman has lost her family to illness and has need of a position, he proposes that she come live in his home as Thomas's teacher. When objections to the impropriety of the situation are brought to his attention, Peter agrees that Summer could live in his shariah rather than in the house with the family. Wanting only to be close to the graves of her family, Summer accepts Peter's proposition and moves to his property.

What awaits the reader of Waiting for Summer's Return is a journey of relationship renewals. Summer and Peter both travel the path toward new knowledge of people and God. The trip is filled with bumps and ruts much like the road to the town of Gaeddart. As Thomas grows to know his temporary teacher, his affection for her grows to become the love of a child for a mother. Neither Summer nor Peter had planned on this complication. What are they to do? How will God orchestrate the symphony of their lives?

Kim Vogel Sawyer's writing is a joy to read. Her characters catch the reader's heart. It is hard to put the book down in order to carry on with life. Waiting for Summer's Return is one of those books you will want to keep reading to the point where the dishes will stack up in the sink and the laundry will go unwashed because you have to read just one more chapter. And that chapter leads to another and then another. Go ahead read those chapters. The dishes and the laundry will be there when you finish the book.

I enjoyed this book very much. Good book. Look forward to more books by this author.

I have to admit that I've read this "story" before. We all have. The grief-stricken widow finds new hope through a widower and his son. HOWEVER, Kim Sawyer has brushed freshness over the plot and inserted twists that erase predictability. Also her writing style is perfection. Waiting for Summer's Return is high on my recommended list.

i found this book at the library i work for and had to thank the librarian that purchase it! i was so very moved by the spirit of this book. i am now going to force everyone i know to get to know this great new writer. i certainly hope that a sequel might be happening since the story could continue on.i want to praise ms.vogel-sawyer for sharing her hertiage and experience with god.