Kendra is the victim of unspeakable abuse by her father, and utter neglect by her mother. She left Walnut Creek as soon as she could make sure her siblings were going to be all right. She often would go without food to make sure they had something to eat.
After seven years she moved back to Walnut Creek to open a store. Just two doors down from her store was the hardware store run by Nate Miller. In the midst of all her hurt, he'd thrown a verbal dart that pierced her soul, but now he sees something entirely different in Kendra.
There was a group called The Eight, who were almost a clique of friends in the New Order Amish Church that Kendra wished she could belong to. There were friends among The Eight who would reach out to Kendra from time to time, but until she moved back to Walnut Creek, they had never really embraced her into their group.
Soon after moving back, her brothers and her mother come to visit her to tell her that her father is terminally ill and that she should go see him in the hospital. The reader will understand her visceral response to the request. Shelley has described through Kendra's words the abuse that Kendra suffered at the hands of her father, and it is unthinkable that someone would treat another human in such a degrading and harmful way.
After her father dies, The Eight come to stand up with Kendra and enfold her while she processed the information.
This is a heart-rending book that will touch every reader. Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a group of friends who will stand beside you in your dark days.
Gallery Books and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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