Bringing Maggie Home

Author: Kim Vogel Sawyer
Genre: Historical Fiction
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Decades of Loss, an Unsolved Mystery, and a Rift Spanning Three Generations

Hazel DeFord is a woman haunted by her past. While berry picking in a blackberry thicket in 1943, ten-year old Hazel momentarily turns her back on her three-year old sister Maggie and the young girl disappears.

Almost seventy years later, the mystery remains unsolved and the secret guilt Hazel carries has alienated her from her daughter Diane, who can’t understand her mother’s overprotectiveness and near paranoia. While Diane resents her mother’s inexplicable eccentricities, her daughter Meghan—a cold case agent—cherishes her grandmother’s lavish attention and affection.
 
When a traffic accident forces Meghan to take a six-week leave-of-absence to recover, all three generations of DeFord women find themselves unexpectedly under the same roof. Meghan knows she will have to act as a mediator between the two headstrong and contentious women. But when they uncover Hazel’s painful secret, will Meghan also be able to use her investigative prowess to solve the family mystery and help both women recover all that’s been lost?

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Reviewer: Laura J. Davis
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Oh, wow! How did I miss this when it came out in 2017? What an incredible book!

Her past haunts Hazel Deford. When she lost her three-year-old sister Maggie her entire life changed, and for years she has lived with the guilt for years. This guilt would mar how she raised her daughter Diane who grew up to resent her mother for being so possessive, which affected how Diane raised her daughter Meghan. All of this sets the stage for an incredible tale of loss, inspiration and spiritual healing.

This book was a hard one to put down, and it left me in tears. It speaks to the complexity of mother/daughter relationships, and it has a strong salvation message that believe it or not, was not at all preachy. On top of that, there was a very intriguing mystery to solve.

This one is a keeper!