Fall Back and Find Me by Sarah Hanks Review

 

I was so excited to get to read Fall Back and Find Me by Sarah Hanks. This is the second book I’ve read by this author. The first, A Battle Worth Fighting, was also a Sisters in Arms novel. The story is told in two different eras, during the Civil War and modern day.

The modern day story focuses on Amber Prichard, wife to pastor Mark Prichard and mom to twins Jordan and Victor. She tries to be the model pastor’s wife and servant to those in need, so much so that her focus gets a bit out of whack. She is measuring herself on what she does, instead of who she is in Christ. And focusing a bit much on reward from my point of view, instead of selflessly serving. Then she finds herself diagnosed with a delibitating chronic illness that she does not know how to deal with. No longer is she the one helping others, she finds herself the one in need of help, something she struggles greatly with.

In the modern day story there is also another narrator, Lily, a young lady stuck at home helping her mother with her special needs siblings, when she desires to be out on her own, not having to deal with all the stress. I admit, I didn’t realize there were going to be more than two points of view in the story, so I was confused at first when she was introduced. And I wasn’t exactly sure how her story was going to intersect with that of Amber and her family, though I had my suspicions. But even before that was made clear, I found myself enjoying her part of the story and learning more about her and her family, and her frustrations.

During the Civil War part of the story, we follow Willow Forester, a strong independent young woman who finds herself following her brother Milo to war in their state of Missouri. I have to say, I discovered there was a lot I did not know about the Civil War while reading Willow’s, or “Will’s” part of the story. Will found herself fighting for the opposite side she thought they would be on, not realizing her brother’s true loyalty. Like Amber, she was looking for her worth in the wrong places.

There was also another point of view the story was told from in the Civil War era, though exactly who the character was was not made clear right away.

There were some interesting twists in this story. And it was very emotional at times. I found myself in tears more than once. I had trouble putting this book down because I cared so much about these characters and needed to know what was going to happen. I loved seeing their relationship with the Lord grow through their struggles. Here is a quote that stuck with me:

Definitely a book I recommend.

I received this book for free from the author as a part of the launch team and was not required to write a favorable review. These are my own, honest thoughts.