Bringing Maggie Home by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Bringing Maggie Home is one of those stories that you want to jump into personally. You want to be friends with these people and you want to share their excitement. And I, personally, wanted to sleep with the book for a week after I read it hoping I could dream some more about the story because I wasn’t ready for the last page to be the last page when I finished reading it.

This is the story of a little girl who disappeared in the woods in Arkansas in 1943, leaving her family devastated, especially her older sister, Hazel, who was in charge of her at the time of her disappearance. The family dynamics were such that Hazel carried a load of guilt all her life. The story tells of three generations of angst stemming from this incident. Hazel’s daughter, Diane, blames her mother for her childhood because she feels that she was overprotected. Diane’s daughter, Meghan, feels resentment toward her mother because she was never as engaging as her grandmother (Hazel) and always held Meghan at arm’s length (her intention being to let Meghan have some freedom). When Diane and Meghan come to visit, Hazel finally tells them about what happened to her as a child and Meghan, who is a Cold Case investigator, decides to do some research and help Hazel find closure. As the story unfolds, all three women forge new relationship trails with each other and learn some new family dynamics.

Only Kim Vogel Sawyer could have told a tale that was as engaging as this one. This had me hooked from page one. Of course, I have been doing genealogical research for over 40 years and am fascinated with Cold Case detective stories, so I would have likely looked at this book even if someone else had written it, but Kim Vogel Sawyer is at the top of my “Favorite author’s list” so it was destined to hold my attention to the exclusion of all else until I finished it.

I received a copy of this book from the author, Kim Vogel Sawyer, as part of a promotional team. Let me say unequivocally that I would have promoted it anyway because this is a wonderful story. I highly recommend this to anyone who just wants a heart lifting book to read.