My Heart Remembers

Kim Sawyer has done it again. My Heart Remembers is a touching story of a young woman's search for her siblings after they were separated for adoption. Maelle, Mattie, and Molly are three young ones you won't soon forget. Soon after their parents' deaths in a fire, Maelle finds herself taking care of her younger brother and sister. Problem is, with her cut short and wearing only a nightshirt, the authorities mistake her for a boy and call her Michael. When they are loaded onto an orphan train, Maelle believes they are going to be adopted by a family. When that doesn't happen, Maelle manages to give each sibling a token from their real parents. Molly receives the family Bible, and Mattie is given the last picture taken of them as a family. Maelle keeps the letters her father wrote to her mother as a reminder of their love. The story jumps ahead and we see each one grown up and learn what has happened in their lives. Some of it isn't good at all. How they find each other is an amazing tale of love and perseverance and demonstrates how God takes the worst of circumstances and turns them into something wonderful for the three siblings. This is a must read for fans of Kim.

Kim Vogel Sawyer has managed to write yet another heartwarming tale about love and family that stands out among the rest. In My Heart Remembers, three Irish-immigrant children, Mattie, Molly, and Maelle, are put on an orphan train to find new homes after disaster strikes their family. When they are separated, Maelle, the oldest, vows she will find her brother and sister no matter how long it takes. In this wonderful historical novel, Kim Vogel Sawyer knits a moving story that is both fresh and meaningful. She even manages to shed light on the many injustices shown to poor and orphaned children in the 18oo's without disrupting the flow of the storyline. Woven with rich, fascinating historical details, and filled with captivating characters, romance, faith, and a compelling story that will keep the pages turning, this novel is destined to become a favorite on CBA lists. My Heart Remembers will will touch the hearts of readers and fill them with hope and inspiration.

I like to read, but when I read this book in two nights I knew it was a winner. When I was young, I heard of The Orphan Train but didn't understand exactly what it was. Thanks to this book, now I have a better understanding. The author did a fantastic job describing the plight of these young children. As I read, my heart bled for them. The characters came alive in this book as you see God work, in His timing, and in response to their great faith. Anyone that read My Heart Remembers will laugh, cry....and grow spiritually. This is historical fiction at its best!

Maelle Gallagher and her little brother, Mattie and baby sister, Molly have just been orphaned in a tenement fire. As recent immigrants from Ireland, they're put on an "orphan train" and sent west to Missouri to find new parents and a new home. As the oldest, Maelle had been charged by her father to "look after the wee ones." Maelle does her best, but her little siblings are literally torn from her arms by the separate families who adopt them. But Maelle will never forget them and will never stop searching for the only family she has ever known. This is another heart-tugging story from best-selling author, Kim Vogel Sawyer. It bounces from Maelle to Mattie to Molly and tells their plights. Each story has its own conflict as they all three come together at the end. It's great entertainment, very touching, and fans of Mrs. Sawyer will devour it. I'm only hoping there's a sequel, because I really loved the character, Matt, and I want to read a romance with him as the hero! Even though this isn't necessarily a romance, there is some happily-ever-after kind of stuff. I highly recommend it.

This is the first book by Ms. Sawyer that I've read, but by the end of the first chapter I'd become a fan. "My Heart Remembers" is the story of three Irish-immigrant siblings, orphaned in a tenement fire. After traveling on an orphan-train to Missouri, they find themselves split up, taken by three different families. Maelle, the oldest at eight years old, vows to find her brother and sister one day. But time stretches on, and though her promise burns within her, hope grows dim. Ms. Sawyer weaves a beautiful story. It's a tapestry of heartache, joy, hope, pain, faith and love. As we follow the paths of the now-grown children, we see how even in the midst of trouble, they have never been alone. And out of their pain, God creates something precious and meaningful. Not many books bring me to tears, but by the last chapter, that's where I was. I highly recommend this moving, lovely book. Long after you read the last line, your heart will remember the Gallagher children and Kim Vogel Sawyer.