Love Finds You in Homestead Iowa by Melanie Dobson - REVIEWED

Love Finds You in Homestead Iowa….this series is really taking me places! This time, Melanie Dobson takes me into the heart of the Amana Colonies in the late 1800’s. I’d read of this communal group before, but it was neat to “visit” this commune through the eyes of some of its members. Similar to the Amish in their “plain” living, the Amana Colonies seemed even more communal in that they literally cooked, ate, gardened and did everything together. When Jacob Hirsch and his daughter Cassie enter this cloistered environment - very unintentionally – the Lord uses them to bring about great changes in both their lives and the lives of the Amana Community.


Liesel is the young Amana woman who discovers Jacob and Cassie and brings them into the community for much needed medical attention. Jacob and his daughter were forced to leave Chicago in the midst of very dire circumstances, and they never imagined they would spend time among people so different from themselves. As Liesel cares for Jacob and Cassie she begins to teach them the rudimentary concepts behind the commune, and through her care, and the care of the Amana people Jacob discovers that he is able to move past the tragic circumstances of his past and begin to live again. When he is offered an opportunity to work among the people of Amana he begins to learn even more about himself and the God these people serve so faithfully. He also begins to recognize that he has come to care a great deal about Liesel!


Once again, the love story in this Love Finds You volume is tender and entertaining. This book allows you to just enjoy the fact that people are people no matter when or where they exist, and when love finds them, transformation is inevitable. I enjoyed my peek into the Amana commune, and I think you will too!





ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Melanie Beroth Dobson is the author of the inspirational novels Together for Good (Kregel, 2006), Going for Broke (David C. Cook, 2007), The Black Cloister (Kregel, 2008), Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana (Summerside, 2009), and Crescent Hill (Kregel, 2010) as well as the co-author of Latte for One and Loving It! A Single Woman’s Guide to Living Life to Its Fullest (Cook, 2000). Melanie has a background in publicity and journalism. She grew up in a small Ohio town but now lives with her husband and two daughters in Oregon.