Pages: 262 (paperback)

Publisher: P.S. a trademark of HarperCollins

Published: January 26, 2016

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

In A Son’s Vow, we enter Charm, OH as it is healing with the deaths of five lumber mill workers. Darla Kurtz’s dad was killed when a chain of events , one of which a rag her father had thrown in the dumpster, caused a fatal fire. Several in the town blame her father and have taken it upon themselves to publicly blame the Kurtz family. Darla wants nothing more than to be able to talk and share her heartache with her best friend, Lukas Kurtsinger, but his family owned the lumber mill and his dad was also killed in the fire. Lukas does not blame Darla’s father and misses her also. As he tries to renew their friendship he realizes something is off with Darla and her family. He is in for a shock when he finds out Darla is being physically abused by her brother and the family is helping her hide her secret. Can Lukas fix Darla’s problem like he has throughout their childhood or is the loss of their fathers to much to overcome?

Gray tackles the very heavy subject of physical abuse but does so with understanding, kindness and forgiveness as the main healing properties. I enjoyed how the Amish faith was not used as a cover up to the abuse but shown as a way to help someone in need.

This is the first book in a four part series and I hope the other books explore the secondary characters, especially Hannah, in more detail. Gray has it down perfectly in how she weaves the community in her story and her main characters lives. You feel that they are a part of the story and not just filler thrown in.

Shelley Shepard Gray is a great addition to my list of must read Amish authors.