4 out of 4 stars
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Finding True Home by Heidi M. Thomas is a historical fiction novel. It is the sequel to Seeking the American Dream. It follows the story of a German immigrant and the hardship she faces. The protagonist, Anna, tries to raise her family while dealing with difficult situations that life throws her way.
Anna has just gotten back from visiting her family. Her husband, Neil, is supportive of her need to visit the only relatives she has. She is disheartened to learn that her neighbours considered her desperate trip to see her family, a vacation. She soon learns that she is expecting their third child, Elizabeth. She struggles to raise her children while trying to help her husband on their farm. She has no one to confide in and her neighbours have already shown their dislike for her German heritage. Anna meets with a fellow immigrant who advises her to stop worrying about what people are thinking about her. Will she be able to take this advice to heart? With restrictions on how women act, will she be able to raise her children without outside influence? How will she handle the hardships of life? The author writes an amazing story that highlights the struggle women faced, especially German immigrants, in a society that required them to be submissive. The bias the protagonist faces from her neighbours was something I followed intently. The book is amazing and I do not want to give away any spoilers.
The author highlights plenty of themes in this book. The main theme, in my opinion, was bias. The protagonist and her family are judged by their heritage and not their actions. Another form of bias I encountered in this book is gender bias. Monica, Anna's daughter, is denied the credit for her hard work. The women of the neighbourhood suggested that her parents do everything for her. We know this to be false. In a society where women are not allowed to outshine men, statements like this are normal. The other themes I encountered were commitment, love, loss hard work and determination. The author uses these themes masterfully to not only make the characters interesting, but to also make the plot memorable.
The character development in this book was amazing. We get to see the protagonist question how she deals with life and how she grows from every experience. We also follow the protagonist's daughter and how she grows to be a strong, opinionated, hard-working woman. The book is follows the life of the protagonist and that of her family's for decades. We get to see each child grow to adulthood and follow the protagonist's relationship with them.
I rated the book 4 out of 4 stars. The story was captivating and I found myself invested in the protagonist, from the beginning of the book. The book had no spelling or grammatical errors and that led me to believe that the book was professionally edited. The story flowed effortlessly and I read the entire book without taking a break. The author did a commendable job writing the book in the perspective of various characters. This made me relate to their choices and understand them better.
I would recommend this book to all historical fiction fans and fans of literary fiction. I enjoyed reading this book and I would suggest that readers first start with Seeking the American Dream.
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Finding True Home
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