The Redemption of Sarah Cain

Title: THE REDEMPTION OF SARAH CAIN (movie edition)
Author: Beverly Lewis
Publisher: Bethany House
June 2007
ISBN: 978-0-7642-0403-6
Genre: Inspirational/women’s fiction

Sarah Cain and her sister Ivy have never gotten along. Ivy and Sarah were complete opposites growing up, so it’s no big surprise when they don’t have a good relationship as adults. Sarah has become a successful business woman, living in Oregon, as far from her Connecticut roots as she can get. Ivy married, converted to the Amish faith, and has five children.

When Sarah gets the news that Ivy has died of heart failure, she’s stunned. She refuses to go to the funeral, hoping instead that she’ll be able to move on, keep her busy lifestyle and forget she ever had a sister. She never expects to find that Ivy has left her five children to Sarah.

What is Ivy supposed to do with a ready-made Amish family? She flies out to Pennsylvania to dispose of the kids as quickly as she can to another Amish family. After all, she can’t sacrifice her successful career for five children she doesn’t even know. Can she?

As a reviewer, it is rare that I have the time to reread a book anymore. So it was a pleasure to sit down with this book, originally published in 2000, and read it for review. Reissued with the debut of the movie by the same name, THE REDEMPTION OF SARAH CAIN held my interest just as much the second time around, even though I knew what would happen next. I can’t wait to see the movie they made, available on DVD in mid-January 2008.

At first Sarah is a prickly character, selfish and unkind, but she does grow and change considerably as the book progresses. And one can’t help but lose their hearts to the five orphans, losing both their mother and father so young, and facing an uncertain future with their mother’s choice of Sarah for a guardian. I highly recommend THE REDEMPTION OF SARAH CAIN whether you read it the first time in 2000 or if this is your first time to pick it up. Pictures of the movie set and a letter from Beverly Lewis are included. $13.99. 313 pages.