Product Description

Her relationship with fiancé Paul Waddell in tatters, Hannah Lapp has fled her secluded Old Order Amish community in hopes of finding a new home in Ohio with her shunned aunt. Hampered by limited education and hiding her true identity, Hannah struggles to navigate the confusing world of the Englischers.

Back in Owl’s Perch, Pennsylvania, Paul is wracked with regret over his treatment of Hannah. Fearing for her safety, he tries to convince Hannah’s remaining allies–brother Luke, best friend Mary, and loyal Matthew Esh–to help search for his love. Hannah’s father, however, remains steadfastly convinced of her sinful behavior. His blindness to his family’s pain extends to her sister, Sarah, who shows signs of increasing instability.

Convinced her former life is irreparably destroyed, Hannah finds purpose and solace in life with her aunt and in a growing friendship with Englischer Martin Palmer. Will the countless opportunities in her new life persuade Hannah that her place is amongst the Englischers — or will she give in to her heart’s call to return home and face her past?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4653 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-04
• Released on: 2007-09-04
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
“Cindy Woodsmall writes real--real people, real conflicts, real emotions. When you open her book, you enter her world and live the story with the characters. When the Morning Comes is a journey of discovering faith, of overcoming trauma, of learning to depend on God’s sustaining strength.  I eagerly await installment three of the Sisters of the Quilt Series!”
–Kim Vogel Sawyer, author of Where Willows Grow and Waiting for Summer’s Return


“Harness-making and prayer Kapps meet cell phones and photography in this latest Cindy Woodsmall novel blending the old world with the new.  Through Amish and Mennonite characters in tension with their contemporary world, Cindy weaves the fabric of all faith communities hoping to be relevant to the world around them -- and each other -- while not losing the strengths of their forefathers and foremothers. When Morning Comes is a fine rendering of struggle and joy that resonates long after the last words are read.” 
–Jane Kirkpatrick, award-winning author of the Change and Cherish Series, including A Tendering in the Storm

About the Author
Cindy Woodsmall is an author, wife, and mother of three sons. Her first novel released in 2006 to much acclaim, including a Reviewer’s Choice Award from the Road to Romance website, and became a CBA bestseller. Her real-life connections with Amish Mennonite and Old Order Amish families enrich her novels with authenticity. Cindy lives in Georgia with her husband and the youngest of their three sons.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1

Hannah gripped the railing as the train squealed and moaned, coming to a halt. Her body ached from the absence of the life she’d carried inside her only days ago. When the conductor opened the door to the outside, a cold blast of night air stole her breath. He stepped off the train with her bag in hand and turned to help her onto the platform.

“It’s bad out here tonight.” The man glanced across the empty parking lot, then passed her the traveling bag. It weighed little in spite of carrying all she owned–all she’d begin this new life with. “You got somebody meeting you, young lady?”

Wishing she had a decent answer to that question, Hannah studied her surroundings. The old depot was dark and deserted. Not one sign of life anywhere, except on the train that was about to depart. She glanced the length of the train in both directions. There wasn’t another soul getting off.

The conductor’s face wrinkled with concern. “The building stays locked 24/7. It’s no longer an operating depot, but we drop people off here anyway. When somebody lands in Alliance, they better have made plans.”

A few hundred feet to her right stood a small blue sign with a white outline of a phone on it. “I’ve got plans,” she whispered, hoping he wouldn’t ask any other questions.

He nodded, grabbed the two-way radio off his hip, and said something into it. Of course he wouldn’t ask anything else. He had a job to do–a train to catch.
As he stepped back onto the train, it slowly pulled away, its whistle sounding long and loud. For hours as she’d traveled from Owl’s Perch, Pennsylvania, heading for Alliance, Ohio, the train whistle had stirred a sense of hope and well-being within her. But as her haven of shelter and food disappeared around a bend, a deep feeling of aloneness shrouded her.

She turned toward the sign with the emblem of the phone on it. Unsure whether she had enough information to get her aunt’s phone number by calling 411, she began to realize how foolhardy she’d been not to make calls during the layover at Union Station in Pittsburgh. She’d been so afraid she would miss her next train that she had stayed on a seat, waiting.

Wrapping her woolen shawl even tighter around her, she made her way to the phone. But once she stood in front of the sign, she saw there wasn’t a phone after all. She walked around the pole, searching. She spanned out a bit farther, circling the empty lot. The sign was wrong.

God, what have I done?

She’d freeze before morning. Walking around the building again, Hannah searched for a nook to shelter her from the wind. Finding nothing, she crossed the graveled parking lot to the edge of the paved road. To her left was a hill with a sharp curve and no hint of what lay beyond it. To her right, down about half a mile, groups of lights shone from high atop poles.

Shivering, she set out for the lights, hoping they would lead her to shelter of some sort. Each step made her abdomen contract in pain. In her great efforts to keep Paul, she’d lost everything. Everything.

The word went round and round in her head, draining her will. In the distance to her left, she could make out the backsides of a few homes that looked dilapidated even under the cover of night. It appeared that Alliance, or at least this part of it, was every bit as poor as she was. She approached the lighted area. Sidewalks and old-fashioned stores lined each side of the street. Most of the shops had glass fronts, and each was dark inside except for some sort of night-light. Desperate for warmth and too weary to worry about laws, she wondered if one of the doors might be unlocked. The door to each store sat back a good six to eight feet between two walls of storefront glass, like a deep hallway. The moment she stepped into one of the passageways, the harsh wind couldn’t reach her. She knocked on the door before trying the knob. The place was locked.

She walked to the next store and tried again. It, too, was locked. Moving from doorway to doorway, she grew uncomfortably sleepy. Too tired to try anything else, Hannah leaned back against the cold plateglass window of the dime store and slid to a sitting position. She pulled out the two dresses she’d packed in her traveling bag and put one dress over her and scooted the other one under her, trying to get some distance between herself and the icy concrete. She removed her prayer Kapp, loosened her hair from its bun for added warmth, and tied her Kapp back on tight.

Sleep came in sporadic measures as her body fought to stay warm. Every time she nodded off, thoughts of the life she’d left behind startled her. Her family’s gray stone farmhouse, set amid rolling acreage. The Amish heritage that had once meant roots and love. Memories of her mother teaching her how to sew, cook, and tend to infants. Mary, her dearest friend, standing by her even when it meant she’d lose her fiancé, Luke, Hannah’s own brother.

Images of Paul filled her mind, making the thoughts of her family vanish. She chided herself for longing for him. But her inner chastisement did nothing to stop the memories of him from pelting her. She could hear his laughter as they played board games, see the strength that radiated from his hands and arms as they worked the garden side by side, and feel his joy on the day she accepted his proposal.

Stop.

Her body shook harder as cold from the concrete seeped through her clothes, and she wondered if she’d wake in the morning or freeze to death during the night.

From somewhere on the sidewalk came the sound of footsteps. Prying her eyes open, she glimpsed through the dark shadows of night and drowsiness to see the silhouette of a man at the end of the long, glass entryway. Her heart pounded, but waking to full consciousness seemed impossible. Maybe he wouldn’t see her.

The next time she forced her eyes open, the broad shoulders and lanky body of a man were directly in front of her. Still unable to get fully awake, she couldn’t see any more than his profile.
With no energy or place to run, Hannah waited–like an animal caught in a trap.

He removed something from around him and placed it over her. The miserable chills eased, and she could no longer control her eyelids as warmth spread over her.

Chapter 2
Perry County, Pennsylvania

Grumbling to herself, Sarah grabbed her winter shawl off the peg and headed out the back door to fetch a load of wood. Early morning sun gleamed against the fresh layer of snow. As she made her way to the lean-to, the strange events of yesterday weighed heavy.

She tracked snow onto the dirt floor of the covered shed as she crossed to the stacked woodpile. Placing a split log in the crook of one arm, she mumbled complaints about Samuel not getting his chores done last night. Daed would hear about this.

The sound of a horse and buggy approaching made her turn. Matthew Esh was driving, and his mother, Naomi, sat beside him. As Sarah stood under the lean-to, watching them get out of the buggy, Matthew spotted her. He dipped his head to come under the low roof. “Sarah.” He nodded his greeting rather coldly, then without another word proceeded to stack firewood in the crook of his arm.

Of course he has nothing to say to me. He was Hannah’s friend. And once a man saw the perfect beauty and poise of Sarah’s older sister, he never glanced her way again. Daed came out of the barn and spoke to Naomi for a moment before taking the horse by the lead. He motioned for her to go into the house.

Through the open double doors to the barn, Sarah could see Levi still mucking it out after milking the cows and wondered where Luke was. Before she thought to ask Matthew what he and his mother were doing here, he strode down the hill toward her home. Sarah followed in silence. When she entered, her three younger siblings were eating at the kitchen table. Naomi stood in front of the wood stove, warming her hands. “It’s awful bitter out there.” Her voice sounded different today.

Matthew unloaded the wood and headed out the back door again. “Ya, it is cold.” Sarah dropped a couple of split logs into the woodbin and closed the lid. “The potbellied stove has been eating wood like it’s candy, and the house is still a little cool.”

A few minutes later Daed stalked into the kitchen from the coatroom, looking no one in the eye. Since he’d pulled off his mucky work boots, only his black woolen socks covered his feet. “Sarah, fix a pot of coffee while I fetch your mother.”

Matthew came in the back door with wood piled so high in his arms he could barely see over it. Sarah moved to the woodbin and lifted the lid. Then she removed a few sticks off the top of his load. “That’s all right, Sarah. I got it.” Matthew’s words were void of his usual warmth.

Normally, from the moment Naomi and Matthew arrived, he and her father engaged in easy banter about horses, cows, and such. But this didn’t have the feel of a normal conversation. Sarah decided her best chance of being allowed to stay and hear a few bits of gossip was to get something into the oven as quickly as possible. After putting the coffee on to brew and filling the cups with hot tap water to warm them, she began kneading the batch of sourdough that Esther had made and set out to rise last night.

When Mamm and Daed came into the kitchen, they said nothing to her about leaving. But they told Esther, Rebecca, and Samuel to take their breakfast upstairs and stay there until someone called for them.

By the time Sarah returned from helping Esther get their two youngest siblings up the steps with their plates of food and drinks, the coffee was almost ready. ...

Customer Reviews

Perfect!!!
When the Morning Comes is as beautiful as When the Heart Cries. I have been a reader for about 30 years now and I can not remember ANY novel that held my attention like these two have. The characters are life like and there is always something on the next page that you can not wait to get to! I just finished up the second book a few nights ago. I got online to see if (hopefully) Cindy Woodsmall had a book to follow. Oh I am so very pleased! I can not wait until September to see what becomes of Paul and Martin! I have pre-ordered my book tonight. I am just amazed at how awesome Cindy's books are. If you are thinking about ordering the series...don't spend another minute. I promise you won't be able to put them down! Awesome work Cindy!

EXCELLENT!
MY SITER ELLEN TURNED ME ONTO THE AMISH BOOKS BY BEVERLY LEWIS, ONE DAY IN BORDERS DISAPOINTED THE NEW ONE WAS NOT IN STOCK I RAN ACROSS CINDY WOODSMALLS FIRST BOOK SO I DECIDED TO BUY IT. WHAT A GREAT FIND, LOVED BOTH BOOKS. I LIVE IN NJ AND I LOVE GOING TO LANCASTER AREA AND SOME PARTS OF NJ HAVE MANY VENDERS AT FLEA MARKET WHERE THE AMISH LIVE. IF YOU EVER CAN MAKE THE TRIPYOU WILL LOVE IT AND THE WARMTH OF THE PEOPLE ARE WONDERFUL SO READING THE BOOKS ARE A NICE WAY TO SORT OF TAKE ME THERE IN BETWEEN VISIT TO MY FRIEND OVER IN PA.
THE FIRST BOOK I COULD NOT PUT DOWN AND THIS ONE WAS EXCELLENT AS WELL. IT SHOWS ANOTHER SIDE OF THE AMISH MY HEART BROKE WHEN HER FAMILY DID NOT BELEIVE HER ABOUT THE RAPE. I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO HER NEXT ONE AND WILL CONTINUE TO FOLLOW HER LIKE LEWIS. ENJOY!!!

Cannot get enough!
TALK ABOUT A CLIFF HANGER! Dudette, you can not just leave me hanging like this, I don't know how I'm suppose to make it to September! Ugh!

This book was really great, better than the first, and I really enjoyed that one. There is real issues that are tough on life and hard, but there is goodness. There are more characters to fall in love with in this book and the personalities are so real and so great, that you do not know who to love more as a reader and feel just as confused as the charac...more TALK ABOUT A CLIFF HANGER! Dudette, you can not just leave me hanging like this, I don't know how I'm suppose to make it to September! Ugh!

This book was really great, better than the first, and I really enjoyed that one. There is real issues that are tough on life and hard, but there is goodness. There are more characters to fall in love with in this book and the personalities are so real and so great, that you do not know who to love more as a reader and feel just as confused as the character and then realize the things that you know that she/he doesn't and your heart breaks for them, but you still do not know which would be better! I could not read this book fast enough to find out what happens and each part is really unexpected and fascinating. I earnestly cannot wait for the next book!