There is something comforting about the way Wanda E. Brunstetter writes. Her books are just something you can slip into bed get all cozy and then slip into a story that makes you feel good. This was the first book I read by her and I was surprised I enjoyed because I had not read any Christian Fiction before. The characters where funny, and inviting. The Amish settings is interesting and romanticized a little I think but I still enjoyed it. If you are looking for something simple, fun and with some religious meaning to read then I suggest this book. You get so invovled in the settings and characters that you feel like you are there eating with them, playing with them and working with them. I think partly the author realizes this as well because she sometimes adds extras at the end of the book like recipes that the character made in the book, which is nice to see. This is the first book in the Webster County Series and following it is On Her Own and Dear to Me.

I love reading about the Amish and I believe Mrs. Brunstetter's books are the best! Going Home is a great book that I would recommend to anyone. One of the reasons I love this book is because it shows a softer side of the Amish, especially the men. Some people think the Amish are unforgiving when it comes to family members leaving the Faith, but this book proves that to be a wrong assumption. It also shows how an Amishman can farm or do any other "man's work" and still love to do other things, such as baking.

I love to use Mrs. Brunstetter's books as a witness to my non Christian loved ones.

I may be in a bit of a different position than many as I live among the Amish. In fact in a former Amish house. The Amish, as well as myself love her books. They are even carried in the local Amish country store. there are some authors that the Amish will NOT buy, due to a false portrayal of the Amish.

Wanda gives a true portrayal of many of the Amish. You can't pigeon hole the Amish , anymore than you can English. their practices do vary from area to area, state to state and even Bishop to Bishop.

Amish do leave the church and some return. I think the Amish way of life is simpler, and in some ways much better than us "English".

While you are buying this pick up the Rachel Yoder books for the young girl in your life. MY 11 year old has eagerly awaited the 2 new books

In a unique way, Brunstetter takes the characters in Going Home and gives them a twist that one might not expect to see in a novel based in an Amish community. A young widowed woman, Faith, who has left the fold to explore the English world, has come home with her six-year-old daughter, but not to stay. She continues to be enamored with the world of entertainment and wants only a good home for her daughter. A young man, Noah, who prefers to bake over farming seems to be the disappointment of his father. Yet, the scripture verses he attaches to each baked gift uplift the recipient showing him that he is doing the Lord's work. Can these two people from the same background, yet from completely different worlds, find love that the Lord has intended for them? In another brilliant story, Brunstetter brings the reader into the Amish world as the lives of the characters unfold before your eyes.

I'm never disappointed when I pick up a book from Wanda Brunstetter. Her account of the Amish faith is so accurate. I enjoyed Going Home; it shows how important family ties are. I also read On Her Owna and Dear to me fromt he Webster County Series. I can't wait for the final book.

My parents were both raised Amish and left when they married. I still enjoy reading about the Amish....especially the way Wanda brings families to life.

I do enjoy the 1st book by Wanda E.Brunstetter,but i am still waitting for book#2

Wanda is trying but her books are not very good. Comparing them to Beverly Lewis is the problem because Beverly is SOOOO good. Wanda's books were dry, unemotional, rushed and shallow. Many of the plots don't make sense and a lot of what is done would never happen in an Amish community or home. She needs to get inside her characters a LOT more. I also found a lot of errors in grammar and typos in the text in all the books of hers i have read. I have never seen so many errors. This tells me they are rushing her to write and rushing everything to print to make a buck and trying to capitalize off of Beverly Lewis' excellent success writing about the Amish.
I read Wanda's books out of boredom and waiting for the next Bev Lewis to come out. It wasn't worth the $13.00 but if you can get them for free at the library and you have some time to kill AND you truly cannot find anything else to read (how about some Jane Austen?)... then go for it but don't expect much.

Never having had read this author before, I was a bit skeptical at first, but the more I read, the more hooked I became. Will definitely pass this book along to my church library for others to enjoy as well.

Faith left home at eighteen to follow her dream of country type performing on the stage, mostly by yodeling and joke telling. The man she married was more agent than husband, but he kept her busy. Along came a little daughter who was rather dragged from motel to stage, to sitters and back to the motel. Not an ideal way to raise a little girl.

When Faith's husband is killed suddenly, she is forced to make a decision, and decides to take her little girl home to the Plain people, get her settled, then leave for the stage again. In the meantime, she must dress, act and try to pass as Amish.

Now twenty eight years old, Faith struggles with the questions her parents keep asking her about church. Since she knows she is not staying, she does not intend to join the church. Some of her old friends and family are quite understanding of her circumstances,her mother finally comes around, but her father stays aloof, gruff and less lovable than she would like.... however she has told no one she plans to leave again.

Noah is an unusual sort of Amish man. He prefers baking to farm work, and has such low self esteem he is sure no woman will ever want him as husband. However, he is a jewel, a real Christian, wholesome man, and befriends Faith. The reader falls in love with Noah as well!

This book drags a bit, with not much depth, but it is a light, happy story of which younger girls would probably enjoy reading.

Just the day Faith intends to tell the family and her daughter of her plans to leave, her mother surprises her with a horribly strict ultimatum which really bothered me, and she walks in the barn to hear her eight year old daughter yodeling and telling her audience of kittens that someday she is going to be an entertainer on the stage just like her Mommy. Obviously, heart broken and feelings all mixed up, Faith makes a huge decision.

I am anxious for the next book. Thank you Wanda for an easy reading, simple little love story, pure and sweet.

This book was interesting for me. I did not know much about the Amish, and this expanded my knowledge of how they live. It definitely was not one of my favorite books, but still a book I would recommend.

I loved little Melinda, and pitied Faith. But I will admit, Noah was not one of my favorite characters. Practically every scene he was in, he blushed!! I understand some people are shyer, but I felt like he never really was able to be comfortable. I always felt embarrassed for him. All around I would recommend it, but it wasn't a masterpiece.

I've read several of Ms. Brunstetter's books for two reasons: Her books aren't taxing on the brain and I have an interest in the Amish culture. However, I am tired of her putting down the English way. For example, in this book, Noah is a Christmas tree farmer (which is a conflict of interest how?), and then there's a diatribe about how simple Amish festivities are, and how worldly the Englischers' are. Well, I guess compared to the Amish, but the Amish don't donate (as far as I know) to the Salvation Army Angel Tree either (they, like the Mormons, predominately only do charity work within their church/help their own). Decorating an evergreen is a treasured Christmas tradition (even though it may be secular in origin), an activity which many families participate in together, just like watching "It's a Wonderful Life" or "Miracle on 34th Street". As long as the true spirit of Christmas is present, is it really so terrible to have a tree with twinkling lights? Being non-Amish, I know I miss out on being part of a close community, but do I really want to live in bondage to be a part of it? I know the Amish cannot sing any song that is not in their Ausbund (the Amish hymnal), so there goes many Christmas carols right there, I am sure. God has bestowed so many gifts on humankind, for if we were all Amish, though there would be lovely quilts, there would be no music with instruments, no theatre, no art, no literature, etc. God doesn't want us to bury those talents, but use them (why else would He give them to us?). I am sure there are some Amish people, if given the opportunity, if allowed to find themselves, recognize their talents, would be great surgeons or scientists or many, many other vocations that would be considered prideful in their church.

The Amish and the English just contribute to the world in different ways, and it would be nice if Ms. Brunstetter would show this in her novels instead of making it sound like everyone would be better off being Amish. Living a simpler life, yes, but being Amish, no, because there is a price of freedom to be paid in being Amish.

For example, Faith (in this book), is a comedienne, part of a comedy club tour, and no, it doesn't sound like much of a life (but that's because she's on the road all the time, and her English husband, of course, was abusive, not to mention she has a young daughter), who comes back home with her daughter after her husband dies (I have to wonder what her parents would have done if she had gotten a divorce, which would have been totally understandable, and I personally think, justified).

Well, in the end, Faith realizes she can still tell yodel and tell jokes (the jokes were actually funny--I was expecting the author to just tell us she was funny, so I give her credit for that), just not professionally, which is fine, but what if she had been a violinist or some other talent that she would not have been able to continue with? What if she had written Christian fiction, like Ms. Brunstetter does? That would have been forbidden, of course. So you see, it was just lucky for Faith all she liked to do was tell jokes, which is an acceptable activity in the Amish church.

I liked Noah, but Faith was somewhat depressing, considering her occupation. I guess living a hard life with a husband who put her down and slapped her around just took some of the lightheartedness out of her. Perhaps her sense of humor was what saved her sanity.

This book was pretty ho-hum, humdrum, with forgettable characters (with the exception of Noah, had he been more developed), but not a complete waste of time. Faith's jokes are the best part of the whole book.

And just an aside, I know one can be saved and still be Amish, but the Amish religion, by most mainstream Christian definitions, is not a Christian church, as they do not believe that we are saved by grace alone (as it says in the Holy Bible).

I love a book that lets you escape the day to day trials and enter a new world. Wanda Brunstetter paints a picture that is easy to read and follow. I recommend this book to anyone(and all her books so far!). Whether a teenage girl or a great-grandmother, you are sure to enjoy it!

I feel that once again a very good book has been written for us to enjoy.she has a way of always making you feel right there with her characters/they just are so real.read the book.I collect them also and pass them around and everyone likes them.Nadia Rehmani author of Sharper Than A Two Edged Sword-my true story

This was a little different. A young woman who left her home when she was young. To live in the Enlish world. Even married, made a living entertaining, in which she was not aloud in the Amish Faith. She wanted her daughter to be raised by her parents. She fault her faith, she meet a wonderful young man who would not let her forget her faith. He shared many things with her. When plan on leaving once her daughter adjusted to the Amish life. But she never thought she would join the church. Everyone needs to read the Brides of Webster County. I love Amish and Mennonite books. Learning there way of life. Fighting the Enlish and There faith also. I have read everyone of Wanda's Books. I love her series. This past summer I bought all her books I had not read. I wanted to read all of her series. Which you always found exciting. Never knowing what going to happen. The great thing is my whole family looks forward to reading the books. So we get our money worth. But I am one who cannot turn loose of her books. I love to keep them and collect them. If you have not read the Amish and Menonite books you do not know what you are missing.

This was a great story. I enjoy a view into the world of the Amish. The characters come alive.

In "Going Home," Wanda Brunstetter has once again transported her readers to a kinder, more gentle way of life. "Going Home" tells the story of Faith Stutzman Andrews, a young woman who was raised Amish but left everything she knew to pursue her dreams in the modern world. Now a widow with a young daughter to raise, Faith retuns to Missouri to live with her Amish family with one goal in mind, only to find her life taking one unexpected turn after another. As she examines her heart, Faith finds her intial goal is forgotten and replaced by what truly matters most to her.

Wanda Brunstetter has a rare gift. Her characters are "real" and we can all relate to the situations they find themselves in -- fear of rejection by those we love; perseverance in times of trial; faith and prayer in times of uncertainty. Ms. Brunstetter leaves her readers enveloped in a blanket of hope and a feeling of spiritual refreshment at the end of "Going Home."

I loved the "surpise" recipe at the end of the book as much as the book itself, and can't wait for the next book in the series!

Reviewed by Lori Plach for Reader Views (8/07)

Faith Stutzman Andrews has it all. Or does she? She is a successful singer and comedienne. She has a delightful daughter named Melinda. Her agent, and often abusive husband, Greg has recently died and Faith must now make some choices that will change Melinda's and her lives forever.

Feeling she has no place else to go, she returns to Webster County, Missouri and her Amish family. Greg's parents are too busy with their life in Los Angeles to be saddled with Faith and Melinda. Faith's plans are to familiarize young Melinda to the stability of Amish community. After all, Faith was raised Amish until she left for the lights of stardom. She then hopes to return to the exciting life of being an entertainer. She so loves to be accepted and appreciated for her talents. She has never felt accepted by her people, especially her parents who are very strong in their Amish faith and don't like her "goofing around' with her jokes and having fun.

Noah Hertzler is a familiar face from the past. He was friends with one of her brothers when she was growing up in Webster County. Noah is not your ordinary Amish gentleman. He does not have any desire to be a hog farmer like his father. He is perfectly happy being a Christmas tree farmer with his "English" friends. He has an unusual hobby for an Amish man; he often bakes desserts for his friends, family and others who could use some cheering up. He very often shares a Scripture verse he finds fitting, on a tag, along with the baked goods. Noah has a strong relationship with God where Faith's has deteriorated. He soon forms a bond with young Melinda who finds his humor and personality much to her liking.

The Stutzman family has grown while Faith has been gone. Faith now has a new little sister who is virtually the same age as Melinda. The two become fast friends in addition to being aunt and niece. Just as Faith is preparing to leave Melinda and her Amish roots, an accident occurs which will change their lives forever.

Will Noah and Faith find out that "going home" is God's leading them both to happiness and acceptance for their unique talents? Wanda Brunstatter has done it again by weaving a tale which will have you waiting for more chapters. "Going Home" is the first in her new series called "Brides of Webster County." I can't wait to visit Webster County again soon. Home is where the heart is with these kind people who appreciate the simple things in life.

I really enjoyed this book. Can't wait for the next one. We pass the book around and everyone loved the book.