Band of Sisters by Cathy Gohlke

Band of Sisters
By Cathy Gohlke

Reviewed by Martha Artyomenko

When the death of a family member brings Maureen O’Reilly home, she is given a way to save her sister from the same life of shame that she has faced.
Finding herself on a boat to America, with a sister that hardly knows her, the many unknowns facing her seem insurmountable.
After coming through the strict inspections of Ellis Island, she discovers that the benefactor that was to help her and her sister has passed away and wicked men are here in America as well. Desperate for anything to survive, she makes a decision to accept help from the wrong source, which catapults her into a life of danger and secrets, once again.
Olivia Wakefield, when she realizes what her father promised to the O’Reilly family, seeks to find the sister’s, but faces family disapproval, mistrust from Maureen and other obstacles stand in her way.
When women begin to vanish from the department store where Maureen works, she is desperate to find someone she can trust and someone to help. Can she break down the barriers she has put up on her heart all these years and learn to trust in another human being as well as a Savior?

This book is set in New York City, 1910. The setting and people are different, older fashioned, yet the age-old problem still remains. Women, children and evil play a role as commodities. The weak, the ones no one will miss, are treated no better than slaves in a nation where slavery is supposedly illegal.
This book will touch you in a place as you draw lines between 1910 and 2012, burdening your heart to be a Caleb or a Joshua and play a role in the rescue of these forgotten ones.
Cathy Gohlke once again brings us a novel that addresses heart issues, the pain of family hurts, judgment among Christians, but above all challenges us to look beyond the outside picture. This was another book that I would highly recommend! It is not a thriller or a fast paced book, but it will pull at your heartstrings and get you thinking about how you can get involved in helping the victims of not just human trafficking, but abuse victims that get entrapped in lives they did not set out to be in. –
Martha

Visit Cathy’s Website