Unyielding Hope

Narrator Nancy Peterson brings listeners to the idyllic Canadian prairie with this audiobook companion to the Hallmark show "When Hope Calls." Adoptee Lillian Walsh rejoices to discover that her birth sister, Grace, is alive. Peterson smoothly reunites Lillian and Grace and gives them a shared mission, helping to place other orphan children in good homes. The plight of the "home children"--children sent from Britain to its colonies (similar to America's Orphan Train)--is handled with sensitivity, bringing quiet attention to issues such as racism and anti-Semitism. Each of the seven children emerges as a unique personality. Peterson's well-modulated reading emphasizes the sincere, faith-filled themes of the story, matching Oke's gentle dramas with tender pathos. Peterson strengthens Oke's message of serving the needs of the most vulnerable with grace. C.A. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine