The Deepest Sigh (Echoes of the Heart Book 1) Kindle Edition

With her exemplary unique voice, Naomi Musch has crafted a hauntingly beautiful novel that immediately sent my emotions in a tailspin! They were literally all over the page as I drank in the heartbreaking details of Marilla Eckert's life, whose only sin was to fall in love with the handsome, charming man of her dreams. A man who just so happens to be totally enamored with her sister. I wanted to throttle Langston Prescott, who came to work on Marilla's father's farm and immediately fell in love with the beautiful, spunky Delia Eckert. I know people can't help who they fall in love with, but why did he have to propose to the tall and skinny Marilla (whose only attribute is her lovely sea green eyes), just because her exquisite sister marries another?Lang doesn't mistreat her and he really tries to be a good husband (I have to give him credit for that), and I almost felt sorry for him—but not too much. We definitely had a love/hate relationship going on and I'll be the 1st to admit he was pretty hunky. I love how Marilla evolves throughout the story...from a young, naive victim to a strong, independent wife and loving mother. When America steps into the Great War and Delia's husband enlists, Lang finally gets the chance to win her favor. But when tragedy and disaster strikes, will Marilla and Lang wind up too broken to ever find their way back home again?What a powerful story! I stayed glued to the pages til way past bedtime—so great was my desire to see how everything played out. The characters were so realistically written that I actually found myself wanting to pray for them, weep with them, laugh with them. This was an unusually different historical read, but one that will keep you madly flipping the pages until you take that last satisfying deep sigh at the superb conclusion.

This book has some strong emotionally charged moments, especially in the later part of the book. I detested Lang for well over half of the novel. However, the glimmers that there was more to him than meets the eye, kept me reading. Rilla was a very young girl with her head in the clouds. It takes a long time for her to realize the shallowness of her marriage, but she had my empathy because I have been there when I was a young woman. While Lang is at the western front, his experience with Dickie, bad been searching his soul. It still takes him a long time to see the pain and heartache he's caused Rilla is deplorable. There is a scene toward the last part of the book that is very moving when his behavior at last sinks into his being. It's A very moving moment for him. It begins his redemption in a big way. This a book that has great depth that can easily be missed if one doesn't look deeper than the surface. I'm so glad I continued reading because by the end, I was pleased with Lang's character arch. This is a story of emotional infidelity which is so much worse than physical betrayal. I'm glad Rilla makes him work for her forgiveness. Happy reading!

The characters and setting are so well portrayed that they carried me right along. Believable, heart wrenching, with a very satisfying and inspirational ending, this story will stay with you for a long time.

Wow. I don't know what I expected in this book, but I was engrossed from start to finish. The characters didn't let me go even after I'd shut the book. They are deep, complex, and achingly human with their hopes, dreams, faults, and foibles. Sometimes you don't know who to root for. Sometimes you want to slap one of them. Sometimes you want to weep for them. Beautifully written in a style that will appeal to any who enjoy historicals and historical romance. Set during WWI at a very pivotal time in our history, a very satisfying story of people who did their best in a world that was shifting and changing before their very eyes. I highly recommend this one.

I’m not a fan of looooooong suffering h’s. And this book was one of those. The H was well…I can’t say it cause it’s not nice. I would never be that forgiving. I realize the time dictated what a woman could do but I don’t have to like it.

But for a time, there was much sadness. This book is the lives mainly of Lang & Marilla (or Rilla which friends & family called her). But others are definitely intertwined in their lives. Love, Sadness, thinking you are in love, finding out he thinks he loves her sister. This is actually a good example of life in the early 1900s as well as showing that no matter what you stick together and love returns.

Wow! This is a great story of redemption! I just have to say, I didn't like Lang for much of the book. I continued to read this well written book because I cared about Rilla. Musch is a wonderful story teller and an excellent writer. I think the author is brilliant to write a novel from a perspective I've never seen tackled before. Well done! I appreciated how she told this story and how she wrapped it up. I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

This heart-wrenching WWI novel is captivating from beginning-to-end. A young man, Langdon works on a Wisconsin farm obsessively falling in love with the older married beautiful sister, but marrying the younger one as a consolation prize. Marilla comes to learn this despite the birth of their children when he finally confesses as he is drafted into WWI. During his absence, a childhood friend comforts Marilla through love, sickness, and death of her child. Yet, the war changes Langdon when he returns to find his wife's devotion is to another, attempting to win her back. Extremely detailed character development in this long, heart-wrenching novel on the complexities of love and devotion versus human nature. Highly recommended for those who prefer a historical, WWI Christian-based intriguing read. (FYI - 1918-1919 was catastrophically affected by the "Spanish" flu, not the Asian flu).