A Simple Prayer by Amy Clipston (2017)

Even though the ‘someone who left the Community has come home’ trope feels a little tired, this novel did a great job of illuminating the perspective of older son in the parable of the prodigal son. In this iteration, the older brother, Samuel, is much more likable. His anger stems from watching his parents suffer, which leads him to hide the prodigal Aaron’s letters. Samuel resents how much and how long Mamm wept over her lost son and how these events kept him bound to their dairy farm instead of leaving him free to make a living building houses. 

But hiding the letters has caused most of what is making people miserable: 

• Even when he wants to return home, Aaron doesn't because their lack of response to his letters have made him think they've moved on and forgotten about him,
• It's only prolonged his parents’ suffering because they think their son is dead),
• Samuel's wife used to be friends with Aaron, but she's cold and angry at Aaron when he returns because she can't believe he didn't write and abandoned his family (especially his wonderful mother!) 

It’s got a nice, but overly familiar, romance which is well-developed (even though sometimes it feels a little deus ex machina with how quickly things develop). Aaron’s restoration to the Community he left behind and the healing of the family is well done. Even the bitter characters are likable because we can see the pain and love behind their anger. As the characters do the godly thing and trust God with the outcome, events turn out well. 

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

I’m not that fond of the narrator of this audiobook, especially as she did Mamm’s struggles to speak after her stroke, the kids with their weird voices and the way she vocalizes the adults of parental age. I like Clipson’s work, but I’m not looking forward to listening to her as the narrator for another story.