The Englisch Daughter

 

 

The Englisch Daughter by Cindy Woodsmall and Erin Woodsmall   352 pages

 “In the ever-changing world when life was clam and steady one day and torn to shreds the next, three things were steady: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these was love.”

This quote, which appears on Page 242, succinctly captures the essence of this novel.

There are two plot lines, one greater than the other.  First there is the major plot involving Jemima and Roy Gaber. An Old Order Amish family, Jemima and Roy have four children. While she tends to the children and the house, Roy spends long hours training and selling horses. Roy’s life is also complicated. He’s gone more and more often for long stretches of time.

This is only one of the things that create a big strain on their marriage that pushes it to the brink.  Roy is also recovering from a carriage accident that he and oldest daughter, Laura, had last year.  Roy’s sister, Abigail, had taken a leave of absence from her teaching position to help, but it’s not enough.

Abigail and Jemima had dreams of owning and operating a food truck.  They have been saving for years. When an advertisement offering what seems to be exactly what they envisioned, Roy must admit that the money is gone. He has depleted their savings account. The hurt Roy has inflicted upon Jemima is deep. But when she learns what he has done with the money that cuts the wound even deeper.

The other plot line is the attraction that Abigail feels toward the new hired hand, Chris. Not currently practicing the Amish faith, Chris has been turned out of his parent’s home and shunned by the community. But nonetheless, the attraction is strong.

I really enjoyed this novel. It as fairly east to ascertain what the Amish words meant. I found the glossary when I was already two-thirds through. I think it would have been helpful to have upfront because I was annoyed while I was reading, and highly annoyed after I found the novel.

There are some very exciting part to the story that had my nerves on edge. 

 “The Englisch Daughter” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Her Fear

Her Fear by Shelley Shepard Gray                  Audio Book:  6 hours, 35 minutes      Hardback Book: 288 pages                   

Sadie Detweiler is banished from her home community in Ohio to go live with relatives she has never met in an Amish community in Hart County, Kentucky.   Reason being, young Sadie is pregnant and unmarried, though she gave herself to the man who had been courting her.   We are not talking Amish Girls Gone Wild During Rumspringa, either.    We are talking sneaking out at night and meeting in her beau’s barn  - you get the idea.    It seems her boyfriend was being considered for a position of importance in their district church  and having a blot like pre-marital sex and a baby on the way would blow his ministerial ambitions.   The Amish!  you say, turns out there are are good and bad souls within all sects, including the Amish.    The rogue lies and swears to his own parents and Sadie’s parents that he is MOST DEFINETLY NOT the father, totally ruining Sadie’s reputation in the community and worse yet, her own parents believed  her boyfriend and banished her!    Her father even tells her she is NO LONGER HIS DAUGHTER!   OMgosh!    This is a really good story, I enjoyed it from beginning to end.   If you like tales of the Amish, which I do,  (must be those Mennonite ancestors)  you will truly enjoy this story.    Lots happens!    It is a good study in how opinionated and biased folks can be sometimes, even in strict religious sectors and how sometimes it takes awful things happening in our lives to move us to where we need to be.   Worthy read that will bring out a lot of emotions in the reader.   I definetly recommend this one.