"Fast Paced Inspirational - Amish"

Sometimes it's difficult to come into a series on the last installment without feeling lost. Luckily, finding the subject matter and people to be so interesting with lovely characterizations and references to previous events, I quickly picked up with where the story was at that particular moment.

It appears that Annie Zook, the Amish preacher's daughter was a bit of a handful being somewhat willful for a young Amish woman. Evidently she had committed two very grave things that went against doctrine of the Amish people. One was secretly following her heart and pursuing a friendship with Ben an Englisher or 'fancy' person, and the other was her love and joy of painting, something very much forbidden within the Amish community. Having been found out, Annie had obeyed her father and terminated the relationship with Ben, as well as promising to not touch her painting for at least six months.

Along with Annie's issues of adherence to the People's doctrine, there were several secondary stories going on. Prominent among them were after a child's bones had been plowed up, Annie's friend Zeke had admitted to slaying his younger brother Isaac; Zeke's wife Esther is being 'shunned' by the People for not fully embracing Amish doctrines; and Annie's 'fancy' friend Lou who had come to visit embraced the Amish life then went back to her world and now faced questions of faith. More importantly, Ben had returned to Paradise, Pennsylvania with a surprising truth about himself that could change many people's lives, including his own.

Lewis embarked on a tremendous amount of storylines and as far as I was concerned solved all the mysteries, bringing most to satisfying conclusions. She gave an abundance of information which, not having read the previous books, were all answered in this final installment. Personally, I loved the fast pace, the sparkling personality, loving concern and respectfulness of the primary characters as Lewis revealed a slice of life in the Amish community few people are exposed to. My one regret is that for all intents and purposes this is supposed to be the end of a series and I would love to see it continued. I can recommend this book to be entertaining, well-written with likeable characters the reader will enjoy.

Marilyn Rondeau -- RIO - Reviewers International Organization

Reviewed by Marilyn Rondeau
Posted February 21, 2007