J T. reviewed on 6/24/2005

Helpful Score: 1

The plot focuses mostly on the two eldest daughters, Sadie and Leah. Sadie is a typical innocent young girl, intrigued with the wordly ways that she has been sheltered from, and running wild during her rumsprunger (the time when Amish teens get to do what they want before they commit themselves to an Amish/Anabaptist way of life). Leah, younger than Sadie, has not yet come to the age of rumsprunger, but is much more staid of temperment, and worried terribly over Sadie's running around. While dealing with these worries, Leah is also dealing with the pressure that her father is putting on her to marry Gideon and join the two families farms, when she comes of age. Leah, of course, is in love with someone else.

Beverly Lewis is an immensely sweet and realistic writer. She manages to portray Lancaster County in an attractive, but thankfully not syrupy, manner. Her characters are real people who have passions and worries, but still have floors to sweep and cows to milk. Like us, they must struggle to function *with* their passions and problems, rather than calling a time-out on their lives for a plotline. And like real people, these characters do not go into euphoric swoons, nor have nervous breakdowns. Instead, they laugh, cry, get mad, forgive, love, and pick up the pieces.

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