First and foremost, thank you to Bethany House for the opportunity for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I think I am the worst person to review Beverly Lewis' books because I just think, as one of my automatically to-read authors, she just gets better and better. In my opinion, she can do no wrong. Before my two cents, a quick synopsis:
Jed is traveling on a train from Ohio to Lancaster County in Pennsylvania when he finds a book that a passenger left behind. In it, he finds a photograph of an Amish girl which is odd, since usually Old Order Amish frown upon photos being taken.
Jed is taken with the girl in the photograph, but more so with the notes that are written inside the margins of the book. He feels a connection to the writer of the notes and, after dealing with a tragedy himself, finds comfort in the words written.
The flip side of the story revolves around Eva Esch, who lives in Lancaster County. Eva's younger sister, Lilly has left their homestead for parts unknown. Eva and her other siblings worry that Lilly may forego her Amish roots to become more "worldly." The Esch family has dealt with their own tragedy as well, leaving the reader to wonder what will become of Jed and the Esch family and also how these stories are going to come together.Once again Ms. Lewis does not disappoint.
I loved this book. Like I said, Ms. Lewis is one of my automatically read authors, and as I said in another post, her book, The Shunning was the first Amish fiction book that I read, setting me off on a whole different path of books that I now read.
I find comfort in Ms. Lewis' books. In a day and age of modern technology and news filled with fear, hate and other things, it is so refreshing to be able to read an innocent, feel good story. It's good for the soul.
