By Beverly Lewis
This is the latest book of Amish fiction I’ve read this year. As always, Beverly Lewis did not disappoint. There’s a depth to her characters that draws one in, almost like while you read their story, you’re actually sitting across the table from them, sipping a cup of coffee while they tell you their story.
In this modern day setting, we find our heroine Lucy Flaud haunted by past mistakes that just don’t allow her to move on with her life. She’s 25 – not old by the English world’s standards but she’s nearly past courting age for her community and on the brink of being considered an old maid! Little clues as to what that tragic mistake was are artistically dropped along the way and keep us guessing as to the big reveal. We have two leading men that come from very different worlds but both provide pivotal support in helping Lucy overcome her past: Dale Wyeth, an outsider who’s looking to live the simpler life and happens to strike up a friendship with Lucy’s father, and eventually Lucy herself; and Tobe, her best friend from childhood and a faithful Amish.
This story is rich with secondary characters and subplots found through Lucy’s voluntary work – something that is driven by her need to find redemption from her past. These characters help her to find purpose, and demonstrate what it really means to forgive the unthinkable.
In the end, Lucy does not end up a maidel. It’s not a typical romance novel, though there is some of that sprinkled throughout. Rather it’s a beautiful story of redemption, a story of finding freedom in forgiving oneself but ultimately the freedom in accepting the forgiveness of God.
This is a stand alone title.