Product Description

In the seemingly ordinary Amish home of Grace Byler, secrets abound. Why does her mother weep in the night? Why does her father refuse to admit something is dreadfully wrong? Then, in one startling moment, everything Grace assumed she knew is shattered. Her mother's disappearance leaves Grace reeling and unable to keep her betrothal promise to her long-time beau. Left to pick up the pieces of her life, Grace questions all she has been taught about love, family, and commitment. Heather Nelson is an English grad student, stunned by a doctor's diagnosis. Surely fate would not allow her father to lose his only daughter after the death of his wife a few years before. In denial and telling no one she is terminally ill, Heather travels to Lancaster County--the last place she and her mother had visited together. Will Heather find healing for body and spirit? As the lives of four wounded souls begin to weave together like an Amish patchwork quilt, they each discover missing pieces of their life puzzles--and glimpse the merciful and loving hand of God.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7550 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-31
• Released on: 2009-03-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 364 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780764205712
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Popular novelist and Amish specialist Lewis (The Brethren) launches a new series with this volume. Two young women, Amish Grace Byler and graduate student Heather Nelson, stand as counterpoints in parallel plots involving two secrets. Grace's mother is troubled; Heather, whose mother has died of cancer, tells no one in her circle of her own diagnosis of terminal illness, which drives her to Pennsylvania Amish country in search of healing. Grace's mother makes a decision that painfully complicates the action and drives it forward. Grace, her family and friends and the Amish milieu are drawn with characteristically ample detail, right down to jars of preserves set out on the tables at many bountiful Amish meals. Lots of powerful emotions go characteristically unspoken in this reticent culture, though the reader won't miss them. By comparison, the emotional high-stakes Heather plot is less detailed and consequently less engrossing. Lewis lays out—and knots—many plot threads to pursue and resolve in subsequent installments in the series, ensuring readers' return. (Mar.)
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Review

About the Author
Beverly Lewis, raised in Pennsylvania Amish country, is a former schoolteacher, an accomplished musician, and an award-winning author of more than eighty books, many of which have appeared on bestseller lists, including USA Today and The New York Times. Her novel The Brethren won a 2007 Christy Award for excellence in Christian fiction. Beverly and her husband, David, live in Colorado.

Customer Reviews

Just depressing and I could not finish it

I am taking out the book mark at page 265. I just cannot continue. Nothing pleasant has happened so far in the entire more than two hundred and fifty pages minus one paragraph. Many things are going on, yet every single one is depressing with no reprieve. I have read a handful of reviews so far that love the story and the presentation of the Amish lives through the novel. This book for me just is not happening.



In the past, I have read several titles by Beverly Lewis and loved them. This one is just dull and bland and I cannot continue it. There are too many dozens of books to be read. I spent three days and more pages and effort than I should have. Some already have, and some will love this book, but I do not and I do not recommend it. It could turn around, but you need some relief in the hours of depression and pain and this so far has not had it.

a delightful peek at modern Amish life
Beverly Lewis has forged a splendid career with her realistic depictions of modern day Amish life in America. This latest is the first in her Seasons of Grace series. Grace is a young, unmarried Amish woman living with her parents in Pennsylvania Dutch country. She has a part time job in a health food store which exposes her to non-Amish life.

This book is about a family secret that is troubling her mother and that her father is pretending does not exist. As readers learn about Grace's aspirations in life we are immersed in the deeply religious and very human world of the Amish. There's a romantic echo in these gentle pages. It is no surprise that Lewis has a huge following these days. It's delightful stuff!

The Secret
Beverly Lewis is, by far, my favorite author of "Amish books", or "Bonnet Books" as Time magazine labeled them in a recent article. I have read every one she's written. Once I pick up one of her books, I have trouble putting it down. I love her characters, her depiction of Amish life, and her style of writing. Not so with this book. I had trouble reading this one. I actually find it hard to believe Mrs. Lewis wrote this book. It is nothing like any of her previous works. I was never comfortable with these characters, nor with the way they treat each other. They are very different from her usual characters; they even speak differently. Normally I finish Mrs. Lewis' books in two or three sittings. I devour her books and find it hard to wait for the next one. It took me two WEEKS and much determination to finish this one - and I did only because it's Beverly Lewis. Now I will pass it on to my mom as I've done with all the others. She loves them as much as I do and often finishes these books in one sitting! I'm anxious to know what she will think of this latest one. I hope Mrs. Lewis' upcoming books will be better than The Secret.