Book Review: Accidentally Amish by Olivia Newport

Escape the helter-skelter of the modern culture and join software creator Annie Friesen, hiding at the home of an Amishman. With her high-tech career in jeopardy, Annie runs from fast-paced Colorado Springs—and straight into the hospitality of San Luis Valley’s Amish community. There she meets cabinetmaker Rufus Beiler, and the more time she spends with him, the more attracted she becomes. When Annie finds she shares a common ancestor with Rufus, she feels both cultures colliding within her. But is her love for Rufus strong enough for her to give up the only life she’s ever known? (Barbour, October 2012)

This was Fans of Amish Fiction's January book group choice, over on GoodReads.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars (Very Good)

I think that if it weren't for the historical storyline, I probably would only give this book 3.5*. While the contemporary storyline was a good mixture of Amish, romance and suspense, the writing and characters weren't as strong as in Olivia's first novel, The Pursuit of Lucy Banning. It does seem as if historical fiction is where she's stronger, at least for now. 

That said, there were plenty of elements that I appreciated about this story. This is the second series I've read that's set among the newer Amish settlements in Colorado, and it's definitely interesting to read about how different Amish groups live depending on their regions and farming opportunities. Olivia lives in Colorado, and she was able to evoke the feeling of the small towns and Amish communities in her area. 

The city that Annie worked in never felt quite as real, and neither did her job. Mainly, I believe this is because my husband is a computer programmer and the descriptions of Annie's jobs seemed incredibly vague given my knowledge of the subject. But for those who don't deal with software engineering on a regular basis, the descriptions of her work might not be so vague. 

As for the romance, it was slow moving, but that's because this is the first book in a series. Given that there are so many Amish romances where an English character's conversion to the faith feels rushed, I appreciated that the book didn't end with everything neatly tidied up. As confident as Annie was about making changes to her life, I think she still has a long way to go and I'm interested in reading more about her. As strange as it might seem for a computer programmer to become interested in the Amish lifestyle, I got the impression that Annie got far more involved in the business world than she intended and no longer enjoyed her job, so the changes she made at the end of the novel made sense.

I also liked the sub-plot about Rufus's sister, Ruth, and I hope that the next novel delves more into the family dynamics and Ruth's attempts to reconcile with her family while still becoming a nurse. I felt like her story was a realistic portrayal of someone who left the faith before baptism for educational reasons, and I appreciated this change from the usual stories about people who leave to "explore the world". Ruth kept much of her faith while studying nursing.

The storyline about the construction company wasn't really resolved, which was a bit disappointing, but I'd be interested to see how that panned out, even if I preferred the other storylines. I had mixed feelings about this sub-plot as I wasn't sure what kind of message it was giving about justice, retaliation and turning the other cheek. I'm intrigued to see where it goes.

Ultimately, I liked the contemporary storyline, but at times the historical plot caught my attention more. I haven't read many stories about Amish settlers in the eighteenth century, so the story of Annie and Rufus's ancestors was fascinating. It really captured just how difficult life was for new settlers, if they made it through the long journey. Jakob's struggle between sticking to his faith and wanting to remarry was very heartfelt, and although the novel focused far more on the contemporary storyline, I still became attached to the historical characters. I hope that Olivia continues their storyline, or at least focuses on some other ancestors, in the next book.

I ended up writing a lot more about this book than planned, so obviously it touched me more than I realised. Ultimately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as The Pursuit of Lucy Banning but it was a compelling and original story. For those who like dual-time narratives of a lighter fare, this would definitely suit. I might not have connected with Annie as much as some Amish heroines, but this novel definitely brings something a little different to the genre. I'll be looking out for the second book in the series later this year.

Diary of a Wimpy Vampire - Tim Collins

Like Edward Cullen in "Twilight", Nigel Mullet was transformed into a vampire when he was still a teenager, and will remain this age forever. Unfortunately, Nigel became a vampire at the awkward age of fifteen, and must spend eternity coping with acne, a breaking voice, and an ineptitude with girls...In this, his excruciatingly funny diary, Nigel chronicles his increasingly desperate attempts to be noticed by the love of his life, Della Sparrow, the constant mortification caused by his vampire parents (not to mention the worry that they might accidentally eat one of his friends), and the frustration one feels when you've got the whole of boring eternity stretching out in front of you and you can't even have a lie in (vampires don't sleep). Forced to hang out with the Goths and emo kids due to his pale skin and social awkwardness, and constantly battling his embarrassingly overwhelming desire to sink his fangs into Della's neck, will Nigel ever get his girl? Fantastically witty and hugely enter taining, this fun and accessible diary will appeal to any fan of "Twilight" or "Adrian Mole", teenage or otherwise...

I got this book through the First Reads program at GoodReads. This book was amusing enough but I'm afraid I'm probably not the target age group. I could imagine a 12 or 13 year old boy - one who is fed up with all of the girls in his class swooning over Edward Cullen and has a warped sense of humour - finding this funny, but I'm not sure how well it would do in the female audience. It had several one-liners that made laugh out loud and I liked how Collins kicked holes in the Twilight premise - who would really want to be teenager for all eternity? - so I'll admit that found it rather amusing, but I don't think I'll be recommending it to any of my friends! I think that this book would be most appreciated by preteen boys who're looking for a laugh, particularly those who enjoyed Mark Haddon's Agent Z series. 6/10

The Postmistress - Sarah Blake

Letters of love, telegrams of loss – the postmistress awaits them all

The wireless crackles with news of blitzed-out London and of the war that courses through Europe, leaving destruction in its wake. Listening intently on the other side of the Atlantic, newly-wed Emma considers the fragility of her peaceful married life as America edges closer to the brink of war. As the reporter’s distant voice fills the room, she sits convincing herself that the sleepy town of Franklin must be far beyond the war’s reach. But the life of American journalist Frankie, whose voice seems so remote, will soon be deeply entangled with her own. With the delivery of a letter into the hands of postmistress Iris, the fates of these three women become irrevocably linked. But while it remains unopened, can Iris keep its truth at bay?  

I was fortunate enough to win a proof copy of this book in a competition over at GoodReads. And what's better than free books? Getting to review them and have your opinions heard! 

Growing up, I was surrounded by WWII memorabilia. My dad was a bit of a fanatic and this rubbed off on me - I remember devouring Teary Deary's Horrible History books on the subject and watching TV adaptations of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Carrie's War. As an adult I still have a keen interest in WWII novels and books such as Kommandant's Girl and The Book Thief are currently on my Keeper shelf. Sarah Blake's novel was a slight change in my WWII literature as it followed three American women and this isn't an aspect I've typically explored before. Being British and having friends in Europe, I've mainly read books set on this side of the world, so it was interesting to see the events of WWII unfold across the Atlantic. Admittedly, I did prefer the scenes where Frankie was traveling across Europe, and it was fascinating to see her uncovering the truth of the war through the lives of the common people. It made me wonder whether we in Britain were also so ignorant to how minorities were being treated by the Nazis. Did we really not understand what was happening to the Jews or were we simply pretending not to notice? Having visited Auschwitz-Birkenau last September and attended seminars with the Holocaust Educational Trust, this is an issue that is very close to home for me. 

Although I was fascinated by Frankie's discoveries and work as a radio broadcaster, I didn't find the other two characters - Iris and Emma - as engaging. While I sympathised with Frankie and her struggle to decide how to confront Emma about her husband, I never really felt connected to Emma herself. Her story demanded sympathy but I didn't feel like she herself was fleshed out enough. Iris was the same - she felt a bit two-dimensional. Despite her apparently being the title-character of the Postmistress, the story definitely seemed to revolve around Frankie. This made me think, is Frankie really the Postmistress, with the letter that she can't bring herself to deliver? This idea intrigued me. 

I truly found Frankie's sections of the novel exciting and unputdownable, and although I enjoyed the setting of Cape Cod, I never really felt connected to the other characters there. I also felt that there was too much unneeded sex, or discussions about it, injected into the story. I enjoy a good romance and even a well-written sex scene if appropriate, but it didn't seem to flow well with this story and seemed a bit awkward in places. It almost seemed as if Blake had slipped into a Mills & Boon voice which made a couple of moments a bit cheesy and amusing - perhaps not the right tone for this book. 

Despite finding two of the main characters rather hard to relate to and care about, and in spite of the awkwardly set up sex scenes, I did enjoy this book and think it's a great debut effort from Sarah Blake. I would look out for her novels in the future and am now more interested in reading American-based WWII novels. 7/10