A Season of Love - Amy Clipston

GENRE: AMISH ROMANCE

PUBLISHER: ZONDERVAN

PUBLICATION DATE: JUNE 15, 2012

RATING: 9 OUT OF 10 – EXCELLENT

PROS: Good conclusion to the series; ties up loose ends from previous books; relatable characters make you invest emotionally in the story

CONS: Katie’s father is over-bearing and can be difficult to read about

Newly baptised into the Amish church, Katie Kauffman longs for the love that her two best friends have found. When everyone around her seems to be growing up and getting married, Katie is staying the same. As much as she enjoys working for the family bakery alongside her grandmother and her cousins, she’s the fifth wheel to Lindsay and Lizzie Anne and their boyfriends whenever they attend youth gatherings, and she’s known for a long time that none of the boys in their district are going to interest her. But her loneliness starts to dissipate when she meets Jake Miller, a Mennonite carpenter who is helping her grandfather build new cabinets for the bakery. Jake’s mother was once Amish and left the community to marry someone outside their fold, but Jake has always felt a kinship to his grandparents’ faith. As innocent as their friendship is, Katie’s father forbids her to spend time with Jake and warns her of the consequences of forming a relationship with someone outside their faith. Katie doesn’t want to be shunned, but she can’t help but feel a connection to Jake, and a series of situations conspire to bring them together. Misunderstandings about the circumstances of her relationship with Jake cause Katie’s relationships with her parents to disintegrate, and Katie isn’t sure if she can ever find happiness. She knows that she cannot be with Jake, but she can’t help but care for him. Can she learn to let go and love someone of the same faith, or will something drastic have to occur in order for her and Jake to finally be together?

The conclusion to a popular series is always tricky. Do you choose to go out with a bang, or to quietly wrap up all of the storylines with a happy ending? I often find that while I enjoy the final book in a series, I don’t love it as much as the others, often just because tying up all of the loose ends doesn’t always make for a terribly compelling story. When it comes to the conclusion of the Kauffuman Amish Bakery series, Katie’s story wasn’t quite as complex as some of the other Kauffman books, but I was impressed with the way that A Season of Love managed to conclude several ongoing plot-threads without detracting from Katie’s story. I appreciated being able to learn more about Rebecca’s pregnancy, Lindsay’s blossoming relationship with Matthew, and Jessica’s non-relationship with Jake, as well as the details about Lizzie Anne and Samuel.

While Katie’s story occasionally takes the backseat so that we can catch up Lindsay and Matthew or other members of the Kauffman family, I never lost interest in her storyline. Like Lindsay, the protagonist of A Life of Joy, Katie is one of Amy’s younger heroines and is barely out of her teen years. To some of the more mature Amish readers, reading about such a young protagonist might not be so appealing. Even I was surprised to read about an eighteen-year-old contemplating marriage and planning her future...until I remembered that I got engaged at nineteen and will be married before my twenty-first birthday, so I have no right to complain about Katie. Although my upbringing and life experiences are very different to Katie’s, I could relate to the position she was at in her life and her desire to get married and start a family and be done with her dating years. I could even slightly relate to her father’s disapproval of her boyfriend, Jake. While my dad never forbade me to see Simon, he didn’t pay him a lot of attention when we first began dating. No boy is going to be good enough for daddy’s little girl, although Katie’s father definitely took a more extreme approach to this idea.

For me, Katie’s father was the biggest stumbling block in A Season of Love. On the one hand, his treatment of Katie made me really angry and I rooted for her to stand up to her father and call him out on how unfair he was being. A fictional character that can get me this riled up is definitely a sign of a talented author. But I can also see why a character like Robert Kauffman can be discouraging to read about. Stubborn father-figures are pretty prevalent in Amish fiction, and Robert is at least the second I’ve come across in Amy’s books alone. In fact, when I try to recall books containing supportive, caring Amish fathers, the only one I can think of is Laura Hilton’s Patchwork Dreams. Considering how many Amish books I’ve read in my lifetime, this is evidence that fathers like Robert Kauffman are unfortunately more common than they are not.

Considering how unrelenting and stubborn Robert was throughout the whole of A Season of Love, his turn-around towards the end didn’t seem entirely convincing, and he didn’t apologise for everything he’d said and done to Katie. I was glad that Katie reconciled with her father, but I did struggle to read about a girl, almost the same age as myself, who was under her parents’ rule and unable to speak up and defend herself even though she was a legal adult. I know that this is the way that the Amish community works, but I did wish that Katie had had more of a backbone and stuck up for herself rather than running off to cry in her room whenever her father shouted at her. To put it simply, I have mixed feelings about the conflict between Katie and her father. I loved that it got me so emotionally invested in the story, but I also felt uncomfortable reading about such an overbearing and narrow-minded father figure.

The end of a series has to have a happy ending, but thankfully A Season of Love didn’t overdo the happiness. I loved the way that Amy managed to get all of the principal characters from previous books into the final scene together without it seeming too contrived. The final chapter of A Season of Love was a brilliant conclusion to the Kauffman Amish Bakery series, and as much as I’m looking forward to whatever Amy’s writes about next, it’s a little sad to say goodbye to these characters who were one of my first introductions to Amish fiction. Even if you only pick up A Season of Love to find out how the cliff-hangers at the end of A Life of Joy are concluded, you can’t help but care about Katie Kauffman and sympathise with her desire to find the love and her frustrations over her family situation. Despite my struggles with Katie’s father I did really enjoy reading this book, and I will be anxiously awaiting the arrival of Amy’s next Amish novel in winter 2013.

Review title provided by Zondervan. 

A Life of Joy - Amy Clipston

GENRE: AMISH 
PUBLISHER: ZONDERVAN 
PUBLICATION DATE: FEBRUARY 01, 2012 
RATING: 9 OUT OF 10 – EXCELLENT 

PROS: Lindsay’s struggles are easy to relate to; breaks out of the mould of traditional romantic Amish novels; revisits characters from earlier books in the series 

CONS: Ending is very abrupt and leaves some unanswered questions 

Eighteen-year-old Linsday Bedford has lived with her Amish aunt and uncle in Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania ever since her parents died in a car accident. While she’s settled into the Amish way of life and enjoys working in the family bakery and helping to care for her younger cousins, her older sister, Jessica, lives with a family friend back home in Virginia and is pursuing a college degree. Lindsay thinks that she’s settled in her new lifestyle, until her sister comes to visit and encourages her to experiment more in the English world that she grew up in and see all that she’s missing out on. As much as Lindsay enjoys life in Bird-in-Hand, she can’t help but wonder whether she’s letting her real parents down by not pursing a college degree and a career like her sister. So instead of taking baptismal classes with her friends, she spends the summer staying with Jessica’s legal guardians and caring their “Aunt”, who has broken her leg. But although the temptations of the English world are all around her, Lindsay feels uncomfortable wearing the typical beach clothes everyone in Virginia is wearing, attending rowdy parties with her old school friends and eating off paper plates in front of the television. As her old friends and neighbours question the way of life she’s been living with her aunt and uncle back in Pennsylvania, Lindsay also questions the route she’s meant to take in her life. Does God want her to be career-motivated like Jessica? Or is her contentment in Bird-in-Hand a sign that she’s meant to stay there? 

Next to Beverly Lewis, Amy Clipston was the first Amish author I ever read. The first book in her Kauffman Amish Bakery series appealed to me because it wasn’t a standard romance, but the tale of two orphaned English teenagers who came to live with the childless Amish uncle and aunt. A Life of Joy revisits these teenagers, who are now young women, and follows Lindsay as she figures out which path in life she’s destined to take. This novel differs from a lot of other Amish novels in that at least half of it takes place in the “English” world in Virginia, where Lindsay is staying with family friends. But despite the lack of buggies and prayer kapps, Amy has crafted an incredibly compelling story. There’s a little romance in the background of the story, kept alive through letters and phone calls between Lindsay and a male friend back in Pennsylvania, but the main body of the story deals with Lindsay finding herself. 

Any woman who has felt torn between the life God wants her to lead and that which the world and her peers think is best for her will be able to relate to Lindsay’s struggles. This book came at just the right time for me, so I may be a little biased in my review. I’ve known since I was a teenager that all I want to do in life is get married and have a family. I’d love nothing more than to be a stay-at-home mum; but right now the fact that I’m getting married this summer rather than pursuing an internship or searching for work experience bemuses my fellow classmates. I’m not driven like they are when it comes to career matters, but they don’t always understand this; just like Jessica doesn’t understand how her sister can enjoy baking pies and babysitting her cousins over going to college. I could completely empathise with Lindsay feeling pulled towards the English world even though she was normally content being Amish. Sometimes the pressures of friends and family make us feel like we’re not doing enough, just because we’re taking the path that most avoid. Reading about Lindsay’s search for the place she was meant to be and the role she was meant to inhabit truly encouraged me, and I hope it does the same for many other readers. 

This is the fourth novel in the Kauffman Amish Bakery series, and unlike some books in the Amish genre I don’t think it can be read as a standalone. That said, long-term fans of Amy’s novels will be pleased to revisit characters like Lindsay and Jessica, as well as their aunt and uncle, in this novel. Characters from the second and third instalments in the series also appear in the background from time to time, as do popular locations such as the bakery and furniture store. But just as this book follows on from earlier instalments in the series, the ending left me wondering if Lindsay and Jessica’s stories were going to be concluded in the fifth and final book. I turned the page on my Kindle expecting another chapter or an epilogue to find discussion questions and had to go back and reread the last paragraph, surprised at how abrupt the ending was. While it was optimistic for Lindsay, I couldn’t help but feel that Jessica’s story wasn’t finished yet, and there were some unanswered questions regarding Lindsay’s aunt and one of her friends. I do hope that Amy plans to answer these questions in the final book in the series, and since she’s announced that she’ll be writing a YA spinoff of the Kauffman Amish Bakery series perhaps this will revisit some of Lindsay’s teenage friends. 

The fourth novel in the Kauffman Amish Bakery series is just as delightful as those that came before it, and many readers will be able to relate to Lindsay’s struggles to discover her place in life. Long-term fans of the series will be pleased to revisit old favourite characters in A Life of Joy and will be left greatly anticipating the fifth and final instalment, A Season of Love. 

Review title provided by Zondervan.

Naomi's Gift - Amy Clipston

GENRE: AMISH ROMANCE 
PUBLISHER: ZONDERVAN 
PUBLICATION DATE: OCTOBER 1, 2011 
RATING: 8 OUT OF 10 

After having her heart broken more than once, Naomi King has given up on love and resigned herself to remaining at home and helping her mother care for her siblings. It isn’t until widower Caleb Schmucker returns from Ohio for the holidays, along with his eight year old daughter, Susie, that she begins to wonder whether God will grant her another second chance. Caleb has been told many times that Susie needs a mother and that he should remarry, but he wants to find a woman who will love Susie as much as she loves him. When Susie captures the eye of Naomi while at a farmer’s market, Susie latches on to the older woman and the two become fast friends. Soon Caleb is spending more time with his daughter and her new best friend than he would have expected, especially considering the rumours circulating about Naomi and the way that she supposedly chases after single men. But with Caleb cautious about courting again after the death of his wife, and his sister determined to match him up with someone other than Naomi, will anything come of this new friendship? 

Amy Clipston is one of the first authors I read when I discovered the Amish genre, so she’ll always hold a special place in my heart. I adore her Kauffman Amish Bakery series and I’m always eagerly awaiting the next instalment, so I was glad that she’d chosen to revisit one of the reoccurring characters, Naomi, in her Christmas novella. As much as I love Amy’s stories, I’m always cautious when it comes to novellas as their shortness often leaves little room for character development, which can make some novellas seem predictable or rushed. I’m pleased to say that I was rather satisfied with Amy’s attempts in Naomi’s Gift, and while the story did rely a little too much on the “love at first sight” idea, I enjoyed witnessing Naomi and Caleb overcome their past difficulties and become open to new relationships. 

The underlying theme in Naomi’s Gift is that God is always willing to give us another chance, no matter how many mistakes we’ve made. Those who are familiar with the Kauffman Amish Bakery series will recall that Naomi, in her younger years, was apt to throw her attentions at young men, often without thinking through her actions properly, and was then led along by another man who had no interest in marrying her. As a result of this, by the start of Naomi’s Gift, she’s convinced that love and marriage are not what God has planned for her since she’s been hurt so many times before. Caleb is also hurting because of the loss of his wife and although duty suggests that he should remarry for Susie’s sake, he can’t bear to marry someone who doesn’t care for both of them. While Naomi and Caleb are instantly attracted to each other, they hasten to deny it and bond over their love of Susie and the fact that neither of them feels ready for a relationship at that moment. While the chemistry is present between them from the start of the story, it was nice to see their friendship develop gently and naturally. 

Of course, well-meaning friends and relatives are apt to suspect that something more is going on between Caleb and Naomi, and in particular, Caleb’s sister Sadie, who is convinced that her friend, Irene, is a better match for Caleb. Repeating malicious rumours that she’s heard about Naomi, Sadie tries to push a wedge between the couple and convince him that Irene is more suited for him than Naomi. Here, Caleb’s desire to find a woman who loves Susie as much as she loves him comes into play, and it was so encouraging to see the way that Susie played a role in all of his relationships. Sometimes children are inserted into a story for entertainment and to give a book the “Aww!” factor, but Susie was a character in her own right who interacted with everyone. Caleb includes his daughter in every decision he makes, therefore how a woman treats his daughter is essential if he’s considering marriage to her. 

I really struggled with Sadie’s character, particularly because her gossiping and self-centred mannerisms are not in keeping with what one would expect from an Amish woman. As much as I would love to write off her character as an illustration of how gossip can infiltrate even the Amish way of life and hurt people, showing that no one is perfect, I could not see any motivation for Sadie acting the way she did. She constantly bad-mouthed poor Naomi and pressed Irene on Caleb at every opportunity without checking whether he actually liked the woman. In the end, she apologies, but I didn’t find her character terribly realistic or her actions believable, so ultimately it seemed as if she was acting as she did purely to move the plot along and create conflict. This is one of the problems with novellas, and Sadie definitely suffers from lack of character development. I felt the same way about David in Amy’s other novella, A Plain and Simple Christmas, who is stubborn throughout the entire story, refusing to listen to any of his wife’s ideas and suggestions until she goes behind his back and ultimately makes him realise that he was wrong, where upon he eventually apologies. Sadie’s stubbornness and belief that she knew what was best for Caleb and his daughter definitely reminded me of David, which is the main pitfall of this otherwise lovely novella. 

Despite the lack of development in secondary characters as can be naturally expected in a short novella, Naomi’s Gift is a sweet and endearing love story. A couple who don’t ever expect to experience love again stumble upon it at Christmastime with the help of Caleb’s adorable daughter, reminding readers that one of the gifts God gave us is the possibility to always have a second chance. 

Review title provided courtesy of Zondervan.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at Breaking the Spine that spotlights eagerly awaited upcoming releases. Head on over there to take part or to check out all the other fabulous books that people are looking forward to reading! 

The book that I'm most looking forward to is A Place of Peace by Amy Clipston, book three in the Kauffman Amish Bakery series, which is released in December 2010. I've read the first two books and loved them! Amy Clipston is one of my favourite authors of Amish fiction and I'd definitely recommend her if you haven't checked her out already.

Miriam Lapp, who left the Amish community in Pennsylvania three years ago, is heartbroken when her sister calls to reveal that her mother has died suddenly. Traveling home to Pennsylvania, she is forced to face the heartache from her past, including her rift from her family and the break up of her engagement with Timothy Kauffman. Her past emotional wounds are reopened when her family rejects her once again and she finds out that Timothy is in a relationship with someone else. Miriam discovers that the rumors that broke them up three years ago were all lies. However, when Timothy proposes to his girlfriend and Miriam's father disowns her, Miriam returns to Indiana with her heart in shambles. When Miriam's father has a stroke, Miriam returns to Pennsylvania, and her world begins to fall apart, leaving her to question her place in the Amish community and her faith in God.

A Promise of Hope - Amy Clipston

When Sarah Troyer tragically loses her husband Peter, she is left to raise infant twins alone. Overwhelmed and grieving, she lives with her parents in the Amish community of Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania. Sarah is taken completely by surprise when a stranger arrives claiming connections to Peter's past - Peter had told her he was an orphan with no family. From Luke, she learns her husband hid a secret life, one with ramifications that will change her own. Sarah's family, concerned for her and the future of her twins, encourages her to marry again. It should make sense - but Sarah's heart says no. She feels trapped. Should she marry a man she doesn't love? Or discover if her growing interest in Luke can be trusted? 

This is the second book in the Kauffman Amish Bakery series and the book that made me realise that Clipston is definitely my favourite author of Amish fiction. Beverly Lewis may well have earned a name for herself but I’ve fallen in love with the Kauffman novels. Clipston portrays the Amish as normal people who have the same problems as us “Englishers” and have to rely on God to help them through these struggles. I particularly like the fact that Clipston mentions specific Bible verses through her novels, rather than simply having vague references to characters praying. I really got the feeling that these characters looked to the Lord when they experienced problems. I also loved the sense of community that exists in the Kauffman family. I really envy the togetherness and commitment of Amish communities, which Clipston captures beautifully. I wasn’t completely sure what to think of the storyline initially, as the idea of an Amish husband with a hidden past seemed a bit over-the-top, but it panned out wonderfully and I really felt the emotions of Sarah Rose and Luke. I’ve rather fallen in love with Clipston’s characters and I hope that the epilogue was hinting at a third book in the series about Sarah Rose’s brother Timothy. Another 10/10 from my favourite Amish author!

A Gift of Grace - Amy Clipston

Rebecca Kauffman's tranquil Old Order Amish life is transformed when she suddenly has custody of her two teenage nieces after her "English" sister and brother-in-law are killed in an automobile accident. Instant motherhood, after years of unsuccessful attempts to conceive a child of her own, is both a joy and a heartache. Rebecca struggles to give the teenage girls the guidance they need as well as fulfill her duties to Daniel as an Amish wife.

Rebellious Jessica is resistant to Amish ways and constantly in trouble with the community. Younger sister Lindsay is caught in the middle, and the strain between Rebecca and Daniel mounts as Jessica's rebellion escalates. Instead of the beautiful family life she dreamed of creating for her nieces, Rebecca feels as if her world is being torn apart by two different cultures, leaving her to question her place in the Amish community, her marriage, and her faith in God.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect of this book and was pleasantly surprised. Although it is written in a rather simplistic manner, it suits the book and doesn't detract from the values of the story. Although written in the third person, I really felt like I got inside the heads of Rebecca, her husband, Daniel, and her nieces, Jessica and Lindsay. I felt like I was experiencing the hurt of the girls at being uprooted from their normal life and the confusion Rebecca had over what was the best way of caring for her nieces. Overall, I thought that the book presented a realistic picture of two "worldly" girls moving to an Amish community. The ultimate decisions of Lindsay and Jessica weren't what I expected, but this made it even more believable! I also appreciated the Christian emphasis of the novel - which was far more present than in Beverly Lewis' Amish books - and the verses that Elizabeth reminded Rebecca of in her time of need. I must go back sometime and write them down! Elizabeth and the other Kauffman family members fitted into the story neatly and really gave the book its "Amish community" atmosphere and the scenes in the bakery truly made me feel like I'd been transported to Lancaster country. I'm glad that this book is part of a series as I'd love to read more about the family. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am pleased that it exceeded my expectations. If you're looking for an enjoyable, thought-provoking story with realistic characters and strong Christian values that is an easy read then I'd definitely recommend this! Can't wait to get hold of the next book! 10/10