The Fiddler - Beverly Lewis

GENRE: AMISH/ROMANCE 
PUBLISHER: BETHANY HOUSE 
PUBLICATION DATE: APRIL 10, 2012 
RATING: 5 OUT OF 10 – AVERAGE 

PROS: Will appeal to those who daydream about visiting Amish country to experience peace and contentment; interesting details about Amelia as a violinist 

CONS: Predictable plot; too much head-hopping between points of view means that the reader never connects with any of the characters; not as deep or complex as her previous novels 

Amelia DeVries is living a double life – she’s a world-famous concert violinist who occasionally sneaks away from her overbearing father to play at more relaxed fiddling events. After being caught by her agent after one of her secret performances and pressured to sign on for a classical European tour, Amelia takes off on a more scenic route home through Pennsylvania. Finding herself stranded with a flat tire and no cell phone reception, she comes across Michael Hostetler, an Amish man who has left his family and is temporarily living in a cabin in the woods. They connect when they realise that they’re both running away from their real lives. While Amelia waits for her car to be fitted with a new tire, she visits Michael’s Amish community, Hickory Hollow, and finds an unexpected sense of peace and contentment. When she finally decides to return to her home in Ohio, she can’t help but take a little bit of the Amish lifestyle with her, and use her newfound faith in God to help her make some difficult decisions about her musical career. Will these choices eventually bring her back to Hickory Hollow and Michael? 

Like most fans of Amish fiction, I got started with Beverly Lewis. Over ten years since she entered the market with The Shunning, Beverly still remains a good “starter” author for those just getting into the Amish genre. She has a good grasp of the quirks of the Amish lifestyle and consistently creates engaging characters and storylines that bring readers back to her with each series she writes. As such, I had high hopes for The Fiddler, the first novel in the Home to Hickory Hollow series, especially as it returns to the community that featured in The Shunning. Sadly, I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with this most recent novel. I may not have read all of her books, but those that I have read I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, and The Fiddler did not live up to Beverly’s usual standards. If I have to be entirely honest, this didn’t even feel like a Beverly Lewis novel. The overall plot was pretty predictable and lacked the drama and engaging characters and complex family struggles of her previous books. 

I will concede that while The Fiddler is relatively predictable, it does not completely follow the formulaic Amish plot of the English woman who falls in love with an Amish man and his lifestyle and then converts to the faith. Amelia doesn’t convert to the Amish faith – how could she, being a musician? – but she does experience a stupendous amount of peace and contentment as a result of spending a couple of days among the Amish, and makes a connection with God during her trip. That’s not to say that all Amish romance are uninteresting because they contain many similar elements, but I didn’t feel that The Fiddler really did anything particularly unusual with its characters, setting or storyline to make it stand out from the plethora of Amish novels already on the market. Considering the novels I’ve previously read by Beverly Lewis, many of which delve into the theological implications of the faith while continuing to develop relationships between characters and their families, The Fiddler fell a little short. Rather than continuing on from the successes of the drama-riddled Heritage of Lancaster County series or the Abram’s Daughters series, I felt that The Fiddler was instead buying into every reader’s secret dream of visiting an Amish community and finding the signature sense of peace and simplicity that the Amish are so famous for. I’ll admit it, I’d love to do this someday – but I don’t imagine my experience would be exciting enough to write a book about. 

I wouldn’t have minded the simplicity of Amelia and Michael’s romance so much if it weren’t for the way that their story was told. While written in third-person point of view, The Fiddler head-hopped between Amelia, Michael and Michael’s mother. Even if Michael’s mother had been taken out of the equation – a good move, I believe, as her perspective added very little to the novel – the frequency at which Beverly jumped from one character to another made it very hard to make any connections with them. I’d just be starting to get inside Amelia’s head when suddenly the perspective would switch to Michael, or his mother, and I’d lose what little I had grasped of her personality and emotions. Sometimes it seemed like each character was only given ten or so paragraphs before the book switched to the next character, not even enough to truly establish the scene. Despite the predictability of the plot, I honestly think it could have been strengthened if the storytelling had been stronger and hadn’t jumped around so much. A standard romance can make itself into something more exciting simply with the addition of colourful, realistic characters. Amelia and Michael had the potential to be more than cardboard cut-outs, but as I never truly got the chance to experience their emotions and inner turmoil, I can’t say that they were as engaging as the protagonists in other Amish novels I’ve read. 

The Fiddler certainly has some potential, particularly coming from an established novelist like Beverly Lewis. The premise of a young woman finding peace in Amish country and re-evaluating her life as a result of her experiences will certainly grab the attention of many Amish readers, and the depth of research that Beverly has undertaken in order to make Amelia’s musical talents appear authentic certainly brought that aspect of the novel to life. Unfortunately, this is where the novel’s strengths end, and The Fiddler doesn’t measure up to Beverly’s previous books. I genuinely missed the depth of character development that I’d experienced in earlier novels, and I struggled in my attempts to connect with Amelia and Michael due to the incessant head-hopping. The Fiddler is a gentle, sweet romance but ultimately rather predictable, and while newcomers to Beverly’s work may enjoy this novel, I’m afraid that many fans may be disappointed by the lack of depth and complexity. 

Review title provided by Bethany House.

The Prodigal - Beverly Lewis

Book 4 in the bestselling Abram's Daughters series. The compelling and continuing chronicle of Abram Ebersol’s family, beginning in the mid-1940s, moves forward in time and scope to the late 50s. The devout Ebersols have faced sometimes-painful divisions and separations--if not geographical, those of the heart. Leah, possibly most of all, has borne losses and revelations that would have undone another whose faith was not firmly established in the God her beloved mother knew so fervently. Leah also has endured the ultimate test of her fortitude, the unexpected return of her shunned sister, Sadie, and the renewed sense of betrayal that arrives home with her. But since the close of The Sacrifice, Leah has occupied her heart and hands with the overseeing of the Ebersol Cottage and the raising of her motherless younger siblings. This includes vivacious Lydiann, who has arrived at the traditional rumschpringe, the time for testing her wings and her willingness to commit to the Old Ways. Will she take the sorrowful path of her older sister Sadie, or will Mamma Leah’s good judgment guide Lydiann safely to her baptismal covenant?

It's been several months since I read #3 in the Abram's Daughters series and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that, despite my changing reading tastes, I still adore these books. While it can be argued that Beverly Lewis's novels always feature a lot of heartache and sadness, there's something in her style of writing that is authentically Amish and truly brings her characters to life. It's not just the way that they speak, but the entire narrative that features typical Plain words and phrases, really making you feel as if you're in the heart of Lancaster County. Beverly Lewis's characters might not have happy, fuzzy lives like the protagonists in other Amish novels, but I do love the way that she writes.

I don't want to spoil this book for anyone who hasn't read this far into the series, but I was pleased that some plot points were starting to be wrapped up. Naturally, since #5 is titled The Revelation, all of the mysteries of the Ebersol family are soon to be explained. I was blown away by one discovery, which I was sure I'd already figured out, but alas I'd followed a red herring! The actual outcome of the situation made everything much more intriguing. There were a few sad points in this book, but not as many as in previous installments in the series, and it finally ended on a positive note. I'm hoping that there will be happy ending for all of the characters, especially Leah and Sadie who have suffered so much heartache.

I was also intrigued by the members of the Ebersol family coming closer in their relationships with God through studying the Bible. While the Amish community featured in this series are God-fearing people, there is little emphasis on personal prayer and studying scripture, and slowly the characters have been discovering that there is more to God than their Bishop preaches about on Sundays. I'm wondering how this plot point will end as I've got the impression that having such a close relationship with God is frowned upon in the community. Of course, I'm sure that other Amish settlements have different beliefs regarding the Bible and prayer, but I've found it interesting reading about what must be representative of others. There were also a few instances where family members prayed for healing which I enjoyed, particularly as I've met Christians who don't believe that healing through the power of God is possible. It was uplifting to read about Amish people having faith in this.

There's not much more that I can say without giving away too many details, but I was very satisfied with the fourth book in the Abram's Daughters series and can't wait to read the final installment! There are still several issues to be resolved and I've no idea what will happen when they come out into the open. Thankfully I have #5 at my parents' house so will get to read it sometime this month. Unlike some other Amish series, this isn't one that you can read out of order or with huge gaps between the books. There's always so much going on in a Beverly Lewis novel and you'll definitely need to find out what happens next. While many new authors of Amish fiction have emerged over the last few years, Beverly Lewis still stands out as one of the best authors in this genre. 10/10

The Reckoning - Beverly Lewis

Katherine Mayfield, the new Mistress of Mayfield Manor, always dreamed of a fancy "English" life. But as the seasons pass, she finds herself grieving the loss of her Amish family and dearest friend, Mary Stolzfus. Shunned from the Plain life she once knew, Katherine finds solace in volunteer work with hospice patients--a labor of love she hopes will bring honor to the memory of her birth mother. Unknown to Katherine, her long-lost love, Daniel Fisher, is desperate to locate his "Sweetheart girl," only to be frustrated at nearly every turn. Meanwhile, she delights in the modern world--once forbidden--cherishing the attention of Justin Wirth, her handsome suitor. Her childhood entwined with Daniel's, yet her present life far removed from Lancaster County, Katherine longs for the peace that reigned in her mother's heart. And once again, she is compelled to face the heritage of her past.

I enjoyed the conclusion to the Heritage of Lancaster County series more than the second book but not quite as much as the first. While living in her birth-mother's mansion in New York, Katie comes to realise that she misses many aspects of her old Amish life - quilting, baking, helping those who are to frail to look after themselves. Can she really throw that all away and become completely "fancy"? I felt that on her quest to discover who she really was, Katie really grew as a character and the immaturities about her that I'd previously disliked diminished. Katie's friends and relatives back in Lancaster also featured more in this book, which is another reason why I enjoyed it. It was great to read about Rebecca coming to terms with her daughter's shunning, Mary finding love and Annie rekindling her friendship with her brother. 

Throughout the book, several characters discussed finding salvation through belief in Christ. I appreciated that Beverly Lewis had picked up on the fact that a lot of Amish don't believe in this and instead think that you have to earn your way to heaven, as this is an aspect of Amish life that I don't entirely agree with. However, I can see how this would make the novel unappealing to a secular audience. Daniel's discovery of salvation in the second book had been a trivial point but it was discussed much more frequently in The Reckoning, so be aware of this if you are not a Christian and are considering reading this book. 

All in all, I've enjoyed reading this series but would not say that it is my favourite of the Amish sagas available. Lewis broke into the scene with the Heritage of Lancaster County books and while this was groundbreaking at the time, her writing has changed a lot since the late 90s. There are some cliches and predictabilities about these books and the speech can seem stilted in places. These novels make great comfort reads, but a better series by Lewis is the Abram's Daughters series. There are several other authors of Amish fiction who I'd recommend, my favourites being Amy Clipston, Vannetta Chapman and Barbara Cameron. The Heritage of Lancaster County is a great place to start in the Amish genre, and because it was the series that started it all, you can only move on to bigger and better books! 7/10 

The Confession - Beverly Lewis

Katie Lapp, a young Amish woman who questioned the strict rules of her upbringing and even her own identity, has been shunned from her Amish community. Katie--now known as Katherine Mayfield--sets out to find her birth mother, and a life, she has never known. 

Her birth mother is seriously ill and Katie must struggle to find her, and prove her own identity, before it's too late. But in the world of electric lights, telephones, and fancy things, Katie stumbles into a web of greed and betrayal where the garb of the Amish is misused to disguise an evil conspiracy. Meanwhile, unknown to Katherine, her long-lost love, Daniel, has returned to the Amish community to find her. Can they ever be together again?

I read the first book in this series, The Shunning, over a year ago and as a result of this had forgotten a lot of the details. I've also read several other Amish-themed books between then and now and have established my views on who the best authors are in this genre and which series is my favourite. Unfortunately, this book isn't among them. As much as I enjoyed the first book and all of its drama and angst, this one just seemed unnecessarily over-dramatic and cliched. Although I wanted to read about Katie meeting her birth-mother and being reunited with her lost love, I didn't feel so connected to her and there were several passages devoted to the points of view of the servants in her birth-mother's house - many of whom were, bizarrely, English. Was it typical to have English servants in an NY home in 1997? Particularly ones who appeared to have stepped out of an Agatha Christie novel? I did enjoy reading about the "imposter" and wondering whether Katie would ever get to meet Lydia face-to-face (although considering the predictability of this novel, it was rather obvious that this would eventually happen) but I felt that this series lost its charm once it was no longer based in Hickory Hollow. I tend to prefer the Amish novels that focus on people who embrace their beliefs, rather than those who escape the lifestyle. I will read the last book in the trilogy as I checked it out of the library last week, but I definitely prefer Lewis's Abram's Daughters series to this one. But to give the author credit, this trilogy was her first and it's obvious that her writing has grown immensely since this was published. 6/10

The Sacrifice - Beverly Lewis

Abram's Daughters book 3, the sequel to the bestselling The Betrayal. This powerful family saga features four Amish courting-age sisters growing up in Lancaster County Pennsylvania, beginning in the 1940s. Life in Gobble's Knob was all Leah Ebersol ever wanted until her older sister Sadie abandoned faith and family, leaving Leah no choice but to believe the worst, that Sadie-and her own beloved Jonas-had betrayed her. Now, two years later, Leah still misses both Sadie and Jonas keenly. Because of her sister's shunning, she cannot contact either of them but hears through the grapevine that they are married. Loyal neighbor Gid is still biding his time, but on the verge of accepting his courting invitation, tragedy befalls the Ebersols and Leah must again choose between her own happiness and her family. Mary Ruth dreams of becoming a teacher, but it has gotten pushed to the back of her thinking when a nice young Amish boy comes courting. Twin Hannah yearns for her sister to attend baptismal classes with her, but Mary Ruth is not ready to take her vows. How will this family in turmoil find peace? 

I'm fairly eating these books up! Can't get enough of this series. I've come to accept that some sort of tragedy is going to befall the Ebersol family in each book and that Leah is going to suffer many trials, but that doesn't make these books any less engaging or compelling. Lewis's writing gets better with each installment and she makes it possible for us to truly get inside the heads of her characters and understand their feelings and emotions. It was great to finally see more focus on Hannah and Mary Ruth and their decisions as to their futures. As a result of Mary Ruth's quest for higher education, Lewis delves into the intricacies of the Amish way of life and their theology. She discusses Amish culture and beliefs in The Parting but this book dealt with it in a far more accessible way. I also appreciated the development of the father's character and his relationships with his family. All in all, a great new addition to this series and I'm looking forward to getting hold of the fourth book in the series. I do hope that Leah is able to find happiness in the next couple of books! 10/10

The Betrayal - Beverly Lewis

Book 2 of Abram's Daughters. Spanning three generations, the Abram's Daughters series paints a powerful family portrait of four Amish sisters growing up in Gobbler's Knob, Lancaster County. In Book One, The Covenant, when oldest sister Sadie is beguiled by a handsome, dark-haired ''Englischer,'' it is younger sister Leah who suffers from her sister's shameful behavior. In Book Two, The Betrayal, Leah and her beloved Jonas are separated for half the year when he accepts a long-desired carpenter's apprenticeship in Ohio. They are confident that by letter and heart-felt promises, their love is strong enough to survive the temporary separation. But never could they have foreseen the bitter test facing them and their families. 

This was such a heart-wrenching read! Yet I still want to read the rest of the books in the series. Beverly Lewis's books are incredibly readable and I finished this in two days. I was engrossed in the descriptions of the land and the food of Lancaster County and truly would like to visit it some day. As for the characters, I was taken in, yet again, by Abram's daughters. Sadie's grief and Leah's desire to settle down with her betrothed were just as engaging as in the last book and I was pleased to see that Hannah and Mary Ruth's characters were developed further. I'm looking forward to discovering whether she joins the Amish or leaves to become a teacher. As other reviewers have pointed out, many issues in this book could have been prevented if only the characters had communicated. But wouldn't this have been the situation a hundred or two years ago? In a sense, Amish novels are like historical novels. You have to suspend disblelief a little and accept that crisis often develop out of small problems that snowball out of control. As much as I felt sorry for Leah at the end of the book, I can only hope that Lewis has something better planned for her life that will appear in the final three books in this series. I have to say that this book was probably better than the first in the series as I felt that I got to know the characters more, so this is a 10/10.

The Parting - Beverly Lewis

Nearly one hundred days have passed since the untimely death of Nellie Mae Fisher's beloved younger sister, Suzy, and Nellie dares again to dream of a future with handsome Caleb Yoder. But with rumors about Suzy still flying among the People, there are those who would keep the young courting couple apart...including Caleb's own father. 

Meanwhile, a growing number of Honeybrook's Amish farmers are demanding tractors and other forbidden modern conveniences. When a revival adds to the tensions, passions flare. With the Old Order community pushed to the breaking point, Nellie and Caleb find their families -and themselves- in the midst of what threatens to become an impossible divide.

So far I've read three of Beverly Lewis's novels and enjoyed all of them. This one was slightly different to the other two - The Shunning and The Covenant - in that it is set during the split in the Amish church in the 1960s. Because of this, the story had more emphasis on the Amish theology and how it differed from conventional Christian beliefs. I found this really fascinating as one of the things that has always bugged me about the Amish way of life is that they seem to focus more on the Amish culture - no electricity, specific clothing guidelines, not associating with non-Amish - than the Word of God, and a lot of their culture has no scriptural foundation. So it was interesting to read about families who discovered the truth about Salvation and how this was treated. To those that were interested in the theological side of this book, there's an excellent BBC documentary about a similar situation that happened a year or so ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhoz_nLqMlI

Of course, I enjoyed reading about the typical aspects of Amish life: Nellie and Caleb's courtship, Nellie's bakery, and the rumours about Suzy's running-around years. To be totally honest, I didn't find these parts of the book to be as engaging as the sections about Nellie's father and friends discovering salvation through Christ. I liked Nellie as a character but Caleb seemed a bit two-dimensional, and this stopped me from really warming to their courtship and truly caring about the outcome. Likewise, as fascinating as it was to read about the family recovering from Suzy's death, the truth about what happened to her seemed to be tied up far too quickly and neatly in less than a chapter. 

I was intrigued by the story about Rosanna adopting her cousin's twins. It didn't totally fit into the main storyline, which made it a bit awkward, but it was interesting enough and I'm sure it's significance will become clear in the second book. 

One of my main gripes with Lewis is that nearly all of her books are in a series, and I've started 3 so far! When will it ever end? Although, considering how much I'm coming to like the Amish genre, I don't mind the steady stream of books. It'll keep me going until - if this ever happens - I get bored. 

Overall, I wasn't quite as interested in these characters as I was with some of the other Amish books I've read, but the subject matter - a split in the Amish church because of the issue of Salvation - was fascinating and well written. Looking forward to reading the next in the trilogy. 8/10

The Covenant - Beverly Lewis

Book 1 of Abram's Daughters series from bestselling author Beverly Lewis.

Years of secrecy bind the tiny community of Gobbler's Knob together more than the present inhabitants know, and the Plain folk who farm the land rarely interact with the fancy locals. So when Sadie is beguiled by a dark-haired English boy, it is Sadie's younger sister, Leah, who suffers from her sister's shameful loss of innocence. And what of Leah's sweetheart, Jonas Mast, sent to Ohio under the Bishop's command? Drawn into an incomprehensible pact with her older sister, Leah finds her dreams spinning out of control, even as she clings desperately to the promises of God. The Covenant begins a powerful Lancaster portrait of the power of family and the miracle of hope. 

I loved this book! I've been interested in the Amish and their culture since I read Jodi Picoult's Plain Truth, and read Beverly Lewis' debut novel The Shunning earlier this year. However, I felt a bit let down by Lewis' first novel - although it was compelling it was rather predictable and the character's didn't completely come to life for me. The Covenant, however, was very different and showed a vast improvement in Lewis' writing.

The story centres around an Amish family with four daughters. The youngest, twins, don't feature a lot in the story although I'm sure their own stories will become more important later in the series - Mary Ruth wants to be a schoolteacher although this is not allowed in her community, and Hannah wants to be able to express her creativity and individuality and seems quite shy. The older sisters, Sadie and Leah are very different. Leah helps her father on the farm and is quite the tomboy until she reaches her courting years and wants to become more womanly in order to please her husband - who she hopes will be her second cousin, Jonas, and not the boy next door whose farmland her father covets. However, her older sister is a constant worry to her. Sadie constantly sneaks out to meet an English boy who will ultimately break her heart. Their parents and aunt also feature in the story. Her mother suddenly becomes pregnant again and their father interferes with Leah's courtship with Jonas. Their maiden aunt, Lizzie, apparently has a secret surrounding her teenage years, which I hope will be revealed in the next book! 

The characters were very real and sympathetic. Although it takes a while to get into the book and warm to all the characters, I soon found myself hoping that Leah and Jonas would be allowed to continue their courtship and sympathising with Sadie after her beau leaves her. Normally I don't like silly, niave teenage girls but I could really understand how Sadie could allow herself to be used by an English boy. The characters in this book were much easier to like than those in Lewis' first novel and I definitely want to continue reading the series. I also felt that I learned more about the Amish and could understand some of their customs - even if some of their beliefs did not seem to be in line with scripture. 

I'm very much looking forward to reading the next book and would recommend this for people wanting to learn more about the Amish and looking for a simple but exciting story full of secrets. 9/10