Wednesday, December 08, 2010

BESIDE STILL WATERS by Tricia Goyer

This book is scheduled for release about April 1, 2011
Published by B&H Publishing Group, Nashville TN

Marianna Sommer is 18, her birth date is the same date as the death of 2 of her sisters, when their buggy was hit by an 18 wheeler.  Raised Amish, she's always known about her sisters deaths and feels as if she doesn't quite replace them, so she has been a dutiful, and industrious daughter her whole life.  She  plans to join the church in the fall, and hopefully marry Aaron Zook.
Her older brother, Levi, has left the Amish life, and works and lives in a community nearby, to the shame of his family.  When a younger brother mentions that he will go live with Levi, when he reaches the age of Rumschpringe, Abe, their father starts talking of moving to Montana, with the family. 
Marianna at first plans to stay in Indiana, but when her father tells her that her mother is expecting another child, and will need her, she agrees to go with them, for 6 months, to help until the baby is born.  They pack their belongings, including the quilt that she plans to give Aaron, when it is finished, and board a train to Montana. 
The Amish community is quite small, and things are very different for Marianna, and the whole family.  She meets Ben on their arrival, who is not Amish, so she tries to keep him at arms length.  Before long, she decides to finish her quilt, and sell it to get the money to go back to Indiana, before she becomes to attracted to Ben. 

This is a very good book, not like most Amish stories, that I have read.  I liked that it tests the boundaries and asks why things are the way they are.   Tricia Goyer has done an excellent job of writing, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good story.

1 comment:

NanaDiana said...

Jettie- This sounds like a great book. Nice review. Diana