The Heritage of Lancaster County series

The Heritage of Lancaster County series, by Beverly Lewis

These three books (The Shunning, The Confession, and The Reckoning) tell the tale of a young Amish woman who struggles with being Amish.  Katie's discovery that she was adopted from an "English" (non-Amish) teenage mother only fuels her desire to leave the Amish world behind.  The close-knit quality of the Amish community is a struggle for her to leave, but by the end of the first book, she has left Pennsylvania a shunned woman and is in search of her birth mother.  The second book deals with Katie's (now called Katherine) dying birth-mother and the complexities of being thrown suddenly into another culture, one that appears less honest and forgiving than the one she came from.  This book also introduces the aspect of star-crossed romance, as a former love long thought to be dead attempts to find "his Katie girl" again.  In the third book, Katherine, now a wealthy heiress, returns to Pennsylvania in search of answers to spiritual questions she had had since before Daniel was thought to have died.  Her birth mother's testimony and death had fueled those questions, and the third book deals a lot with Katie's spiritual journey more than her physical journey to find her mother.

The author of this book series is a Christian and the book series is published by a Christian publishing company, so do not expect the main character's spiritual journey to end in any way other than with Christian results.  That being said, the books weave common questions that many people have into the plot line, and are often answered by wise characters that come in and out of Katie's life.  It is quite refreshing to read and experience Christian philosophy in a novel form rather than the sometimes-dry books about Christian theory and apologetics.

One thing that struck me, and perhaps slightly confused me, is that the author's note states that she grew up in Amish country and consulted many Amish for details about Amish life and religious philosophies, and she is indebted to them for their help on the project.  Yet from reading the book, I got the impression that she believes, or at least the character of Katie believes, that the Amish are not "saved" Christians.  This would imply that while Amish believe non-Amish have no hope of reaching heaven, Christians believe the same about the Amish.  If this is the case, it is curious to me that the author's Amish friends would be willing to help her on a book project that seems to derail their religious beliefs.  Perhaps I am over-thinking or misinterpreting the book, but that was one of the first points that came to mind when a friend brought up the topic of the Amish.

One other thing I had a minor issue with is that the details that go into inheriting a wealthy estate in upstate New York seem to have been unrealistically glossed over with, "the lawyer is handling everything."  But I admit those details were not pertinent to the storyline, and at this point I am just being nit-picky.

Overall, this book is a very good read.  Although some men might enjoy it, in a movie format it would probably be considered a chick-flick.  I'd recommend it to everyone, but most men probably would not take my suggestion.  I'd also recommend this book to anyone interested in Amish culture, particularly the details of Amish shunnings, since this book explores the technical and also emotional aspects of a shunning.

Summerhill Secrets Series

Summerhill Secrets Series, by Beverly Lewis

This is a series of children's books which I had read years ago, probably in the 7th grade.  I re-read them sometime during October but have taken my pretty time procrastinated in writing about them.  The main character is Merry Hanson, who lives in Pennsylvania Amish country.  She is not Amish, but distantly related to them, and has many friends who are Amish.

The books all read like children's mystery novels, but not all the plots of each book are mystery.  The first book, Whispers Down the Lane, involves Merry's friend Lissa, who has run away from home and has asked Merry to hide her.  Merry finds herself torn between her desire to help her friend, and the possible consequences of harboring a runaway.  Book two is Secret in the Willows and this book is indeed a mystery novel.  Someone had been vandalizing an Amish home, and Merry believed the wrong person was being blamed for it.  Catch a Falling Star (book three) deals with the details of a middle school love triangle, or hexagon, or whatever convoluted shape teenage crushes can create.  Although that is not really a stage of my life I am interested in reliving, I did find the author's depiction of the complexities of middle school relationships to be quite accurate.  Book 4 is Night of the Fireflies and deals with Merry's backstory of losing her twin to cancer, and the events in the present which dredge up those past memories.  It is a significant book for helping readers in its target age group to identify feelings they might be having and discuss them openly with their parents, although it is still fiction and belongs in the children's fiction section of a bookstore, as opposed to the bereavement/grief or parenting sections.  Book five is A Cry in the Dark and continues with that theme when Merry discovers an abandoned baby in her gazebo.

In every book, there is a clear explanation, in terms middle-schoolers can understand, of Amish beliefs and practices and how they differ from "English" people (all non-Amish).  The books are engaging even for an adult to read, although many complex ideas an adult would think of are ignored (the lack of involvement of child protective services when a baby is discovered, simply because Merry's father is a doctor is one that comes to mind).  However, it is refreshing to go back to that child-like mindset and just forget all the complicated things for a while.

These books are very entertaining, and I would recommend them to teenage girls, teenage boys who aren't afraid to be caught reading a book with a female character, and anyone interested in Lancaster Amish lifestyles written from a child's simplistic viewpoint.