Reading Amish fiction is not a priority genre for me, but I do enjoy an occasional glance into the balanced community life in which the characters live. I’m drawn to the quiet and simple pastoral settings of the stories as well as to the characters striving to remain free of the clutters our busy culture imposes. I expected more of that kind of story when I picked up The Amish Groom by Susan Meissner and Mindy Stearns Clark, only to be pleasantly surprised by a storyline completely different from the norm.
The main character, Tyler Anderson, was born in Germany to an Amish woman who had left her family and church community to marry a military officer deployed overseas. In Amish society both actions would make her an outcast. When Tyler’s mother dies six years later, his father is desperate to find someone to care for his young son, so he drops him off at the stateside home of his wife’s Amish parents, who raise him.
Coming of age, Tyler is torn between his love for his Amish community and his need to discover who he is outside of the life his grandparents gave him. His father remarried, had another son who is Tyler’s half brother, but never reclaimed Tyler for his own. These actions leave Tyler confused, and more than a little hurt, never understanding why his father abandoned him all those years before. When an opportunity arises to help him discover the answers he seeks, Tyler jumps at the chance, only to find there are other lives in need of healing beside his own.
If you like Amish fiction, you’ll enjoy this tale with an unusual twist. Meissner and Clark have created a story which completely draws you into its center and keeps you there until the end. Published by Harvest House Publishers, the novel is available at your local bookstore and online.
On Another Note: By visiting your local bookstore, you help keep bookstores open and necessary. Bookstore owners need our support. Bookstores are in danger of going the way of the dinosaur without our involvement.