THE LOVE LETTERS by Beverly Lewis is a sweet Amish Fiction
story set in
1966. Dawdi Tim has pass away and his wife, Mammi Janice
needs some
assistance. Marlena Wenger is sent to help her out for the
summer. This
will mean that Marlena misses out on baptism instruction
classes for the
Old Order Amish and will have to wait another year to
marry Nathaniel
Zimmerman. Her sister is hospitalized after a terrible
car accident and her
niece Angel Rose comes to stay with Mammi and Marlena will
care for her
as well. Marlena quickly becomes connected to the baby,
which her beau
Nat is not happy about.
Marlena is struggling with identifying how she wants to
honor her faith. Her
Mammi isn't Old Order Amish and she wonders if Nat thinks
she is getting
used to all the electricity she uses while she is there
living with her. All
Marlena wants to do is get back home to her parents home
and her love
with Nat. Marlena sacrifices for many people in her life
and never
complains or argues. She willingly goes along with
ministering to others as
she feels God's direction. I definitely could take some
lessons from this
loyal and dutiful young woman. She stirred my heart and
gave me many
things to think about and wonder how I would deal with
them.
The main character in this novel in Marlena. However, a
parallel plot line is
Small Jay and Boston, his homeless friend with the
mysterious sack of love
letters. Each of the men, young and old, are searching for
their place and
acceptance. They help each other to discover exactly what
they are looking
for. It was interesting to be able to relate to what some
of the characters in
this book went through and what some of them were feeling.
Insecurities,
family disapprovals and disappointments, unforgiveness,
and feelings of
not belonging, to name a few.
I truly love the characters in THE LOVE LETTERS and would
devour a
follow up book featuring them. I love reading Amish
stories and Beverly
Lewis has always been a favorite author of mine for them.
I truly believe
that THE LOVE LETTERS is her best book to date. I found
myself quickly
invested in their stories, disliking Nat and his parents
for their critical ways,
and absolutely fell in love with Small Jay. Marlena is a
likable character
and it is easy to sympathize with her problems. My heart
was breaking as
she struggled to comfort Angel. Beverly Lewis has created
another
wonderful story with characters to love and dislike.
Marlena needed time to let things sink in. It was beyond her how all this could possibly work out--adding the care of an infant to her daily routine. Fortunately, it would just be until Luella returned home from the hospital and was stronger. No more than a couple weeks, surely. Marlena Wenger's life takes an unexpected turn on the day she learns she must care for her estranged sister's baby. Spending the summer in Brownstown, Pennsylvania, to assist her Mennonite grandmother, and miles from Marlena's Old Order Amish beau, she feels out of her element in nearly every respect. Yet Marlena determines to do her best and stay focused on her future, even as those hopes become drastically altered.
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy