The Secret

Almost no fiction book genre excites me more than when I get to read about Amish life. Now, based on this first sentence I do realize it is fiction, but there is something about me that loves to immerse myself in the culture of people who live their daily lives without the hustle and bustle that technology seems to bring to modern day America. Their modern day is not as vastly different as the modern day I know from my ancestors. To me reading about this brings a sense of comfort that I do not find in reading books set in today's times or even reading book set 100 years ago but about those people groups who were trying to modernize for their era. There is enough hustle, bustle in my own life that I like to escape to a world that does not contain the same obvious struggles.

Lucky for me, to quench this love of Amish fiction, I was able to read The Secret by Beverly Lewis last week. This is the first book in her new series "Seasons of Grace." The Secret tells the story of Grace Byler, a young Amish woman who feels trapped by many secrets around her. In the recent past her mother has begun distancing herself from the family. Her father seems to ignore what is happening. And her grandparents know something they aren't sharing either.

Intervowen into the story we meet Heather Nelson who is as modern a girl as we can imagine right down to the love of her iPhone. While a grad student at the College of William and Mary, Heather receives a diagnosis that changes her world. Not sure what to do, she seeks to return to Lancaster County, a place she and her mother visited.

I would encourage anyone who loves to read this genre of fiction to pick up this book. Read how Beverly Lewis interweaves the stories of these two families as they all search for God's hand in their personal lives and in the events going on around them.

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Secret, go HERE

To pick up a copy of this book for yourself, click here.