This beautifully written and thought provoking novel, The Amish Groom by Mindy Starns Clark
and Susan Meissner (Harvest House Publishers) grabs the reader with a unique
point of view. The authors give readers
a new twist with a male perspective in this delicious Amish romance that also
deals with rejection, restlessness, reconnection, and forgiveness.
The story begins in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania as 23
year-old Tyler feels a restlessness and a hesitancy to join the Amish church
through baptism. Years earlier, Tyler’s
Amish mother Sadie left the family farm and married an Englischer. Sadie died when Tyler was 6 years old, and consequently
his Englischer father sent him to live with his Amish grandparents. Tyler then grew up in the Amish community,
living with and as an Amish man, surrounded by loving relatives. Tyler’s longtime girlfriend, Rachel, is
already a baptized member of the Amish church.
Rachel feels Tyler’s hesitancy to join the church stems from his
feelings of rejection by his absent father.
Tyler feels out of place when he visits his Englischer
father and he also feels out of place among the Amish, it’s as if he doesn’t
belong in either world. He wonders, could
his restlessness be from God? Tyler believes God is calling him, but why would
God call him to be outside his Amish community?
The authors paint a captivating picture of Tyler straddling
the Amish and Englischer worlds. He
questions whether his mother felt the Amish life was not “enough” for her and
he worries that he will come to feel the same way. To move forward, he needs to discover why his
mother left the Amish. With his Amish family’s blessing, Tyler leaves Lancaster
County for an adventure in California.
Interest builds as Tyler tries to work out the
differences between his Amish life style and how he can fit in as an Englischer.
The California trip ultimately has many
purposes, bringing him closer to his Englischer relatives, giving him a reconnection
and closeness to his deceased mother, and guiding Tyler to the truths that God
wants him to find. Tyler recognizes that
forgiveness is not a one-time thing, it must be practiced over and over again.
While Tyler is in California trying to figure out his path
forward, he can’t help but wonder if his Amish girlfriend Rachel will wait for
him to return. Is Rachel being tempted
to stray by some other Amish man? Can
Tyler resist the attraction to the friendly California Englischer girls? Will he decide to return to Lancaster County
or will he stay in California? Will he
remain Amish or go back to the Englisch way of life?
The conclusion to The
Amish Groom is truly gratifying. In
an authentically touching and unexpected way, readers are rewarded as Tyler unlocks
his mother’s past. The ending is not to
be missed and readers may want to keep tissues handy. The
Amish Groom was released April 1, 2014.
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