After her mother’s untimely death, a twenty-year-old Amish woman has a difficult decision to make: Choose to break from the Plain community and her boyfriend and live in the English world permanently…or join the Amish church.
Rachel Hershberger wants to get away from her Amish home in Fields Corner, Ohio. For a year she’s been trying to fill her mother’s shoes by taking care of her father and siblings. She quit her job at the bakery so she would have more time to clean and cook at home. Before her mother died, Rachel was positive she wanted to marry Samuel Weaver, but now she can’t think about wedding plans. She blames her father for her mother’s death. If they had installed a phone in their barn or a shanty, her mother might have received medical help in time to save her life. Her mother’s death has made Rachel question if she should be baptized and join the church. She wonders if non-Amish women live longer and have less stress. Maybe her forty-four-year old mother would still be alive had she left the Amish lifestyle like her sister Carrie did.
When her Aunt Carrie invites her to go to the beach, Rachel decides the time away will help her to decide whether to join the Amish church or to live in the English world. She is conflicted because she loves Samuel and her family. Instead of a relaxing time away, disturbing events happen while Rachel’s in Florida. A photographer snaps troublesome pictures of Rachel because of her famous senator uncle, and a handsome and charming college student falls in love with Rachel.
A Joyful Break I’ve found a new author to read. Thank you Diane Craver for this wonderful book. A Joyful Break is not just a love story, but a story of a young amish women, Rachel, wh has so much going on in her life that she feels overwhelmed with it all. Her mother passed away over a year ago, from when the story started, so she has been everything to her family, although since her father is in his own grief he is not aware of this. She is to be married to Samuel, which she has been courting for two years, but since she has not joined the amish church is has decided to get away and reflect on her life. Her aunt has invited her to the beach, in the secular world, and she has decided to go in hopes of having time to reflect on many things. In the secular world she does clear her head and really sees things in a different view.Diane Craver shows us that whatever world that we are in, things do happen. Sometimes we have to just take a step back and learn from them. Even though I love amish fiction she is so careful to explain the differences in their faith. Hope to hear more from this author.
A Wonderful First Amish Novel by Diane Craver A Joyful Break (Dreams of Plain Daughters)A Joyful Break is a sweet, very well written story about an Amish young lady and her time in the English world, away from the simple life she has always known. Stories revolving around the Amish communities can be difficult in portraying the daily life in the citizens of a community. Not everyone can relate the actual ways in which they live. But Ms. Craver has done a wonderful job of writing about Rachel Hershberger who leaves her home in Fields Corner, Ohio, kissing her intended, Samuel, good-bye, and visiting her English aunt who also was once Amish.I saw this as a great way to set up the world Rachel would move into for a time. Her aunt had been Amish, just as she, but her aunt met an Englisher, fell in love, and moved into that world. However, the aunt has retained much of the emotional and spiritual depth she held as an Amish woman. This gives Rachel a good perspective. Plus, Rachel meets a man in this world who makes her stop and think.The major conflict, in my view, is Rachel’s desire to understand the modern world, even though her heart remains Amish. She ultimately must makes a decision that will satisfy herself, the man in her life, Samuel, and the reader.I highly recommend this novel, even if you don’t read Amish novels, because you will come away with a new sense of the real meaning of love–spiritual or human.Ms. Craver has set up a world of the Amish, a community of individuals in Fields Corner who most likely we will meet once again in another story.Rising Star ReviewsFive Stars
Great book Nice story about a confused girl. She takes a much needed break from her home life and comes back even stronger then before. Her faith in God keeps her going.