Tamara Tilley

A Lancaster County Christmas by Suzanne Woods Fisher

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A LANCASTER COUNTY CHRISTMAS was a heartfelt story, and one of few Amish books that I would recommend to my friends. I am not a fan of Amish themed books, and shy away from them most times. I took a chance on A LANCASTER COUNTY CHRISTMAS, and I am glad I did. This book follows the lives of two couples, an Amish couple, Mattie and Sol, and an English couple, Jaime and C.J.

Mattie and Sol live a simple life in their Amish community. They love God and trust Him with their lives. Their little boy, Danny is their treasure in life. And though they desire to have a full house, they continue to struggle in their attempts to conceive.

Jaime and C.J. are drifting apart. C.J. loves his job as a teacher, and has no desire to move up into administration, while Jaime has big plans for her photography and the desire to move to New York to make it happen. C.J. loves his life the way it is, but does not love the way Jaime’s absentee father suddenly shows up and offers Jaime the world. As Jaime begins to reevaluate what she wants in life, she and C.J. have a car accident on their way to a Christmas cruise to the Caribbean. They are helped by Mattie and Sol, and put up for the night because of the weather. Their stay with the Amish couple forces Jaime to re-examine what is truly important in life, and Mattie finds a new commitment to her faith as she tries to show Jaime God’s love.

As stated before, the Amish genre of fiction is not something I usually enjoy reading. I think what made this book different, is the introduction of the English family into the Amish setting. The contrast between the two is what kept the book interesting for me. Each couple learned something about themselves as they examined the lives of their counterparts. This was a quick read, only taking hours to finish it. I’m glad I took a chance on this book.

“Available September 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”




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