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| Image Used With Permission via Celebrate Lit. |
If you’ve been with me for a little while, you’ve probably discovered my
love for Amish books. I’ve always been interested in the Amish
culture. When I read Amish books, I get lost in the stories and for a
little while, I get to be part of their communities, part of their
families . . . part of the Amish culture.
Amish Wanderer by Laura V.
Hilton is my latest adventure into an Amish story.
The story is set in Jamesport, Missouri. Bethany Weiss is a young girl
who can’t get out of town soon enough. As a young woman in her early
20s, she’s suffered enough rejection for a lifetime. Her father, the
bishop, is in a mental hospital after committing a crime which hurt the
community and “poured more salt” in Bethany’s still-fresh wounds.
One day, Bethany finds a “stray” in her barn. At first, she thinks he
is her abusive suitor, perhaps out jail. Instead, the “wanderer” turns
out to be her old boyfriend, Silas Beiler.
Will this “wanderer” in her barn mean a new life for Bethany or will it mean more pain to sting her ever-freshly wounded soul?
Silas has a colorful past of his own. Did he grow up to be a man molded
by the reputation of his family? Will he hurt Bethany in the
unthinkable way that her abusive suitor has? Or, has he grown up to be
an honorable man of God who will cherish Bethany?
Will Bethany find her way out of town – out of the circle of hurt that
constantly surrounds her, leaving her to a hopeless future?
Will Bethany and Silas heal from their haunted past, their troubled present, to find a happy future together?
All the answers are within the pages of this highly recommended novel, Amish Wanderer by Laura V. Hilton.
Click
HERE to purchase your copy of Amish Wanderer by Laura V. Hilton.
About the Author
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| Image Used With Permission via Celebrate Lit. |
Laura V. Hilton
Amish fiction lovers responded positively and immediately to Laura V. Hilton’s debut novel,
Patchwork Dreams,
when she burst on the scene in 2009 with her unique series, The Amish
of Seymour, set in the tiny town of Seymour, in Webster County,
Missouri. Fans of the genre immediately recognized Hilton’s insider
knowledge, not only of the Webster County community, but Amish culture
in general. Her natural speech and writing patterns, she says, are
uniquely “Amish,” acquired from her Amish maternal grandparents. The
Amish of Seymour, includes
Patchwork Dreams, A Harvest of Hearts, and
Promised to Another. Her second series, The Amish of Webster County, is comprised of
Healing Love, Surrendered Love, and
Awakened Love. A stand-alone title,
A White Christmas in Webster County, was released in September 2014. The Amish of Jamesport includes
The Snow Globe, The Postcard and
The Birdhouse. In spring 2016 she released
The Amish Firefighter with the setting in Jamesport, MO, the same as for
The Amish Wanderer.
Laura is a member of
American Christian Fiction Writers and a
professional book reviewer. Laura and her husband, Steve, have five
children, whom Laura homeschools. The family makes their home in
Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas.
Guest Post from Laura Hilton
I didn’t intentionally set out to write an Amish story loosely based on a
true story. If fact, when people asked me if I would write my maternal
grandparents’ story, I told them no.
But when time came to write Bethany’s story, all I knew was a short
paragraph blurb about it. Bethany and her once-upon-a-time boyfriend
Silas who left that particular Amish district and her before their
relationship became serious. I didn’t know their backstories, really,
and had no idea how the story would proceed. And since I don’t plot, I
spend a lot of time praying about the story, because really, I want to
write what He says to write. He knows who He wants it to reach
.
So I sat down to pray about it. And God gave me a verse. Which is
unusual at the beginning of the story. Usually, for me, it’s at the
middle when God reveals His theme for the book. But this time, it was at
the beginning. The verse is:
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor
height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
(KJV)
And the verses caused more prayer. What am I supposed to do with it?
I was driving to Melbourne (Arkansas, not Australia) to pay property
taxes and get my vehicle tags renewed, listening to the radio as we (my
three daughters and I) drove down Larkin Road (that’s not the real name,
just what everyone calls it—we have a lot of those around here: Day
Road, Moko Road, etc—because there are ghost towns on these roads so
they are called by the name of the ghost town). A song came on the radio
and I don’t remember the name of it, or even who the singer was, but
when I arrived in Melbourne, I had the opening line to my story.
The sky is falling and I’m searching for somewhere to hide.
I’m sure the people at the county clerk’s office might have been a
little concerned about the state of my mental health when they saw the
words scribbled at the top of my bill. I did get a strange look. I
didn’t offer an explanation. And they didn’t ask.
When I got home, I started writing and paying close attention to
Bethany’s mental clues (and Silas’s) to figure out what their stories
were. And how they tied into the verse God had given me.
And then, without even realizing it until it hit, I knew who’s story I was writing.
My grandmother’s. My grandfather’s.
Except they are different. My grandmother wasn’t date raped. It was a
member of her own family. And she wasn’t in love with my grandfather.
She just discovered he was leaving the Amish and she wanted—needed—to
escape.
Neither were Christians at the time. My grandfather was saved on his
death bed. My grandmother’s youngest child was a teenager when she was
saved. My mother, her sister, and all their girlfriends went to a tent
meeting for a United Brethren Church and my grandmother attended one of
the meetings with her daughters and was saved as a result. And their
testimonies ultimately led to the salvation of my uncle and my
grandfather.
Both of my grandparents had a lot of issues to work through as to why
God allowed the bad things in their lives to happen. That they
eventually came to Christ is a miracle but I’m glad they did, as I was
raised in a Christian home.
Why does God allow bad things to happen to people? The short, pat answer
is: because sin entered the world. Yes, God could stop them. But what
if He uses the bad thing to refine a person’s faith, to draw them closer
to Him as a result?
How a person reacts to the bad things directly ties in to how they
affect them. In my story, Silas chose to trust God even though he feared
for his life. No, he didn’t like what had happened, but even though he
didn’t see how, he trusted God was working behind the scenes to bring
Silas to where he needed to be, spiritually and physically. On the other
hand, Bethany believed God had rejected her. Pushed her away and didn’t
care about her. If He didn’t care for her, why should she care about
Him? So she went into a stand-off with God.
The lessons ultimately learned, for both my grandparents and my
characters, brought them to their knees before the living and holy God
who was, and is, and is to come. And I trust God will use this story to
help a reader out there who might be questioning something terrible that
happened in their life.
You might not see how now and may not know why until eternity, but God has this. Keep praying. Keep trusting. Keep believing.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor
height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
(KJV)
Giveaway
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| Image Used With Permission via Celebrate Lit. |
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To celebrate her tour, Laura is giving away Amish Wanderer, Patchwork
Dreams (Amish of Seymour #1), Snow Globe (Amish of Jamesport #1), a 10 x 17” canvas banner: “Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly” (Micah 6:8), and Abba Scripture Candle (3” natural, clean-burning wax, scented) – “With
God All Things Are Possible”! Click below to enter. Be sure to comment
on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries!
More Reviews of Amish Wanderer by the Celebrate Lit Community:
