17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome Conclusion to Daughters of Lancaster County, July 4, 2006
Jimmy, kidnapped from an Amish farm at age one, is now celebrating his 21st birthday. His beloved mother, Linda, has been dead several years and his dad, Jim, is the alcoholic owner of a painting company in Washington State for which Jimmy works.
Before her untimely death, Linda had asked her husband to promise to tell Jimmy (when he was old enough) all about his adoption which she believed was a legal, attorney arranged adoption. However, years of shame, sadness and guilt kept Jim from revealing anything at all to his son about his birth and first year.
Ironically,assuming he would have already been told, a birthday card with a pre-written letter from his mother reveals the whole story and tells him how much he was loved. Shocked and angry that his dad has kept all this from him, Jimmy starts demanding answers to his questions. When he is not satisfied with his father's answers, he leaves, alone, in search of his "real parents" and birthplace 2,000 miles away.
A stop at the attorney's office reveals that Jimmy was not adopted there at all and Jimmy is furious with his father for yet another lie. In a cell phone call to his dad, he demands to know the whole truth. His dad answered "When the adoption fell through, I was distraught and drove through Amish country, seeking answers. I happened upon an Amish farm that sold home-made root beer, and while the young girl was gone to the house for a cold jug, I grabbed a little boy she had left sitting on a picnic table and I fled. That baby was you." Jimmy now became extremely angry, believing his dad not only lied, but made up a preposterous story. All he had to go on was 20 years, an Amish farm that sold root beer and a baby abducted from a picnic table. However, since he was already in the area, Jimmy rented a place and got a job with a local Amish painting crew. Then his search began.
His quest to find the truth about his heritage makes this a very heartfelt, suspenseful book. Jimmy's falls in love with a young Amish woman which only further complicates matters. After several severe tongue lashings from elders threatening him not to pollute their community, Jimmy decides he has made a huge mistake and decides to go back home to Washington State. However, the pull to the Amish is too strong for Jimmy to get away from.
Brunstetter does an awesome job holding the reader spell-bound to the end of this book and the conclusion of the series.
I am sad to have this series be over. Thank you for three excellent books, Wanda. I am already ordering others you have authored!!!!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great fiction! I loved it!, July 11, 2006
I know I'm behind the times as I've never read a Beverly Lewis novel, so this was my first experience reading a novel about the Amish. It was a pleasurable journey for me. I loved the plot and the twists and turns. The characters were also well-developed. I think the author sprinkling in Amish words helped me to get a feel for their culture. It reminded me of a soap opera in that every time the secret was about to come out someone interrupted them. Can you say As the Amish World Turns? :) Seriously, I really enjoyed this story. It was unique in many aspects and the conflict was good and seemed very realistic to me. I don't want to spoil it for the reader so I won't go into details by identifying the secret, but I'll just say that this story will put a smile on your face and bless you as you experience God's hand moving in the lives of the characters. The Englisher's father's struggle with alcoholism was well developed and true-to-life as well, making this novel a page turner for me. Again, I loved how the secret almost came out about twenty times. I wanted to shout at the characters to stop interrupting them--the hero and heroine (like on the soaps when someone walks past them in a crowd who has been missing for years. You want to reach into the screen and turn the person's head.) The Bishop's Daughter is listed as general fiction, but had just enough romance to satisfy me. (Did I mention it was a "sweet" romance? Those don't normally appeal to me, but this was so well done I enjoyed it anyway.) I highly recommend this novel, and now I wish I had read the first two books in the series as well.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another success!, August 3, 2006
The Quilter's Daughter is the 2nd book in this series and both were absoluly wonderful. Living in Amish country my whole life (as an "Englisher"), the stories are accurate and descriptive of their daily life and struggles with just the right amount of drama and romance to take us away from our lives for a brief time.
Wanda generously spreads God's word through the pages of her books, offering encouragement and enlightenment to all who read them.
I whole heartedly recommend the first two books and am planning on buying the third tomorrow.
I love the use of the German words with the English translations. This also adds a believability to the story. It also explains what my great-grandma was muttering under her breath all those years ago.
Buy the book. You won't be sorry.
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