Review
Popular Christian author Lewis and her husband collaborate here for the first time, refreshing Lewis's trademark style with a welcome edge of suspense. Protagonist Melissa James has a secret that has become the underlying dread that defines her life. An unexpected glimpse into her past causes her to flee her expensive home and pen a farewell note to her husband, Ryan: "Please trust me... don't look for me.... " What Melissa doesn't know is that Ryan, an investment manager, has made disastrous choices that could cost them their marriage. One of the keys to unlocking their elaborate facades lies in Melissa remembering the "language" of flowers she learned from her father. Although the Lewises craft some beautiful settings and show more restraint in the use of dialect here than in former titles, the pace is often slowed by overly descriptive passages and italicized text (a single page has 22 italicized words). Some scenes don't ring true, including one of spiritual warfare and another of a high school romance turned sour. It is also contrived that Lela, a Pennsylvania Dutch "Plain" woman, feels led to pray about opening her home to someone in need just as Melissa stumbles down a Lancaster road looking for a place to stay. However, the Lewises throw in some artful plot twists and adeptly avoid the trap of a fairy tale ending. The final choices made by Ryan and Melissa will satisfy Beverly Lewis's devoted readership, as will the salvation message that holds the story together. (June)Forecast: Lewis's novels have sold more than 1.5 million copies combined, and her faithful readers will be more than content with this latest offering. --Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
From the Back Cover
From New York Times Bestselling Author Beverly Lewis
A Long-Forgotten Message Threatens a Community United in Secrecy
Rachel Yoder, a New Order Amish woman, lost her husband and son in a tragic accident two years ago. Now, returning to her aging parents with her young daughter, she has resigned herself to the life of a widow. With a subdued but cheerful heart she helps her family run a bed-and-breakfast in a quaint Lancaster county town.
Philip Bradley, a world-weary journalist from New York City on assignment in Lancaster to write an article on the Amish community, is a lodger at the Yoder's B&B. A chance discovery by Philip of a postcard written in illegible Pennsylvania Dutch in the dresser of his room sets off a series of events that leads him into the heart of the Amish life and to the bedside of a mysterious woman known as "The Storyteller." With the postcard as a link to a haunted past, the woman gradually weaves a riveting tale as old as herself about a community shuttered in secrecy, shattered by betrayal.
Fascinated by the story, Philip's and Rachel's lives become inevitably intertwined despite the attempts of the community to protect her from the outsider. Torn by devotion to the people she loves and the awakening feelings in her heart, Rachel searches her past to restore old wounds in order than new love might grow.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
