Hannah's Choice

I've not had the privilege to read any of Jan Drexler's books until I picked up Hannah's Choice. I was pleasantly surprised at the complexity of the plot, the depth of the characters, and the historical aspect of the novel.

Hannah is one of eight children, three of whom died of diphtheria when Hannah was nine years old. She and her family live in a diminishing Amish community when some men come from the Ephrata area of Pennsylvania to see if there are any other Amish folk who would like to move to Indiana to a newer settlement where there were more Amish people. Hannah's father is very in favor of the move--her mother has been in a black hole of grief over the three lost children, Hannah has been friends with a Mennonite boy since childhood and he wants to marry her, and her older brother wants to move and start his own farm. One of the men wanting to move with Hannah's family is a younger man who is very interested in Hannah. Hannah does not want to move at all, because the farm has been her whole life.

Hannah does have one worry, her younger sister, Liesbet, has been fooling around with an outsider--a teamster. When Liesbet runs away and gets married, it just hardens Hannah's resolve to stay in the area and try to bring her back to the family.

Hannah still has to make a choice between her neighbor friend, Adam; and the young man from Ephrata, Josef. One of the factors pushing Hannah toward Josef is that Adam will not join the Amish and Adam is helping slaves run away on the underground railroad. Josef is committed to the Amish faith and keeps coming back to court Hannah. He knows they will be a good couple, it's just taking Hannah time to make up her mind.

My one criticism of this book and so many other romances is that so much rides on the emotions of the kisses between the couples. One's kiss leaves the girl unchanged, but another's kiss sparks electricity and leaves her breathless. Still in all this is a great book that is extremely hard to put down. Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a farm in Indiana.

My thanks to Revell Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book.