Until I Love Again

I have come to love Jerry Eicher's writings as authentic Amish lifestyle written into a novel. He does what other Amish novel writers seldom do--he writes about people who make hard decisions whether to remain Amish or adopt an Englischa lifestyle, and he writes about the ones who leave the Amish church and the pathway that took them there. Such is the story of Susanna Miller and Joey MacAlister.

Susanna is finishing her rumspringa and works at a feed store in town. Her parents have been lax about her running around days and now there is a man who wants to marry her. So her parents are cutting her rumspringa short and encouraging her to accept the suit of Ernest Helmuth--a man who wants a frau and a mamm to his two small girls. Susanna wants nothing to do with him, but her parents push without allowing her to make up her own mind. The harder her parents push, the harder she pushes back--sneaking around to see Joey, escaping whenever Ernest comes over, whatever she has to do. It seems that when Ernest shows up, he talks AT Susanna without letting her get a word in edgewise.

Her Daed wants this marriage because he holds secrets that will devastate Susanna. When the secrets come out, she does the only thing that will bring her peace--she calls Joey. That one action sets the course for the rest of the book.

Susanna is a character for whom it is very easy to sympathize. She's between the proverbial rock and hard place with no easy way out. It's more than she can handle, but Joey has the perfect release for her--a piano at his parents' house. She can pour out her heart making music. By using the keys, her feelings and emotions become vibrant and alive for everyone around her.

This is the best book I've read so far this summer. Until I Love Again is one of the The St. Lawrence County Amish series, and is so hard to put down with so many things to recommend it. I can't list them all here. Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a piano piece straight from the heart.

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