From
the Cover:
Over committed and overwhelmed,
Julie Charlton is at the breaking point. She knows she should feel blessed as a
mother and wife—but she just feels exhausted. And then, the miraculous
happens. Her sister-in-law Susan, a
Martha Stewart-in-training, lands the chance to participate in a reality TV
series about trying to live like the Amish and needs another family to join
her. It’s just the break Julie needs.
But the summer adventure in simple
living soon proves anything but simple.
With the camera watching every move, Susan’s drive for perfection feels
a lot like what they left behind, while Julie suddenly finds herself needing to
stand up for slowing down. Whether it’s cooking, cleaning, or dressing
differently, each new Amish challenge raises new complications…and soon each
woman learns unexpected lessons about herself and her family.
Andrea’s
Take:
Almost
Amish is a departure from my usual preference of historical romance, but when
Kathryn Cushman broadcast the back cover copy and called for influencers, my reply
to her was something like, “This woman sounds so much like me that I really
think I need to read this book.”
Almost
Amish is a character driven story, and the characters are amazingly compelling. Julie and Susan are easily likened to
the Biblical Mary and Martha. Julie’s continual feeling of, “What am I good at?
What am I supposed to be doing?”
struck a chord in my heart, and resonated with me throughout the story. Often,
her scenes brought tears to my eyes because I saw so much of myself in her. She
comes to realize strengths in herself that have been hidden under layers of
busyness and urgency.
Susan’s perfectionist-induced stress
rolled off of her in waves. At times, just reading her point of view was enough
to make my shoulders ache with tension. Circumstances at one point forced Susan
to view her life and family from a very different prospective, and she began to
realize weaknesses in herself, and strength in others, that she had never
understood before. Though I didn’t readily identify with Susan, I did
understand her.
After learning some hard lessons
about their relationships with each other, their families, and God, both women
return home with new determination to simplify their lives in all the ways that
count.
Characters
to Watch:
Whitney,
Brian, and Angie – Julie’s children and Susan’s daughter. All the children are wonderful, and Angie is
instrumental to Susan’s transformation. But thirteen year old Brian stole my
heart. He bears an uncanny resemblance to a young man in my church. His dry,
intelligent humor had me chuckling often.
Chris
– A production assistant for the TV show. Chris doesn’t get a lot of “screen
time” in the story, but his presence serves as a catalyst for much of the
family drama that unfolds.
Kendra
– The show’s producer. Smug and self-serving, Kendra very often had me seeing
red.
Some details of the production of
the TV show struck me as not quite right, and I didn’t like that Julie’s
husband (Susan’s brother) Thomas didn’t accompany the family on their summer
adventure. Since I don’t know anything
about TV production, I let that slide with little trouble. Thomas’s
presence would have drastically altered the group dynamic. It would have made
for an entirely different story, which would have made me very sorry indeed.
Overall, I enjoyed Almost Amish very much. I started
reading it early in the morning, read every spare moment, and finished before
the wee hours of the morning. It was a day well spent.
I give it Four Stars
