If you recall, I blogged about the appeal of Amish fiction in the Christian market a couple of months ago.
Amish Fiction author Cindy Woodsmall was featured on Nightline last night. Here’s the link to view the show. After opening the link, simply click on WATCH: Amish Love in the right-hand sidebar.
I have Cindy’s book in my ever-increasing TBR pile!
Enjoy the show!
A Gift Of Grace by Amy Clipston
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (May 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310289831
ISBN-13: 978-0310289838
From Amazon.com:
From the Back Cover
Rebecca Kauffman’s tranquil Old Order Amish life is transformed when she suddenly has custody of her two teenage nieces after her “English” sister and brother-in-law are killed in an automobile accident. Instant motherhood, after years of unsuccessful attempts to conceive a child of her own, is both a joy and a heartache. Rebecca struggles to give the teenage girls the guidance they need as well as fulfill her duties to Daniel as an Amish wife.
Rebellious Jessica is resistant to Amish ways and constantly in trouble with the community. Younger sister Lindsay is caught in the middle, and the strain between Rebecca and Daniel mounts as Jessica’s rebellion escalates. Instead of the beautiful family life she dreamed of creating for her nieces, Rebecca feels as if her world is being torn apart by two different cultures, leaving her to question her place in the Amish community, her marriage, and her faith in God.
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My thoughts? The book was a great read, and I could see this being a novel that would also appeal to pre-teens, teens, as well as adults.
The Amish attitudes in this novel left me feeling a bit unsettled because, I think it’s hard for them (the Amish) to understand what it’s like to be like “us” the “English” since they’ve always been Amish. When Jessica and Lindsay first come to live with Rebecca, Jessica wants to know where she’s going to school. Her aunt says that she was not going to enroll the girls in school since the Amish education doesn’t go beyond eighth grade. Aunt Rebecca states that those are their ways and she wanted them to respect their rules.
Jessica flips! A good student, she wants to go to college and get a degree to become an accountant, and I felt for her because, I could see myself going crazy if I’d been forced to quit school in the tenth grade to work in a furniture store full-time.
Jessica continues to unknowingly break Amish rules and her unhappiness in the community creates strong tension in this novel.
In contrast, Lindsay takes to the Amish life like a duck to water, even getting to the point where she starts wearing Amish garb. Jessica doesn’t mind quitting school and working full-time in the bakery. She loves working at the business and enjoys her new family as well as the nightly devotionals and Sunday services. Lindsay has always struggled to do well in school, so, she doesn’t mind not having to go back to the classroom.
Daniel, Rebecca’s husband, wants the girls to return to their English life. However, Rebecca refuses, stating that it’s God’s will, as well as her deceased sister’s wish that the children remain in the Amish community. This creates a lot of tension in their marriage, leaving the reader to wonder if all of their problems will be solved.
I enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.
Also, I want to point out that there were some yummy-sounding recipes in the book! I wanted to make the Peach Streudel recipe, but, when I went to the store to get the peaches, I was told they were not yet in season! When I get my hands on some peaches, I’m going to make that recipe! There was also a recipe for a three-layer chocolate cake that sounded good!
Funny how I blogged about Amish Fiction Selling In The Christian Market a few weeks ago. Well, on page 52 of Time Magazine in the April 27, 2009 issue they’ve featured the following article: Amish Romance Novels: No Bonnet Rippers
The authors mentioned in the article were included in my own Amish research. They interviewed author Beverly Lewis, and she basically said the same things mentioned on my blog post.
Last week I focused on Amish fiction, and I invited a number of Amish fiction authors to respond to my question about why Amish fiction sells so well. I posted my results here. I received a response from New York Times Bestselling Amish Fiction Author Beverly Lewis yesterday. Her words were very insightful so I’m featuring her as a guest blogger today!
Beverly Lewis’s novels were the first Amish fiction I recall seeing and reading. Surprisingly, I didn’t purchase her novels myself. My sister saw them in the now-closed Crown Books store. This was probably ten years ago, I guess? My sister purchased them for me, knowing how much I loved Christian fiction. When she gave them to me, I looked at the cover and said, “What’s up with the bonnet? Are they Amish or something?” I recall the main character in one of the novels was blind.
Here’s Beverly Lewis’s comments about Amish Fiction:
How very nice of you to invite me to post on your blog. Here are my comments for your site:
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Wonderful discussion here, Cecelia. And thanks for inviting me to post.
I receive hundreds of letters each week from readers who share “the draw” to my Amish novels, so I understand why your blog is so popular, as well. It would appear that what has been lost to us as modern people (“fancy folk”) and what the exotic and cloistered society of the Plain has to offer those caught up in the frenetic “English” world is a slower (happier?) pace of life, an ability to thrive on face-to-face relationships (as opposed to cyberspace relationships such as IM, FaceBook, SecondLife, texting, and email, etc.), and the Amish are masters at the art of conversation!–as well as a yearning in readers for a sense of belonging. Community is core and key to the Amish fiction appeal, I believe. So many people seem lost and what Amish settings and characters offer is literally a “place to belong.”
My own particular interest in the Amish people comes from my family heritage…my maternal grandmother having experienced a heart-breaking shunning that lasted her entire life (from age 17 onward), when she opened her heart to a relationship with the Lord Jesus and married a ministerial student (outside the Plain community). This man became my grandfather (Omar Buchwalter) and he and my courageous grandmother Ada Ranck Buchwalter pastored churches in WA, FL, and later returned to their homeland of Lancaster, PA, where my mother and her 8 siblings grew up. Because of Ada’s bold move toward a personal relationship with Christ, I am one of the many benefactors on the whole vast side of Ada’s and Omar’s family tree. THE SHUNNING, which has been said to have launched an entire genre for inspirational women’s fiction, was published in May 1997 and I’m told has presently sold upwards of 1.3 million copies.
All of that to say, there is truly an amazing draw to Amish fiction currently and has only recently become noted by CBA publishers and others outside the Christian booksellers industry. Many view this genre as a way to interweave spiritual themes in a natural way, without being accused of having a platform or being preachy. The simple truth of Amish fiction is that they embrace the Sermon on the Mount literally (thus the reason the Nickel Mines bishop led the way and offered forgiveness following the Amish schoolhouse shootings). They take what Scripture they are permitted to read “straight up,” without parcing, studying, or memorizing it. Please remember I’m talking only of the original settlement of Old Order Amish in Lancater County, PA, where I was born, grew up, and know (and have lived with) many Old Order Amish families. There are other Amish communities where their church ordinances reflect a more liberal Anabaptist approach to Scripture, similar to some Mennonite groups, and are not reticent about saying they are “saved” or accept the assurance of salvation by grace. The vast majority of Lancaster County Amish would not declare such a thing, viewing it as the heighth of pride (one bishop said, “If you say you’re saved, then you most certainly are not.”)
Just a few of many of my observations over the many years of my close ties to PA Amish.
Blessings on your day, Cecelia and thanks for your beautiful blog!
~ Bev Lewis
www.beverlylewis.com
Thanks for your thoughts and insight, Beverly! I’ve enjoyed featuring you on my blog today!
Thanks to the authors and readers who commented on this blog post.
The following Christian Fiction Authors commented:
Julie Lessman
Tina Ann Forkner
Robin Bayne
Mary Connealy
The following Christian Authors of Amish Fiction responded:
Janice Thompson
Wanda Brunstetter
Beth Wiseman
Shelley Shepard Gray
Amy Clipston
Cindy Woodsmall
Gayle Roper
Marta Perry
Hillary Lodge
Most of the comments overlapped, so I took the main points and listed them below, giving a general idea about the appeal of Amish fiction in the Christian market. My thoughts and opinions are in brackets.
1. Most of those who commented agreed that people want to escape to a simple, cleaner world, and the Amish life looks appealing. Many long for stronger family values and a stronger relationship with God. We need to find the peace and simplicity that resounded in the lives of our ancestors. Our minds and living spaces are cluttered, and we need relief from our crowded lives; the Amish (novels) provide an escape from our fully-packed lives. [If our modern conveniences are taken away, then we would be forced to focus on our Savior, taking more pleasure in our natural surroundings. The Amish, and their plain, simple habits, almost makes us believe that our lives would be so much easier if we chose to adapt to their style of living.]
[Think of how you look forward to taking a vacation. You anticipate sitting on a tranquil beach, sipping drinks, relaxing, clearing your mind of schedules, work and all kinds of stuff! This sense of tranquility is what many of us MAY believe is the appeal to the Amish. The Amish life offers a permanent vacation from our daily complications. ]
2. The fact that the Amish are separated from us, not using electricity or modern conveniences, makes them fascinating. They are surrounded by mystery. [Why do they choose to live like that? What would it be like if I lived like that? If I were Amish, would my life be more joyful or complete?]
Here are a few facts I discovered about the Amish that lend to their mysterious appeal:
a. The Amish only have an eighth grade education? Gayle Roper mentioned this in her comment on my original post.
b. I perused the two Amish blogs/websites listed in my original post and was very fascinated by this, quoted from the Question and Answer page on the Amish Reader website:
In most communities, teens begin rumspringa, “running around,” at the age of 16. At that time, many of the Ordnung rules are relaxed. The idea is that the kids have a chance to experience the outside world before they commit to the Amish church. Usually around age 18, kids will choose to be baptized into the church.
During rumspringa, Amish teens may purchase cell phones, obtain drivers’ licenses, own cars, and keep generator-operated electronics in their rooms. The boys are more likely to dress English than the girls. They may experiment with cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, and sex. Often, kids will join the church when they decide to marry.
The very conservative Schwartzentruber Amish do not participate in rumspringa at all. However, they do follow the “bundling” tradition during courtship: a boy will visit a girl after the family has gone to sleep, spending the night talking with her in her bed.
c. Once you are baptized into the Amish faith, if you should decide to leave at a later date, you are shunned – [which I would find hard to accept! Can you imagine not being able to speak to family, friends, and loved ones because you decide to leave the Amish sometime after your baptism. That would be a tough pill for me to swallow!]
3. A number of the authors who commented had either friends or acquaintances who were Amish OR they grew up near an Amish community, and were familiar with seeing Amish families and buggies. There are differences between the Amish and other Plain people, and in order to write an accurate story, you need to research thoroughly.
4. Sales from Amish Fiction continue to soar, and the trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
5. Some industry professionals are TIRED of the Amish books, but, they still acquire and publish them because AMISH FICTION SELLS!
Well, I think I’ve worn this topic out! My curiosity about the Amish has been relieved for the time being. I enjoyed posting about them, and I will continue to blog about the Amish and other Plain sects in the future. I read the summaries of some of the Amish novels, and saw quite a few that I’d like to feature on this blog. I’ve reviewed a few Amish titles and look forward to reading more.
I’d like to top off this post with one of the comments that I especially enjoyed. Hillary Lodge said:
The Amish, the Amish. For such a small amount of the American population, they take up a lot of Christian Fiction!…These are uncertain times we live in. The economy is bad, the church is wrestling with a lot of tricky issues. The Amish, with their appearance of simplicity, offer a respite from that. In uncertain times, what could be more comforting than a warm Amish kitchen with pie in the oven? (There’s always pie)
I think people turn to Christian fiction in the first place for its safety, especially for their teens. Amish fiction, in one respect, is that much safer. Nothing really, really bad can happen if the girl on the cover is wearing a bonnet.
Feel free to comment or ask more Amish questions. Also, visit these websites:
Amish Reader
Amish Hearts
to find out more about the Amish!
Thank you so much for all of your wonderful comments! Feel free to continue to comment about the Amish. Tomorrow, or shortly after that, I want to do another blog entry about the Amish, summarizing what everybody had to say.
The popularity of Amish novels has always intrigued me, causing my curiosity to pique! The responses from Amish book authors and readers, has helped me to gain some useful insight!
When I reviewed the novel, Out Of The Blue by Janice Thompson, Wendy left the following comment:
Why is it that so many Christian titles these days center around the Amish? I have nothing against them, but, it’s like they feel that it’s “wrong” to use electricity and modern gadgets? Wouldn’t most people, both Christians and non-Christians, relate to “regular” people that resemble those they see everyday in public and in their work places?
My response? Well, I’m not sure. I don’t really know a lot about the Amish, but I do know this: When you place the Amish on the cover of a Christian novel, it seems to sell. Why? I don’t know. I know I’ve seen agents blog about Amish books selling well, and take a look at the following link of the top twenty best-selling novels via christianbooks.com. I counted five titles out of the twenty that have the Amish on the cover! That’s 25% of the titles!
If I had to speculate about this a bit, I’d say that people may find the simple life of the Amish to be appealing. Also, the Amish depict a clean, chaste, and faith-filled life that some people may crave? It would be interesting to see if any Amish authors out there can comment on this post and give some of their insight as to why the Amish books sell so well.
Also, there are a few websites/blogs that focus on Amish fiction. I just heard about these within the last week or so. They are:
Amish Reader
Amish Hearts
If you have specific questions about the Amish or Amish fiction, you might want to visit these sites and maybe ask the list owners some questions? Just a suggestion!
So, authors and blog readers, why do you think the Amish books sell so well within the Christian market?
Out Of The Blue by Janice A. Thompson
Heartsong Presents #806
Publisher: Heartsong Presents (Barbour Publishing)
ISBN: 9781602600577
Binding: Mass Market
Pages: 176 pages
From Heartsong Presents website:
Will Katie ever stop running? Katie Walken has been running most of her life – from her Amish upbringing, from her family’s expectations, and from an arranged marriage to her childhood friend, Karl Borg. Now a successful real estate agent, Katie feels she finally has the life she always wanted. . .or does she? Karl Borg lost his love when she fled from their future in Amish country. Leaving home, too, he became an attorney specializing in real estate law. But his heart remains with the girl who ran away. When Katie and Karl are reunited out of the blue they seem to have a second chance at love. But then tragedy strikes Katie’s family and a real estate venture sets Katie and Karl on opposing sides. Will they allow God to help them face their past while still looking toward their future?
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This is a sweet, endearing love story that will give you a taste of the Amish life. Katie escaped her Amish home when she was eighteen, leaving her future fiance Karl behind. Now, they meet again, and their romance practically resumes in the face of a major tragedy that hits Katie’s family. Karl comes to Katie’s aid, wanting to help her during this difficult time. Although it’s hard for him to forgive her past actions, he finds that he still has feelings for Katie, in spite of her past mistakes. Karl has also left the Amish community and made a career of his own. Both Karl and Katie learn about forgiveness as travel back to their Amish roots.
White Christmas Pie by Wanda Brunstetter 
From Amazon.com:
Product Description
Step into Amish country for this bittersweet holiday romance. Here you’ll meet Will Henderson, a young man tortured by his past, and Karen Yoder, a young woman looking for answers. Add a desperate father searching for his son, and you have all the ingredients for a first-class romance that will inspire and enthrall.
About the Author
Fascinated by the Amish people during the years of visiting her husband’s family in Pennsylvania, WANDA E. BRUNSTETTER combined her interest with her writing and now has eleven novels about the Amish in print, along with numerous other stories and ministry booklets. She lives in Washington State, where her husband is a pastor, but takes every opportunity to visit Amish settlements throughout the states.==
I enjoyed this book. The author has a simply writing style that makes the story easy to follow. Will Henderson reads a newspaper article about a three year old girl who has been abandoned. The piece haunts him about his past. He’s been abandoned by his biological father, and he longs to find peace about the turmoil that consumes him. Why did his father leave him with an Amish family, without making any contact afterwards? Will wants answers and his distress hovers on the horizon as he plans for his nuptials to Karen Yoder.
Karen realizes Will is troubled by his past, but she longs to lighten the mood between herself and her fiancé. Is their marriage going to be riddled with Will’s emotional mood swings and his constant jealous nature?
Although the story flowed nicely, I felt there were some parts that were somewhat predictable. I also felt that there were too many buggy accidents and people getting hurt or ill in the story, but, otherwise White Christmas Pie was an enjoyable read that I would recommend to all who like a good Amish story. I’d be interested in reading other books by this author.
Bygones by Kim Vogel Sawyer
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc (April 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1597894044
ISBN-13: 978-1597894043
From Amazon.com:
Widower Marie Koeppler and her grown daughter Beth reluctantly return to the Mennonite community Marie abandoned twenty-three years ago. Soon after their arrival in Sommerfeld, a series of mysterious thefts raises the community’s suspicions against the “”outsiders.”” Can Marie prove their innocence, or will she be forced to flee once more? Henry Braun thought he’d gotten his love for Marie out of his system, but soon begins to wonder if she’s stolen more than his heart. When it’s all said and done, can Henry and Marie let bygones be bygones, or has their love been doomed from the start?
I received this book for my birthday last year from my editor at Barbour.
I enjoyed this book. The author did a great job with developing characters you’ll remember for a long time. I even got upset and mad at some of the characters while I was reading the story. When Marie and her daughter, Beth return to Marie’s Mennonite community, she’s shunned by those who used to love her. When a series of robberies occur, the newcomers are accused of the crimes. Marie’s childhood sweetheart, Henry, wants to reconcile with her, however, Marie is torn about her feelings towards him, knowing she’ll be gone in three months. I did get kind of upset when I read that Marie had been voted out (ex-communicated) from her church by the higher ups twenty- three years ago when she left her Mennonite roots to marry a non-Mennonite truck driver that passes through her town. Her actions cause her father to shun her, and the entire community, with the exception of Henry, and her elderly Aunt Lisbeth, shunned her also after she left.
Henry Braun and Lisbeth share a close relationship: their love for Marie solidifies them and over the years, Marie writes to Aunt Lisbeth, telling her of her daughter’s “Kodak Moments”. Lisbeth reads these letters to Henry Braun. Henry is still hurt that Marie got married and left with the truck driver years ago, and he continues to love and pray for her over the years. When Lisbeth dies, she leaves her café to Marie’s daughter, Beth. However, in order for Beth to claim her inheritance, she must come and live in Sommerfield for three months before staking her claim on the café. Beth is determined to sell the business after her three months are up, eager to cash in on the selling price of the business. Marie returns with her daughter, helping to run the café during her three-month stay.
This book is the first in the Sommerfield series, and I’d be interested in reading the other titles in this series. My to-be-read pile is HUGE, so if/when I get around to purchasing these other titles, I’ll be sure to read them and post my thoughts.
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POSSIBLE SPOILER BELOW:
On a personal note, this story stuck with me because, although Marie did renew her faith in God, she rejoined her old Mennonite church. I don’t think I could have re-joined the church which excommunicated me for falling in love with a non-Mennonite and marrying him. I’m not sure if this action is practiced within the Mennonite faith in general, or if it were only practiced at this particular congregation. It’s hard for me to comment further since I don’t know a whole lot about the Mennonite faith.
