Another Winning Book from Beverly Lewis for all Lovers of Amish Fiction!!!!

                                     
                                     "The River"
                                   By Beverly Lewis       


One look at the cover of this book grabs your interest, then you look at the author and know immediately that it will be super read!! The intense look of the child is coaxing you into the story, appealing to all moms!

Tilly and Ruth, two formerly Amish sisters are faced with unresolved relationships when they return to  Lancaster County for their parents' wedding anniversary celebration. Since leaving the Plain Life, Tilly has married an Englisher, but Ruth has remained single. She has never entirely come to terms with her failed courtship with her Amish beau. 

The  past meets these two young ladies head on!! Both need to find acceptance and redemption in order to continue their lives happily and freely.  However, can they face a future when they are unable to forget the past, a past that they can not undo??? Will they allow God to carry out His plan in their lives?? Or will they stubbornly stick to their own desires??


Beverly Lewis is certainly the master of the Amish Fiction Genre. Her realistic characters with whom you easily identify, reflect her extensive knowledge of the Plain life and its people. Their lives are described accurately, making the plot so believable. It could be a true situation. She tells a story that deals with secrets, forgiving and improving relationships with God. We have daily changes in our lives but how we deal with them is up to the individual. The Amish have the same problems as you and I and must also find solutions. These are found when we submit to God's will . His plan for our lives is already there, BUT we must let go of the worldly desires and follow Him. This is much harder than Ruth and Tilly ever have imagined! Can they put away their wishes and accept a higher authority???

The plot moves quickly with intriguing twists and turns that make you a part of the story. It is a definite page turner!! You feel the pain, rejection, confusion and shock as the story  plays out. The clues don't add up to what you expect to happen. The daunting memories that the women face, makes you realize that we have very little control of life and can never change the past, only make peace with it. This book compels you to take a look at your own life. Are you following the plan mapped out by the Master??

The title, "The River" becomes an important part of the book. What an effect this river has on the story!! One that is very clear, by the end. An object of nature that can change one's life, or can heal!

Definitely a five star book!!! I highly recommend to all lovers of Amish fiction!!

Beverly’s Story

Beverly Marie Jones (Lewis) was born in the heart of Amish country—Lancaster, Pennsylvania. At the tender age of nine, she began writing short stories and poetry. Prior to that, she made up lyrics to the "little fingers" piano pieces she learned, at the age of five.

"My mother saved everything I wrote, even the stories I dreamed up during my grade school years," Beverly says. One such tale is semi-autobiographical, about a young girl whose parents can no longer afford to give her piano lessons. The manuscript was 77 pages long and titled "She Shall Have Music," penned under the shade of a lone willow tree. "Reading, writing, and playing piano have been top three on my list of favorite things," she says.

Not until her own children were well into middle school did Beverly seek to publish her work, first in magazines such as Highlights for Children, Dolphin Log, and Guideposts for Kids. Her first book followed in 1993—Mountain Bikes and Garbanzo Beans—presently retitled Big Bad Beans(book #22 in the popular Cul-de-Sac Kids series of chapter books—see list of Bev's children's books).

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"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".  Also supplied by Bethany House in exchange for a fair and honest review.