A Jane Austen Tale Related in Amish Style! A Very Special Blog Post! A Note from the Author, Herself!!

                     "The Matchmaker"

                         By Sarah Price

Hi Karla,

Thank you so much for inviting me to share a little bit about myself on your blog. I’ve been writing for almost forty years, starting when I was just a little girl when I would write stories about gnomes in little notebooks (which I still have!). I gravitated to writing about the Amish genre because my heritage is Anabaptist and I find the Plain culture fascinating.

Unfortunately, there is often a misconception that Amish fiction books are poorly written and just formula romance. And then there is often a problem concerning many authors’ accuracy of the portrayal of Amish. Many authors do not have first-hand experience with the Amish or readers are basing what they know on “reality” shows.

My books, however, do bring authentic experiences to the readers as I’ve been directly involved for my entire life with Mennonites (my father’s side of the family) and the Amish (I even lived on a farm!). In regard to my writing style, I focus on methods of absorbing the reader into the story to make them feel as if they are actually there. And character development is my favorite part of the writing process.

Earlier this month, The Matchmaker, the second book in my Amish Classics series, was released. It is the retelling of Jane Austen’s classic book, Emma. Based in an Amish setting, my Emma follows the same trials and tribulations of Jane Austen’s Emma. She thinks a little too highly of herself and those around her. She is quite happy to express her opinions, often when she shouldn’t. Personally, I love Emma as a character because she is so real. Let’s face it…she’s flawed. Aren’t we all? But her flaws get her into a few situations that will make the reader chuckle. That’s the best part of retelling Jane Austen’s novels: She had the greatest characters!

Many of my regular readers tend to stick to just the Amish genre. I often hear that it’s because these books are clean and godly. However, so are the classics. By combining the Amish genre with classic storylines, I’m hoping to enlighten readers so that they might consider other genres, such as the classics, for their TBR pile! I want to reassure them that it’s all right to explore Christian books, too. There are so many great books outside of the Amish genre that will open up an entire world to readers, and also might help them differentiate between well-written books and those that are not.

If you would like to learn more about The Matchmaker and visit other tour stops here is the link to take you to the Blog Tour List.

The Preiss family emigrated from Europe in 1705, settling in Pennsylvania as the area's first wave of Mennonite families. Sarah Price has always respected and honored her ancestors through exploration and research about her family history and their religion. At nineteen, she befriended an Amish family and lived on their farm throughout the years.

As a masterful storyteller, Sarah Price prides herself on presenting an authentic Amish experience for her readers. Many of her stories are based on actual people she has met and her own experiences living among the Amish over the years. Sarah now resides in Morris County, New Jersey with her family.

While she started out as an Indie author, she signed on with Realms, an imprint of Charisma House and Waterfall Press, an imprint of Brilliance Publishing. Her first book, First Impressions: An Amish Adaptation of Pride and Prejudice was released in May 2014.

Get the latest news about Sarah Price on Facebook, Twitter, and sarahpriceauthor.com.

Please use these buy links: Amazon / B&N / Christianbook.com

I thought that I had read the best Sarah Price book ever, when I read "First Impressions", however , I was mistaken! I believe this new book is THE best, well, until she writes another new one! This author has a very special and different talent. She can remake a Jane Austen tale into one with an Amish setting and Amish characters.  Who else could possibly take "Pride and Prejudice" and come up with a believable Amish tale? Now, once again Sarah has succeeded in retelling "Emma" in this new creation, "The Matchmaker". A perfect setting and a very different look at Amish life!! 

The main character, Emma, was one who made me angry, made me chuckle, irritated me beyond belief, all in one chapter with her judgmental attitude. At the beginning of the book, I just wanted to shake some sense into this young lady!!  She appeared to be a meddling busy body, always involved in someone else's love life, totally ignoring her own well being and happiness. My opinion did change as I read on in the book, thank goodness, or I would have been up in arms throughout the whole story. To me, a good book  is one that enables me to identify with at least one character. This book met my qualifications with no problem. Gideon, a close friend of Emma's dad, was one of the few people who could put her in her place and make her think. He was kind, well meaning and showed his care for her by stepping and stopping her from making some REALLY big mistakes. Sarah`s ability to picture and understand the characters is outstanding. I became part of this story!!

The plot moved quickly with unexpected twists and turns withing every chapter. It was believable  and realistic. It makes you realize that just because someone lives in an Amish community does not mean that they are exempt from the problems of everyday life. How they deal with them may be different but these individuals are human too. They make mistakes as do we!

I highly recommend this book to those who are tired of the ordinary, predictable Amish genre. Sarah Price is a writer with great imagination and puts her own twists in her creations.

Definitely a five star book!

This book was provided by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.