Book Review: The Englisch Daughter by Cindy and Erin Woodsmall
When Amish fiction first burst on the scene several years ago, I was a big fan. But I got fed up with shunnings and rules and all the crazy stuff, so I lost interest for a while. But the summary of The Englisch Daughter really interested me, so I gave it a try.
It was a bit different from other Amish fiction I’ve read in the past. This was my first book by these authors, so I’m not sure if it’s how they usually write.
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Summary
Jemima’s dream has always been to own a food truck. She’s an Old Order Amish mother, and she has made many sacrifices to save the money for her dream.
But Jemima’s husband, Roy, has some secrets. He’s been hiding a child with another woman. And all of Jem’s savings are gone.
Can Jemima forgive Roy and save her marriage? And can she learn to love the Englisch daughter?
The Englisch Daughter Review
I had a lot of mixed feelings about The Englisch Daughter. I couldn’t put it down. I slipped in reading a couple of pages in my downtime until I finished it.
The story was captivating. There were a lot of things I didn’t see coming. And I actually enjoyed the secondary story with Roy’s sister more than I did the main story.
I don’t know a lot about the working of the Amish culture and religion. I do understand that forgiveness is a command from God. But I felt so sad that Jemima was considered in the wrong for not jumping to immediately forgive her husband.
From what I understand from this book, an Amish man can have an affair, and his wife must forgive him. So she suffers the shame of what he did, but he gets to live his life normally.
Jemima felt so guilty for not realizing what was going on with Roy that she ended up apologizing to him. She took the blame for his affair. I found it slightly offensive.
However, the story does have some twists that I didn’t expect. I didn’t hate the it. It was a story worth reading.
The Englisch Daughter is not your typical Amish novel. They’ve come a long way since the last one I read. I think Amish fiction lovers will enjoy it. But if you don’t generally enjoy Amish fiction, you might like this one.
