What to Read: The First Love by Beverly Lewis
Hey, ya’ll, and Happy Wednesday! I have a great book to recommend for you today. You should know, first, that I don’t recommend this one lightly. I used to be a big fan of Amish fiction, but it kind of fizzled out for me. They just got so sad! I got tired of reading about people being shunned and love never working out. So, I pretty much stopped
reading them.
When I saw Beverly Lewis’ new book, The First Love , I was intrigued by the description, and it seemed different. I gave it a try, and I’m really glad I did! Not saying that I’m going to jump on board reading all the Amish fiction, but I’m glad I gave this one a chance!
In this latest Amish novel Maggie Esh is coming of age in Old Order Amish community in 1951. She’s a very beautiful girl, but she struggles with a chronic illness that leaves her unable to do many of the tasks expected of Amish wives. She struggles to keep up in a home with her father’s much-younger second wife, who just can’t seem to understand Maggie’s sickness. Maggie has resigned herself to living a life alone. But she can’t stop thinking about one young man in particular. Then, Maggie’s Mennonite cousins invite her to a tent revival, and her life is changed. Can she reconcile the new things she’s hearing with the God she’s always heard about? Is healing possible for Maggie?
As I said, I’ve been out of the Amish-fiction loop for a while, but I thought this story was really fresh and different. There wasn’t a single mention of shunning in the whole book! It was a really great story, and I loved the ending.
Maggie was a great lead character, and I was really curious to know if she’d marry Jimmy, Glen or stay single. I won’t tell you how it went, but the last two chapters and the epilogue left me feeling pretty happy! I also though Rachel was a great secondary character, and I liked how the side stories played out. I also enjoyed the family dynamic, since it seems like so many Amish novels portray the families as harsh and unrelenting about their religions and ordnances. I loved how Maggie’s father was portrayed, and how he loved his family.
Sometimes I want to read something that’s just for fun, and not deep or heavy. That’s how I was feeling this past weekend when I picked up The First Love. It fit the bill perfectly. That isn’t to say it didn’t have a spiritual message. I’m not a believer in faith-healing, so I didn’t really know how that part of the story would go, but I ended up enjoying it very much.
I cut my reading teeth on Beverly Lewis books when I was just a teenager, and I’m very excited that I got the chance to read this one. I know that lovers of Amish fiction will love it, but I also think that those who don’t usually read Amish fiction will enjoy this, too. The First Love is a great story that will leave you with a little smile on your face long after you’ve turned the last page!
