Christmas is such a beautiful time of year. It’s the setting for Christmas Eve in Lancaster County. The story is just as beautiful as that first view of the season’s first fallen snow. The main character, C.J., a local math teacher who is also a search and rescue volunteer. Jamie, his wife is a Sears photographer who despises crying babies. Jamie is grieving over the loss of her mom, killed by a drunk driver hit and run. Fate strands them an the Amish home of Sol and Mattie Riehl with Danny, age six, and cousin, Zach.
Mattie, like Jaime, grieves, but her grief is over the inability to have a larger family.
Holidays are like that, right? A midst the joy and happiness there is also the realization of a year gone by. There’s grief mixed in there and Christmas Eve in Lancaster County captures the ups and downs of the season beautifully. The dynamics of each family and their own relationship struggles.
There is opportunity–hope. The two wives find healing together and with God’s help.
I really enjoyed the author’s storyline centered around the Amish and their lifestyle. It’s so simple–no electricity, no technology. It is a great background for this story about two unique woman facing their own demons. It’s a beautiful friendship where each takes turns being the other’s Rock of Gibraltar.
There are moments when I ponder if all that I have isn’t too much. Would life be quieter, more rounded with less. This book outlines the same thoughts from Jamie’s point of view. It’s a fabulous journey of self-discovery that had me thinking about my own life and its comforts.
This is a book you’ll want to curl up with as the weather turns crisp. It’s a quick read though deep in message. I’m hoping there’s a sequel in the works as I truly would love to know more about each of these woman’s journey long after the Lancaster snowstorm.
About the book:
Jaime and C. J. Fitzpatrick began their married life as most couples do–in love and looking forward to a bright future together. But four years later they’ve drifted apart and are almost ready to call it quits.
Mattie Riehl was hoping to give her husband Sol the Christmas gift they have both longed for–news that a baby was on the way. But as usual, she is disappointed. The holidays bring an acute awareness to Mattie that her dream of a big family isn’t likely to become a reality.
Then a winter storm raging outside blows the Fitzpatricks into the Riehl home–and into a much slower pace of life. Can these two couples from different worlds help each other understand the true meaning of love this Christmas?
With her trademark plot twists and attention to detail, Suzanne Woods Fisher offers readers a beautiful Christmas story of love, forgiveness, and what truly matters in life.
About Suzanne:
Her interest in the Amish began with her grandfather, W.D. Benedict, who was raised Plain. She has many, many Plain relatives living in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and travels back to Pennsylvania, as well as to Ohio, a couple of times each year for research.
Suzanne has a great admiration for the Plain people and believes they provide wonderful examples to the world. In both her fiction and non-fiction books, she has an underlying theme: You don’t have to “go Amish” to incorporate many of their principles–simplicity, living with less, appreciating nature, forgiving others more readily– into your life.
When Suzanne isn’t writing or bragging to her friends about her first new grandbaby, she is raising puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind. To Suzanne’s way of thinking, you just can’t take life too seriously when a puppy is tearing through your house with someone’s underwear in its mouth.
Suzanne can be found on-line at: www.suzannewoodsfisher.com
Buy A Lancaster County Christmas
Blog Tour Schedule: http://litfusegroup.com/
*I received a copy of Lancaster County Christmas in order to facilitate an honest review. The opinions, where expressed, are my own and were in no way influenced by the sponsor. Others experiences may vary.