I enjoy Amish fiction as was excited at the opportunity to
read Patricia Johns’ newest novel Through the Valley, the
third book in The Amish of Shepherd’s Hill series.
Through the Valley is a story about two Amish
women who are not like traditional Amish women.
Miri Schrock would rather be out in the field and tending to the cows and
the farm rather than be inside cooking, cleaning, and sewing. She doesn’t have farm of her own, but is
hopeful she will in the future. For now,
she will settle for boarding her three cows at the Yoder farm.
Tabitha Schrock, years ago during her rumspringa, had left
the Amish community to become a veterinarian.
She ended up marrying an Englisher, Michael. Sadly, their marriage ended in divorce. Tabitha never really felt at home with
Englishers so she decided to return to her Amish people. It would take time for her to earn respect
and trust from the people in her community.
The one barrier she couldn’t break down was being a divorced woman. Despite her longtime friendship with Jonas
and a growing love between them, she knew she would never be allowed to remarry
as long as her former husband was still alive.
She needed to move on with her life and she encouraged Jonas to move on,
get married and have a family.
In recent months, Miri has been helping Tom Yoder whose
health continued to decline. She’s the
one who has been tending to Tom’s daily needs as his grandsons, Moses and
Benuel, are outside taking care of the farm.
As his time draws near, while working Miri still continues to chat with
Tom and keep him updated on his cows. When
Miri lets Tom know that Tabith has arrived to check on some sick cows she is
met with silence. Tom Yoder has passed
away.
While Tom’s family knew that he was sick, his sudden passing
was a surprise. But that surprise would
pale in comparison to reading of Tom’s will.
The farm had been in the Yoder family for many generations. His grandsons anticipated that one or both of
them would inherit the farm. They
already had plans on what they would like to do with the property.
Those plans came to a halt upon hearing the reading of Tom’s
will. That jolt would be the cause of
much rumor and speculation and threatened to divide families and their
community. Both Miri and Tabitha’s lives
would be shaken up by recent developments in their lives. Would they see the hand of God guiding them through
the valley of the shadow of death? Giving
them much needed wisdom, guidance, and direction that they needed?
What I love about Patricia Johns’ novels are how the characters
are developed and grow through their interactions with one another and the
circumstances that going on in their lives.
Both Miri and Tabitha wanted to do the right thing in what seemed like
impossible situations. I loved the
support they had from family and friends, even when challenged to make hard
decisions. I appreciate that faith was
an important part of the characters’ lives.
Patricia does a great job in weaving multiple storylines and characters
together. I like how the characters are
carried over from early novels in the series.
I really enjoyed reading Through the Valley by Patricia
Johns.
I would like to thank Patricia Johns and Bethany
House Publisher for the opportunity to read Through the Valley
by Patricia Johns. I was under no
obligation to give a favorable review.
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