GREAT READS

Plain Pursuit

Beth Wiseman.

This is my first read by Beth Wiseman, and her writing compares to Wanda Brunstetter and Beverly Lewis.  The setting is Pennsylvania in the heart of the Amish community.  Carley Marek, a newspaper columnist from Texas, has recently experienced trauma in her life (having been in a vehicle accident which caused her mother's death).  The accident has left Carley despondent and her writing is affected.  At the insistence of her editor, Carley has to take a month's vacation.  She decides to visit her friend, Lillian Stolzfus.  Lillian recently moved to Lancaster County, PA, met and married Samuel Stolszfus (an Amish farmer), and converted to the Amish way of life.   Carley's visit sets the stage for the book, as she becomes involved in Lillian's life; especially when Lillian's stepson David becomes ill and needs a kidney transplant.   Will the family and religious leaders allow the doctors to test David's uncle who has been shunned by the Amish community?  Dr. Noah Stolzfus left the community at the age of 17 after having joined the Church to follow God's plan for him to become a doctor.  Will Carley come to understand the Amish religion or become frustrated with their beliefs, will her writer's block be lifted and enable her to return to Texas, or does Pennsylvania hold her future?  Keep turning the pages of Plain Pursuit for an entertaining and inspiring read.

Recommended by Linda Krauss