Beverly Lewis, The Prodigal (Abram's Daughters)

The Prodigal

Beverly Lewis

Bethany House, Oct 2004, $12.99, 320 pp.

ISBN: 0764228730

With her beloved mother dead for seven years, Amish Leah Ebersol raises her two younger siblings who consider her their mom. Her sister Sadie has come home as a widow having married in Ohio; she must prove herself to the community, especially the Bishop, after being shunned for an affair with an English person that led to a stillborn child before she fled town. Leah is concerned that her nine year old sibling Lydiann will choose the wrong path having made close friends with a Mennonite child her age.

Jonas Mast resides in Ohio where he still reflects on what could have been if his beloved Leah was not married. However, unbeknownst to him, a misconception and a misfortunate event caused by Sadie, who feels guilty for doing what she did, has kept him away from Leah. If he only had known she was single, things would have been much different. Soon a letter never reaching its destination will bring these two together, but is it enough to keep them together for she has two siblings who need her.

The third Abram's Daughter tale, THE PRODIGAL, is an engaging look at life in an Amish community during the Eisenhower administration. The storyline invites the audience to follow the daily living, which also enables the reader to admire Leah's strong faith, though she has taken some blows in her life; she believes that God works in mysterious ways, but needed her with her family for the sake of her brother and sister. Though there is no action, Beverly Lewis writes an appealing and inspiring glimpse at a 1950s Amish community.

Harriet Klausner