The Road Home by Beverly Lewis

The Road Home by Beverly Lewis is the newest novel by this fantastic writer.  In this Amish love story Lena is the oldest of 10 children and as long as she has been alive she has never left Centreville, Michigan.  She loves it here, she loves living with her family and helping care for the littler children and she loves her fiancé, Hans, whom she plans to marry soon.  She is especially close with her littlest sibling, Chris, whom she has just gotten off to school since her father had taken her mother to the school where she taught as a substitute that day.  When 2 police showed up at the door she knew that something bad had happened but that didn't prepare her for the devastation of learning that both her parents had died in an accident.  That was bad enough but to find out that the farm had to be sold and the children were to be split up into different families was the worse part.  They couldn't even grieve together for long as the children were divided as best the bishop could do since he thought that Lena was too young at 18 to care for all of them and be responsible for the farm.  The bishop could find homes for the rest of the children and some of them even were able to live together but there was nowhere for Lena except for her aunt and uncle, Mimi and Harley, but they lived in Pennsylvania so far away and unable to see her family clear until Christmas.  How would Chris get along without her?  Luckily he was able to live with his grandparents who lived right next to them but he was so distraught to be loosing first his parents and know the sister who had practically raised him.  But there was nothing to do about it and soon Lena was sent to Pennsylvania.  Mimi and Harley were wonderfully nice to her and she was able to earn some money sewing in Mimi little shop.  How would she be able to get through all of this and not see any of her brothers and sisters until Christmas?

I loved this book as I love all of Mrs. Lewis' books.  She doesn't make her characters too good to be believed but she also doesn't downgrade the Amish in favor of another religion.  She faithfully tells the story of the great faith of Lena even though so much bad has happened to her.  Lena never gives up and eventually even when an opportunity to come home happens she choses to stay and help Mimi because she is in a crisis of her own.  Lena always relies on trust in God to get her through the day and back to home.
I received this book from BethanyHouse for this review.