A Seat by the Hearth by Amy Clipston

A Seat by the Hearth by Amy Clipston is book 3 in the Amish Homestead Series.  In this novel Priscilla Allgyer is returning back home to the Amish community that she grew up in Lancaster.  She has been gone for 8 years and when she left she knew that she was never going to return to the difficult home that she grew up.  Her father had been verbally abusive to her all of her life and she had to escape.  She found however that he was not the only abusive person and walked into another hard life of living with a boyfriend who drank and abused her both physically and mentally.  Now she was returning to the Lancaster community with her 6 year old son.  She knows that she will return to a shunning but it was the only way to protect her son from the wrath of her boyfriend.  When Priscilla returns to her home she is surprised to find Mark Riehl working for her father.  Mark was a real playboy type but Priscilla remains cool to him because she has so much on her plate with taking care of her son and trying to make her father happy.  She finds to her surprise that her son, Ethan, gets along well with her father and soon are fast friends.  Ethan is quickly learning and loving the Amish language and ways of living.  Mark who usually has girls falling all over themselves to date him is interested in why Priscilla won't give him the time of day.  Her father on the other hand wants Priscilla to find a husband as soon as possible so that he is no longer embarrassed by her having a child without benefit of marriage.  One day he catches Priscilla and Mark talking in the barn and forces them to marry.  Will these two who were forced to marry find love?  Or will they forever be forced to live a loveless marriage?

This is a book about some of the abuses that occur when a parent has too much power in the family.  It is also about some of the problems that can occur in the Amish community.  This book also brings out that people outside of the family can help if they are willing.  I enjoyed this book as I do Ms Clipston's other writings.  She is a great prolific writer that is easy to be read by any girl or woman who loves reading Amish love stories as I do.
I received this book from BookLook for this review.