A Plain Leaving (The Sisters of Lancaster County #1) by Leslie Gould

At age twenty, Jessica Bachman left her two beloved sisters and her Amish community after clashing with the new bishop about her role in the family and the future of their farm. She tried to convince Silas Kemp, who'd been courting her for two years, to join her, but when he said no, she fled anyway.

Three years later, she returns home for the first time since leaving Lancaster to attend her father's funeral. Her arrival back revives all sorts of emotions--yearnings and sorrows alike. Jessica knows things will never return to how they were. But in seeing Silas again, she can't help but wonder what might have been.

Struggling to decide where her next step should take her, she learns the story of a Revolutionary War-era ancestor that echoes her own choices. Will Jessica leave her family and community forever, or is there peace and healing and love yet to come?

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About The Author

Leslie Gould is the #1 bestselling and Christy Award winning author of twenty-two novels. She received her MFA from Portland State University and teaches writing at Warner Pacific College. Leslie enjoys traveling, hiking, and history. She and her husband, Peter, are the revolving-door parents of four children and three cats. Visit her at http://www.lesliegould.com/. 

My Review

An in-depth look into an Amish family, spanning centuries, from current time to revolutionary times, an all on the same property in Lancaster area Pennsylvania.
There is so much pain here, and when the story opens we are brought to the farm because of the death of the father. The author keeps us on ours toes, and yes this is a family story, but it is also the lands story. Can relate to some that goes on here, living on a farm that has been in our family since 1855, and having been contacted about fracking.
The thought about destroying the land will make you cringe, and yes we are all human, no matter how we worship. The author has us thinking about the center of a family, and how easily it can be torn apart, and as we travel through the past, and way back we are going, and then the present, and a look at the future.
Tangled relationships here, and we have to get to the very end of the book for answers, and yes this is a real page-turner, I could not put it down before I knew how it ended.
I received this book through Bethany House Publishers and was not required to give a positive review.