The First Love by Beverly Lewis

It's the summer of 1951, and Maggie Esh is in need of some hope. Sweet-spirited and uncommonly pretty despite struggling with chronic illness, she is used to being treated kindly by the young men of her Old Order Amish church district. Yet Maggie wishes she were more like other courting-age girls so she could live a normal, healthy life.

To make matters more complicated, Dat has recently remarried, less than a year after her mother died. And while her stepmother is kind, Rachel is much younger than Mamm, and she simply doesn't understand Maggie or her illness the way Mamm did.

When tent revival meetings come to the area, Maggie is curious, and the words of the Mennonite preacher challenge her to reconsider what she knows about faith. Can she learn to trust God even when hope seems a distant dream?

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About The Author

Beverly Lewis, raised in Pennsylvania Amish country and both a schoolteacher and an accomplished musician, has been an award-winning author for over a dozen years. Her acclaimed novel, The Preacher's Daughter, was a 2006 Quill Book Award finalist in the romance category. Her books have appeared on numerous bestseller lists, including USA Today and The New York Times. She and her husband, David, live in Colorado."

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My Review

What a story the author has given us, one that affects many people, not always with the same illness, but we can put faces on this Amish family.
A young woman about to join her church and a longing for a family of her own, but with her limitations and days of non-movement, she is sure she will never wed and have her own family.
We also meet another woman who has given her heart to a man who is a widower and has a ready-made family, but she seems to put her wishes and desires aside to make his family happy.
I loved that we get to experience revival meetings, and our Amish girl is so in love with the Lord, and you want to be with her, but will her family and church allow her going to these meetings? Will she want to go out into the English world because of this?
This is a sweet read, and so many characters are brought to the fore front, and we get to meet and be with each of them and enjoy the time spent.
You will find this one a compelling page turner, and you won’t regret spending time here!

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Bethany House and was not required to give a positive review.