The Preacher's Daughter

The Preacher's Daughter by Beverly Lewis

I picked this book up after a good tongue lashing for enjoying Twilight. This was recommended as a cleaner read. Truth be told..........it was, but I didn't like it as much so it doesn't really matter.

This takes place in Paradise Pennsylvania in an Amish community. I really like reading about the Amish or Plain. I like the sense of community I get.
Annie is at the end of her oat sowing time and will soon have to make the decision to join the church or leave the Plain life. The one thing stopping her from joining the church, which her father is a preacher in, is her love of art. She is a budding artist and doing quite well, having just won an art contest. Sadly she must hide her love for art from her family and community. It is disgraceful for her to do something so prideful when she should be more humble.
Annie has already given up her beau Rudy because she was unable to commit to the Plain way of life.
Louisa is Annie's pen pal. They have written to each other since Annie was eleven. Louisa comes from a rich family in Colorado. They are pressing her to marry a lawyer that will fit their idea of the ritzy way of life. Tired of the material life, Louisa calls off the wedding and flees Denver to stay with Annie.
Annie's long time friend Esther is married with three children and one more on the way. Her husband Zeke is a mean control freak. I suspect he beats her. Esther runs into a Mennonite family. (This family is related to Annie but they are not Amish. Annie helps clean their house and in turn they have an art studio for her in their attic.) Esther finds she likes their belief in Jesus and becomes saved. Zeke finds out and gets her in to trouble with the Amish elders. She is banned from sleeping in the same bed with Zeke. She runs away and stays with the Mennonite family just as she goes into labor and delivers her last child.
Ben is a 'fancy' person.......not of the Amish or Mennonite faith. He sees Annie and is taken with her.
Long ago when Annie was younger, a small child disappeared from the Amish community. The Amish do not like outsiders in their lives, so the kidnapping was never reported to the police. Recently Annie's father Jesse uncovered what he thinks were the child's bones in a nearby field.

Honestly the only parts of this that really drew me in were Ben and the thought that Annie could leave her community for love and still be able to pain, and the abuse of Esther. At first I wanted to bash Esther myself because I thought she was going to submit to Zeke's abuse and let her children get hurt. Luckily she didn't or I wouldn't even be able to say this book was worth reading. Also I liked their manner of speech and the sprinkling of German and Old Dutch. The characters were okay I didn't really fall in love with them. I will probably read the next book in the series to find out what happens between Ben and Annie, Annie and the church, and if Lou will go back to her old life.
Rating 3
Rating G