The publisher's summary:
After her widowed father remarries, nineteen-year-old Clara Bender is no longer needed to run his household. Marriage seems like her best hope of moving out, but there are few young men in her tiny Indiana Amish community. When she comes across letters from her mother's aunt Ella Mae Cook, she sets off to visit Lancaster County's Hickory Hollow to decide where her future lies. Ella Mae is not quite ready to move from the farmhouse where she and her recently deceased husband spent over fifty happy years, but her children are eager to resettle her, making Clara's visit seem like an answer to prayer. The two women form a warm bond while restoring an heirloom wedding quilt and sharing their lives, with Ella Mae confiding about a tragedy from her courting years. Eventually, Ella Mae suggests Clara stay for the summer, allowing Ella Mae more time with her and giving Clara an opportunity to meet the area's eligible young men.
This book has a simple plot with a slow pace. I was distracted by the ARC's full justification for the paragraphs so perhaps that is why I felt the pace was slow. Sometimes there were only 2 to 3 words per line. It seemed that no matter how long I read at a stretch, I made little progress toward finishing the book. The justification was much improved by the midpoint of the story and that is where the plot became interesting. There were several mysteries and problems for Clara to resolve and the food descriptions were scrumptious. The pace also picked up nicely. Still, it took me two days to finish this short 190 page book. Unheard of for someone like me who can read three 300 page books in a day.
The justification clearly impacted my enjoyment of the novel and I would expect that by the time it is published the justification will be corrected and my comments irrelevant. Let's just say the second half of the book is worth reading.
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