The Harvest of Grace

Sylvia Fisher undoubtedly loves Elam.  But unlike most Amish women, she has her own ideas regarding what brings her happiness and she is uncertain that she can fit into the mold of being an Old Order Amish housewife.  When Elam proposes, Sylvia hesitates a bit too long which leads to a terrible betrayal by him as well as by her closest sister, Beckie. That betrayal doesn't change the love and attraction she feels towards Elam.  Hurt beyond words, Sylvia leaves her home and family to help another Amish family on their dairy farm.  The farm owners., the Blands, are still grieving over the recent death of their daughter and are at the brink of losing their land.

Sylvia has helped the Blands heal emotionally and the farm is on the road to making a profit which will help pay off some of the loans.  The Blands do have one surviving child, Aaron, who left home to get help with his alcohol addiction.   When Aaron returns home, he comes with the news that he has made a downpayment on an Amish appliance store and wishes his parents to sell their failing farm and move with him in order to have an easier life.  Can his father ever trust him again since he left without a word and his parents knew nothing of his addiction before he left?  Will Sylvia stand in the way of his plans to sell the farm?  Will either of them ever find the peace and forgiveness they long for?

The Harvest of Grace by Cindy Woodsmall is the third in the Ada's House series, preceded by The Hope of Refuge and The Bridge of Peace.  Although The Harvest of Grace begins the story of Sylvia and Aaron, the stories of the main characters from the two preceding novels are continued in this novel.  As a reader new to this series, I was thankful that Ms. Woodsmall had written a brief synopsis of the two prior novels at the beginning of this installment and a glossary of characters at the end.  Without those, I would have found it impossible to keep all the characters straight since there are multiple stories being told throughout the novel with all the charcters being intertwined through friendship. 

I did enjoy this Amish fiction series but I do recommend reading them in order.  Having read the third one first, I won't go back to read the other two because I already know the "rest of the story".   As usual, Ms. Woodsmall does an excellent job of developing believable multi-faceted characters.  The Harvest of Grace will be available on August 9, 2011 from your local christian bookstore, christianbooks.com (on August 23),  and amazon.com.