As might be surmised by the title: The Choice
, this is a book about a young woman who has to make a choice between the Amish lifestyle and a normal one. In fact, she isn't the only one who has to make that choice, and it is somewhat surprising who makes which choice. Carrie is in love with a boy she has known all her life, only he is planning to leave the Amish community to play pro baseball. They plan to leave together until her father dies, leaving Carrie and her brother with her stepmother. Because of the way her stepmother treats her brother, she doesn't want to leave him, so she stays, and marries another. That choice sets into motion the rest of the plot. I read Amish Peace
a non-fiction book by the author, Suzanne Woods Fisher a few months ago (click here to read review). Fisher works many of the details covered in that book into this one. The stress on community, the opposition to competition, and family ties are especially stressed. One detail I found interesting is that when an Amish couple bought a farm that had been owned by non-Amish, they proceeded to remove the modern improvements including window screens. I can't imagine why anyone would want to live without either air conditioning or window screens, especially on a farm. I found The Choice
to be a well-written book with characters who seemed true-to-life. If you like Amish fiction, you'll probably like this one; if you like clean romances, you might.
