A Plain and Simple Christmas by Amy Clipston on November 29th 2010
Pages: 204
Goodreads
In the tradition of her widely popular Kauffman Amish Bakery series, author Amy Clipston tells the tale of Anna Mae McDonough who was shunned by her family four years ago when she left her Amish community in Lancaster County, PA, to marry an ''Englisher'' (non Amish) man and move with him to Baltimore. Now, eight months pregnant when her first child, she longs to return home for Christmas to reconcile with her family, especially her stern father, who is the religious leader for her former Amish church district. So Anne Mae writes a letter to Kathryn Beiler, her brother's wife, to enlist her help. Kathryn asks her husband, David, if she should arrange Anna Mae's visit. David cautions her that a visit would cause too much stress in the family and instead suggests they visit Anna Mae and her husband in the spring. However, Kathryn arranges the visit anyway, believing in her heart that it's God's will for the family to heal. When Anna Mae arrives in Lancaster for Christmas, she doesn't receive the welcome she expects and her world begins to fall apart, leaving her to question her place in her family and her faith in God. A book filled with love, the pain of being separated from one's family, and the determination to follow God's will regardless of the outcome, A Plain and Simple Christmas is an inspiring page-turner that will keep you guessing what happens next right to the very last page.
Last Christmas I was reading quite a bit of Christmas books and before I knew it 2016 rolled around and I didn’t feel comfortable posting Christmas book reviews in the new year so I decided to schedule them for this Christmas.
Not sure if this book is still available to purchase as a physical book but you might be able to get it as an ebook from Harlequin.
For some reason I love reading anything about the Amish and I don’t read nearly as much as I should. Hopefully this year I made more of an effort to read more Amish books.
A Plain & Simple Christmas is about Anna Mae who was an Amish girl who ended up falling in love with a English guy named Kellan. She has been away from her Lancaster County home since being shunned four years ago. With a baby on the way Anna Mae misses her family and would love to be reunited with them so that her parents can get to know her upcoming baby.
Kellan encourages Anna Mae to contact someone back home who would be able to help her plan her trip. She knows it won’t be easy and is fearful of the outcome. Anna Mae knows the perfect person to write and ask for help and its her long life childhood friend and sister in law Kathryn.
Anna Mae sends of her letter to Kathryn who is beyond thrilled and sets a plan in motion to get Anna Mae home for Christmas. Kathryn has planned the best secret trip for Anna Mae but when her husband David finds out he is not happy that Kathryn went behind his back and involved family to help her. He knows that this won’t end good.
A few days before Christmas Anna Mae and Kellan arrive and its not the welcoming they were expecting. Will the family be able to hell their past wounds or will Anna Mae’s baby grow up not knowing the family back in Lancaster County?
I loved reading this story and throughout the book I kept rooting for this family to heal and over come the fact that Anna Mae was happy and in love with someone even though he wasn’t Amish. Would this family be able to heal and forgive?
I loved how strong Anna Mae really was and I am sure it wasn’t easy for her to leave her family but she followed her heart and did what was best for her. I know towards the end I didn’t like her father and wonder how parents could turn their backs on their children? I know its to do with their culture and I don’t think I could ever turn my back on my son.