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Seasons of an Amish Garden by Amy Clipston – Book Review

Hope and Wildflowers was provided a complimentary copy of Season of an Amish Garden by Book Look Bloggers to review for our readers. All opinions are our own, we pinky promise! This post also contains affiliate links. Please see our Disclosure Policy for more details! Thank you!  

About the Book

Enjoy a year of beautiful seasons in this new story collection, as young Amish couples manage a community garden and harvest friendships and love along the way.

Spring Is in the Air

As the young people of Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania, plant a garden in memory of their friend, Katie Ann begins to worry that her older brother, Ephraim, is dating her best friend. What if she somehow loses them both? But Christian, a new boy in the community, also works in the garden—and falling for him may be exactly the distraction, and lesson, that Katie Ann needs.

Home by Summer

Clara Hertzler is surprised when Jerry Petersheim, her old friend, comes to the garden to drop off his younger sister—especially because Jerry has been gone for years, and now seems to be living as an Englisher. As the friends get to know each other again, Clara pushes Jerry to examine why he abandoned his Amish beliefs. Will Clara help Jerry renew his faith in God, and will they find love beneath the summer sun?

The Fruits of Fall

Tena Speicher has come to live in Bird-in-Hand after her fiancé left her for an English woman. When a homeless veteran comes to the fruit stand one day and asks for food, Tena is not sure how to respond—but Wayne intervenes and offers to let him stay in the barn. Afraid to trust Englishers, Tena must learn, with Wayne’s help,  that everyone is a child of God and deserving of kindness.

Winter Blessings

Ephraim and Mandy have dated for some time and now have plans to marry. But after a series of unexpected events and misunderstandings, they wonder if they should go their separate ways. What will happen when their friends at the Amish garden conspire to bring them back together?

——————–

My Review

As I was looking for my next book to read the title of this book caught my eye right away! With Spring just around the corner, it will be that time to start planting again. Planting our garden is something I look forward to every year! As we come to the end of winter I thought this book would be a great read before Spring makes its grand appearance. I am a great fan of Amy Clipston and have read some of her books before. Each of her books is written with such detail that you feel you are right in the room.

Like some of the previous Amish books I have read, this book also had four individual stories. What was unique about this book is the stories revolved around the same setting as each one followed each individual’s stories from their perspective.

The stories take place mostly around the home of a sweet window named Emma along with her cat Hank (who makes his appearance from time to time throughout each story).  Emma has a garden in remembrance of her deceased husband. To keep the garden going a group of young people which you will be introduced to in the story, take on a project of selling baked goods near the garden at their stand. All proceeds go to a homeless shelter called Bird-in-Hand.

Each of the novellas is set within the four seasons of the garden’s year and focuses on four young Amish couples and their love stories. What kind of hurdles will each of these couples have to overcome? I think one of my favorite passages from this book was some wise advice from dear Ms. Emma given to her niece Tena in the Novella “The Fruits of Fall”.

” I know Lewis hurt you, and I know you’re still healing from what Micah went through.” Aenti Emma leaned over and squeezed her hand.  “I’m sorry for your heartache, but you can’t let bitterness define the rest of your life. Lewis has moved on, and Micah has healed from his injuries and returned to a normal life. Now you need to do the same. Live the life God has given you.” (Pg. 268 of Seasons of an Amish Garden)

I think we can all heed her advice, how many times have we allowed something to make us so upset that it seems to distract us from what is most important? Sometimes we can allow circumstances in our life to define who we are instead of letting them go and focusing on the life God has given us, not full of hate and bitterness.  This book is great for any couple or individual who is having a difficult time trusting or holding on to something that is distracting and causing them bitterness in their heart. I think the last chapter is soaked with some fantastic wisdom for any young couple to read before they get married. What is the advice given? Will the couples take the advice?

Each of these stories has a great lesson and are very heartwarming story of love, forgiveness, trust, and the importance of friendships.  I truly enjoyed how Clipston tied in the Amish dialect and also provided a glossary to define the terms. Included is also a family tree at the beginning of each story to refer to each character and their relation.  I felt this was a very inspiring book and I personally enjoyed the nuggets of wisdom shared from the elders to the younger couples throughout each story.

Order Your Copy of Seasons of an Amish Garden by Amy Clipston

354307: Seasons of an Amish Garden Seasons of an Amish Garden
By Amy Clipston / Zondervan

About the Author 
Early Years

A native of New Jersey, I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. I often joke that my fiction writing “career” began in elementary school as I wrote and shared silly stories with a close friend. However throughout school, I only considered writing a hobby, and I never dreamt of being an author.

In 1991, I graduated from high school, and my parents and I moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia. My father retired, and my mother went to work full-time. I attended Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk, and I graduated with a degree in communications. I met my husband, Joe, during my senior year in college, a few days after my father had a massive stroke. Joe and I clicked instantly, and after a couple of months we started dating. We married four years later.

After graduating from VWC, I took a summer job with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District, which turned into an eleven-year career. I worked in the Public Affairs Office for four years and then moved into Planning as a writer/editor.

During that time, I continued writing for fun. It was something I did to escape stress and unwind. I didn’t share the stories with anyone except for a couple of close friends. In fact, I was even afraid to admit to my husband that I wrote. Read more about Amy Clipston HERE.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review of Seasons of an Amish Garden by Amy Clipston.  Have you read this book? Share with us your thoughts in the comment section below.  

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