The Stone Wall

Without humility, we cannot have obedience, nor the other way around.

Anna is looking for a new beginning. After a relationship heartache, she is leaving her community of Mifflinburg and her parents for a Old Order Amish community in Lancaster County. In Mifflinburg Amish community, they have a few comforts that the Old Order Amish stay away from, electricity and autos. Anna has her own car and feels a calling to the opportunity of being a tour guide in Lancaster County. She has a distant cousin that she will stay with, however, her parents are uneasy about the Old Order ways as they know that it is by grace we are saved. The trappings of a work salivation weighs heavy on her parents in the Old Order Amish Community, but her family puts their trust in the Lord for Anna to find healing. Anna finds several ways to serve the Lancaster County being a tour guide but also working at a Amish run therapy horse group. She catches the eye of two different Amish men and it with these men she finds her true calling of humility.

The narration is done by Anna and her grandmother Eliza who at the same age visited the same Old Order Amish community with the same fears as Anna's family. Eliza befriends Eb who shares different Amish beliefs. Their friendships grows however, they cannot be seen together and correspond with letters on the Stone Wall. Anna and her grandmother stories collide in a special way that marks God's hand on their family.

I loved how the Anna story bloomed into her grandmother's story and the same lessons that they both learned. Humility and obedience and what exactly that means in our faith. It shares the struggles and the victory of faith based on humility. Highly recommend.

A special thank you to Bethany House Publishers and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

"The Stone Wall" by Beverly Lewis
September 8, 2020
Bethany House Publishers
352 pages
Amish Contemporary Romance

Anna Beachy belongs to the Beachy Amish community in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania. Living with her parents, she is still grieving over her failed romance when the man she believed she would wed. A year has passed, and she wonders what her future holds. When she gets the opportunity to work as a tour guide in the large Amish community of Strasburg, (Lancaster County) Pennsylvania, she feels this is her chance for a new life. She is welcomed to stay with her older cousin, Sadie, and her husband, Glen, Old Order Amish, and she is sad to leave her family, especially her beloved grandmother, Mammi Eliza, who is suffering from Alzheimer's.

It breaks her heart to leave Mammi, even though the elderly woman does not recognize her at times. Yet when Mammi learns she is going to Strasburg, the town where she stayed caring for an elderly aunt when she was young, she gains some lucidity and talks about a stone wall there. This is a mystery to Anna, and upon her arrival, she asks Sadie if she knows where her grandmother may have stayed all those years ago telling her about the mysterious stone wall with the huge tree near it.

Though Anna works part-time, she thoroughly enjoys meeting "Englishers" and showing them places off the usual beaten path and locations that they want to explore to learn more about the Amish culture. Where Anna is, there are many Amish sects--Old Order Amish, Mennonite, Anabaptist, and other groups having similar but different beliefs. Anna, being a Beach Amish grew up with electricity and can own and drive and car and have a cell phone. Sadie and Glen are Old Order Amish, and these conveniences are not allowed, but Anna finds she is adjusting very well, and she forms a close kinship with her cousins.

She meets a kind young Mennonite tour guide man named Martin Nolt and finds an abiding friendship with him. They go to dinner, but Anna does not consider they are courting, and he is just a good friend, though she knows her parents would approve of him as a son-in-law for he is a Mennonite with ways similar to that of Anna's family.

One day, Anna drives by a stable called Peaceful Meadows and decides to check it out. She meets Gabe Allgyer, an Old Order Amish man who cares for special needs children by tendering horse therapy. She is entranced by his manner with the children, especially his own young daughter, Emmie, who hasn't spoken since the death of her mother two years prior. Anna finds this assistance so stimulating she inquiries about being a volunteer and is thrilled when her application is accepted. The few hours a week she spends there, she gets to know Emmie, finding a close and deep empathy and fondness for the child, and what is surprising to all is Emmie soon befriends Anna.

Though Sadie cannot learn where Anna's grandmother lived those many years ago, Anna discovers an old journal of Mammi's and learns more about her past, though it's still cryptic. She is determined to learn more about the time Mammi spent in Strasburg and the mysterious man she met at the stone wall.

This enchanting read not only offers insight into several Amish groups while giving Mammi's backstory of her younger years and the man she fell in love with, but it also opens one's mind to the many differences between "Plain" folk and "Englishers," showing a more gentle and compassionate way of life.

Anna needs a change. The opportunity presents itself when a letter from a relative in Strasburg, Pennsylvania arrives with news that there is a job opening that Anna might be interested in. Anna's parents have concerns about her staying with the Old Order Amish relatives because Anna's family are members of the Beachy Amish Church and there are differences. Anna does get the job, she meets people and has a social life and volunteers. She meets two men and she knows who she should be interested in. Does her heart agree?
Anna's grandmother had spent a summer in Strasburg decades ago and there had been vague talk about what happened there. Her story becomes entwined with Anna's story in this beautifully told narrative. The author doesn't back away from tough issues. Family expectations and difficult choices have to be dealt with. The Stone Wall is an intimate and touching tale which pulls together a past and the present. This book is well worth reading.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are my own

I always enjoy books by Beverly Lewis. I loved this one as well! The description didn't do it justice (as it really was, but I thoroughly loved the book as I read it. I loved the depth of so many characters! I greatly enjoyed how the author intertwined the story of Anna's grandmother into the storyline from a generation before.

I always seem to learn something thru Ms. Lewis's books. One thing that Intrigued me was the differences between the Beechy Amish and the Menonites. I always thought the two were actually categorized as the same (I thought Beechy Amish were considered Menonites). I also enjoyed the descriptions of the subtle various characteristics of clothing from one community to another...like the shape of the prayer caps.

All in all, I just really enjoy a good fictional Historical Fiction style story that is relevant in our current day. I love the multigenerational cultures and settings, and the exploration of the depth of the families thru the years. This was another great book that I am truly glad I had the opportunity to read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Beverly Lewis writes wonderful Amish stories, and this is another book for her many fans to add to their “must read” list. Anna’s story was an interesting one, and I loved how the different storylines in this book intertwined to come together for a beautiful conclusion. It’s an inspirational, heart-warming story that will make you want to read the book again. The faith element to this book was encouraging and helpful.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I love Beverly Lewis and her books. I was excited to have the opportunity to read her newest The Stone Wall. It is a great read and is getting four stars from me.

Beverly Lewis has done it again! She has created a very heartwarming, soul capturing story! I love her writing style and feeling as if I'm a part of the story. The characters are wonderfully chiseled and the plot is filled with inspirational messages that will have you thinking long after the story ends. Four stars and two thumbs up for sure!

Beverly Lewis is the author that first introduced me to Amish fiction years ago when I discovered her Abram's Daughters series from my library. She hooked me with that first book and I've since found many other wonderful authors who write in this genre. I'll always credit her to falling in love with my first Christian Fiction stories!

So it was with great pleasure & anticipation that I read The Stone Wall! What I loved about it is that Anna is a young Amish woman who's trying to find her way in the world. When an opportunity comes up to visit distant family, she eagerly embarks spending time with her Old Order Amish relatives. The promise of a new direction for her life renews her spirit & refreshes her heart. I also love the mysterious memories her elderly grandma shares that involve a stone wall and a long ago forbidden love. Lastly, I enjoyed the developing love interests from two different men and couldn't wait to find out which one Anna would end up with. I normally don't care for love triangles because they can be frustrating for me to read, but Lewis wrote this in a way that was interesting without all the angst. Now, I'd really like to see a book featuring the one that didn't get his happily-ever-after! I'm a hopeless romantic like that.

I loved getting to know Anna & her extended family, the community she quickly feels a part of, the friendships she'd made, watching how her strong faith guided her every step, and the depth of love she had for her grandma. Someone described this as classic Beverly Lewis and I would have to agree!

“Tis a waste of time to look back with regret,” Mammi Eliza Slaubaugh once told me. “Though we might fret and stew, the past simply can’t be changed,” she’d added, leaning closer, as if to share a secret. “Besides, if we could change our past, Anna, would we want to?”

*I received a complimentary digital copy from Netgalley and was not obligated to leave a favorable review. All opinions are my own. *