The Photograph by Beverly Lewis {Contemporary Fiction Review}



Contemporary Fiction/Amish

He studied the picture more closely, finding it curious that the young woman looked so boldly into the camera while wearing a white prayer Kapp shaped like a heart--the characteristic head covering for the Lancaster County Old Order Amish.

Why would a devout girl have her picture taken?

When her sister Lily disappears only months after their widowed mother's passing, Eva Esch fears she has been wooed away from the People. Yet Lily's disappearance isn't Eva's only concern: She and her sisters must relocate once their older brother takes over the family farmhouse. Then Jed Stutzman, an Amish buggy maker from Ohio, shows up in Eden Valley with a photo of a Plain young woman. Eva feels powerfully drawn to the charming stranger--but the woman in the forbidden photograph is no stranger at all. . . .

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My Thoughts

Beverly Lewis does it again! Just when you think that she has surely run out of original storylines, out pops another one. This book revolves around a mystery that slowly unravels revealing a piece of the puzzle at a time.

This time the story centers around a photograph of an Amish woman mysteriously tucked between the pages of a book and inadvertently left on the seat of a train. Jed Stutzman, an Amish man, stumbles upon the photo while he is on the train going to Eden Valley on a business trip.

The Amish don't take photos and the woman in this particular picture is obviously posing for the camera. That leaves Jed mighty perplexed. Who is she and why would she go against their beliefs to so brazenly allow the photo to be taken?

Imagine Jed's surprise when he unexpectedly runs into the woman in the photo in Eden Valley. Instead of answers to his questions, more questions develop. 

Even after all of these years I am continually drawn to the writings of Beverly Lewis. Her characters may be from the Amish faith but their situations and hopes and desires are similar to those that we non Amish experience as well. This particular novel reaches deep into our longings and explores what it means to give up what seems to be a better life for the one that God intends. 

If you enjoy a story about people who struggle to do what is right amid pressure to do what the flesh desires then I think that you are going to enjoy this book. There is a reason that Beverly Lewis consistently tops the charts and The Photograph is another shining example of that talent.



Other Reviews For This Author

The Love Letters

Connect With The Author

Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of Gene Photography







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