Review: Seasons of an Amish Garden by Amy Clipston

Seasons of an Amish Garden
By Amy Clipston
Zondervan, 2019


Summary

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 thoughts

Seasons of an Amish Garden is a moving novella collection straight from the heart of the talented Amy Clipston, and I enjoyed each story very much. This collection features the same characters, with each story focusing on a different couple as they spend four seasons working on a community garden for the beloved Emily Bontrager.

“Relationships are like gardens. We need to water

them and weed them to keep them healthy,

and then they’ll continue to grow.

It takes dedication and work, but it’s worth it.”

- Katie Ann

Amy has the ability to capture readers’ emotions through very ordinary situations that are so easily relatable to us all. As in the first story, Spring Is in the Air, who hasn’t been frustrated over circumstances that change relationships, or been hurt by a close friend who gradually pulled away because of a romantic interest? Sometimes it takes the pointed words of someone who cares, and with the courage to speak truth into our lives, as Katie Ann found out.

At the heart of this collection is Emily, who we first met in the novella The Christmas Cat from An Amish Christmas Love, where she facing her first Christmas after the loss of her husband and was befriended by the most intuitive kitty, Hank. Now this new collection of stories tells of friends who come together around a community garden at Emily’s home. These seasonal stories are so very creative, beginning with Katie Ann and Chris, and ending with Ephraim and Mandy, Katie Ann’s brother and best friend respectively.

Seasons of an Amish Garden is an enjoyable and inspiration collection, perfect for all seasons of the year. Recommended to all Amish fiction fans.

I received a copy of this book from the author. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

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Amy Clipston is the award-winning and bestselling author of the Kauffman Amish Bakery series. Her novels have hit multiple bestseller lists including CBD, CBA, and ECPA.

Amy holds a degree in communication from Virginia Wesleyan College and works full-time for the City of Charlotte, NC. Amy lives in North Carolina with her husband, two sons, and three spoiled rotten cats.

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