Raised in a Pennsylvania
Amish community, young mother Rachel Yoder has led a simple life within
her close-knit family. Widowed three years ago, she has moved back in
with her parents, attempting to raise her daughter, Katie, without
further emotional upheaval. Meanwhile, four hours and a whole world away
in New York City, Ellie Lawrence is laser-focused on a high-powered
public relations career, with too little time for her family, her
friends, or even her boyfriend.
Then one fateful day, these two
very different women receive shocking news of a mistake made three
decades earlier and long kept hidden: Shortly after their births, the
two were accidentally switched in the hospital. Shaken to the core by
this momentous news, Rachel and Ellie are plunged into an exploration of
who they are and where they really belong. While Ellie is eager to
learn more about her Amish family and their life in the countryside,
Rachel cannot help but feel jealous as she watches the only mother she
has ever known bonding so easily with her natural daughter. But Rachel
also knows that her own biological family is out there, and with Katie
at her side she heads for Manhattan, where she establishes a connection
with the raucous, spirited Lawrences.
As Ellie and Rachel make
their way through unfamiliar landscapes, they face life-altering
challenges and grapple with a crucial question: Will their old
conventions and desires give way to new customs and yearnings? With the
Christmas holidays fast approaching, it takes the love of two families
for Rachel and Ellie to discover their own paths to fulfillment and
happiness.
MY REVIEW: In "A Plain & Fancy Christmas", Cynthia Keller offers a very
intriguing human quandary in an unusual setting. I believe that who we
become as individuals is as much a matter of our environment as it is
our genetic heritage. This is a "switched at birth story" with a twist:
at birth, the daughter of an Amish couple is given to a well-heeled New
York family, and the city baby goes home to be raised in the Amish
community. Both of the girls are fortunate to have loving family homes,
yet each of them yearns for something unknown to make them feel
complete. When the widow of the doctor who made the mistake in a drunken
stupor actually reveals the secret thirty years later, many lives are
changed forever. Ellie is the Amish girl raised as a New Yorker, and
Rachel is the city girl raised among the Amish. After they meet face to
face, they eventually decide to try on each other's lifestyle for size.
The characters are appealing, the story line offers much food for
thought, and the ending is satisfying and seasonal. This is a somewhat
slow read, but it is eventually quite worth staying with until the end.
How would any of us handle this total life upheaval? Haven't you ever
wondered what your life would be like if you had different parents, and
were raised in a completely different environment? If so, then you will
very much enjoy "A Plain & Fancy Christmas".
Book Copy Gratis Amazon Vine
Cynthia Keller
Cynthia Keller is the author of An Amish Christmas, A Plain & Fancy Christmas, and An Amish Gift. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/121887/cynthia-keller/
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