Search - An Amish Christmas: December in Lancaster County

Three wonderful stories that were a coordinated project by the three authors. Each story stands alone but characters from each story are mentioned in the other two. These stories were very different from the typical Amish books and made reading them so much more enjoyable. I am very glad that I took the time to read the book.

I finally had a chance to read An Amish Christmas, three short stories written by Kathleen Fuller, Beth Wiseman, and Barbara Cameron.

Because I had already read books by Kathleen and Beth, I almost flipped to the end to read the last story in the book by Barbara. For some reason, I changed my mind and was glad that I did. Unlike many novellas, An Amish Christmas was definitely a collaboration by Kathleen, Beth, and Barbara, intertwining the lives of previous characters.

Although you wouldn’t have to read the stories in order, it certainly keeps the characters and relationships a bit clearer.

Kathleen Fuller writes “A Miracle for Miriam,” a story about unmarried, “plain” Miriam. Miriam has always struggled with her self-esteem, especially because of some painful teasing during her school days. When the tormenter apologizes years later, Miriam has a difficult time believing his sincerity.

In “A Choice to Forgive,” Beth Wiseman tells us about Lydia, a widow who is unprepared for the surprise appearance of her first love on her doorstep. Daniel, her dead husband’s brother, left her on a Christmas Eve almost 20 years ago with nothing but a short note. When Lydia hears the truth, she feels doubly betrayed.

“One Child” by Barbara Cameron shares the struggle of Sarah and David to have a baby. The couple, still grieving a miscarriage that happened last Christmas, opens their home to an Englisch couple during a terrible winter storm. Jason and Kate are very clearly expecting their first child…soon. Will the pregnant guest and the coming baby add to Sarah’s hurt or help heal her grieving heart?

For the most part, I enjoyed each story. Even though novellas are meant to be fairly short, each story in An Amish Christmas was well developed and interesting. “A Choice to Forgive” was my least favorite. I felt that the physical tension between Lydia and Daniel was a bit too edgy for my taste. Although this didn’t really surprise me, since I’d read a previous book by Beth.

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The first story in this book was my favorite. It's more true to life. All the stories in the book touched my heart. It's a great read!

All three authors were new to me. I enjoyed all the stories and appreciated that some of the characters were in all the stories. It was nice to read and learn about some of the Christmas customs of the Amish. And there were a few recipes at the end.

A great collection of heartwarming holiday stories. Although the stories are written by three different authors, the characters overlap within the stories and you get a real sense of the Amish community. My favorite was the first story, A Miracle for Miriam. It seemed to be the most true to life.

Great read