Book Review~An Amish Cradle

An Amish Cradle is a collection of four novellas written by well-known authors of Amish fiction.  Here are each of the novella's descriptions, and my thoughts on this collection.

In His Father's Arms by Beth Wiseman: Ruth Anne has been dreaming about motherhood her entire life. Now she is doubly excited that she and her best friend are due with their children within the same week. But when Ruth Anne's baby is born with Down's Syndrome, she and her husband struggle to understand God's plan.  

My Thoughts: My heart broke for Ruth Anne and her husband Levi as they struggled to accept that they have been entrusted with this special child.  It is a strain on their marriage, and on her friendship with her best friend.  Will Levi be able to let his guard down and love this child, or will their marriage be forever in turmoil? In His Father's Arms touches on the topic of having a special needs child, forgiveness, acceptance, and love.

A Son for Always by Amy Clipston:  Carolyn and Joshua are thrilled to be pregnant with their first child together. Carolyn was just a teenager  when she had her son, Benjamin, and she still feels solely responsible to secure his future. As Joshua watches Carolyn struggle to accept his support, he knows he has to find some way to convince her that she-and Ben-will always be taken care of.

My Thoughts: Carolyn works at a local hotel to put money away for her son she had out of wedlock as a teenager.  When she takes time off to have her baby, she becomes the happy, relaxed person she used to be-everyone can see it.  Her husband has adopted her son Ben, and makes enough money for her to stay home with her family, but Carolyn cannot let go of the fear that he won't treat Ben the same in the future as their own baby.  Carolyn needs to forgive herself for the mistake she made years ago when she conceived Ben.  As an adoptee myself and having adopted one of my children, I was frustrated with Carolyn's mindset.  Here she has the wonderful family and home she dreamed of, and she just can't accept that Ben being Joshua's adopted son is the same as his biological child.  A Son for Always was a wonderful story of letting go and trusting God.

A Heart Full of Love by Kathleen Fuller: Ellie's mother hasn't stopped meddling in her personal life since Ellie lost her sight-and she's taken it up a notch now that Ellie's pregnant.  When Ellie gives birth to twins, her mother insists on moving in to care for them.  But when her mother's behavior becomes unbearable, Ellie is forced to take a stand-and finally find out why Mamm can't let go.

My Thoughts: The thought of having twins is overwhelming enough, but being blind with newborn twins?  In A Heart Full of Love, I completely understood Ellie's mothers concerns about her ability to care for her babies by herself.  But then her mother's caring for the twins goes too far-she takes total control.  After Ellie puts her foot down finally, she learns the truth about why her Mamm is so worried about the babies.  This is a good story about releasing long-kept secrets and the strength of family.

 An Unexpected Blessing by Vannetta Chapman:  At 42, Etta thought she was finished having children, but she's pregnant again.  After a frightening labor, Etta finally gives birth, but her constant worry over her estranged grown son, David, haunts her still.  As a new mother again, Etta must hold tightly to the promise that God will watch over her children-and that one day David will return.

My Thoughts: I'm in my 40s myself, and I've often thought how hard it would be to have a baby at this stage of life.  Etta must deal with this on top of worry of her estranged adult son, and financial trouble that may force them to sell their home.  An Unexpected Blessing was a sweet story of a family coming together through a tiny newcomer to the family. 

An Amish Cradle was a wonderful collection of novellas focused on new babies.  I thoroughly enjoyed all four stories.  At just under 100 pages each, they were easy to read quickly.

*Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions expressed here are my own.