The Bishop's Daughter by Wanda E. Brunstetter Published by Barbour Pub. on July 1, 2006
Genres: Amish & Mennonite, Christian, Fiction, Romance
Pages: 285
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Leona is Bishop Jacob Weaver's daughter and a dedicated teacher in a one-room Amish schoolhouse. After her father's tragic accident, Leona's faith wavers. How could God allow something like this to happen to one of His servants? Outlander Jimmy Scott comes to Pennsylvania in search of his real family. When he is hired to paint an Amish schoolhouse, Jimmy and Leona find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other. Can anything good come from the love between an Amish woman and an English man? What secrets will be revealed and what miracles await God's people in Lancaster County? The Bishop's Daughter is book 3 in the Daughters of Lancaster County series. Other books in the series include The Storekeeper's Daughter: Book 1 and The Quilter's Daughter: Book 2.
Let me tell you a story about this book. I’d started the series last fall and in November went to request this book from the library to review in December. Yes, the plan was originally for December. There was a wait list. Which, for an older book is surprising but I wasn’t going to complain (too loudly) if someone else was all about reading Wanda as well. I wasn’t overly worried as I had started with enough advance to still be able to squeeze it in even if I got it later in the month. Then blam . . . the due date for the person before me was like 5 weeks or something out. That doesn’t even make sense! You get three weeks people, three weeks. I mean you can recheck as long as there’s not a wait list for it. Where did this five weeks come from and how did they get to be so special? I want to be special because, let’s face it, despite all my golden intentions I tend to get behind rather quickly. Something about a day job and pesky adulting. All those stuffs and things can interfere with my reading.
Once I got the book in my hands I was behind (go figure) and it had to wait a minute or twenty for it’s turn in my hands. There’s just something about reading any of an author’s older books. The way their writing styles change over time. If you have never gone back and read (or re-read) a favorite author from the beginning I strongly encourage you to do so, it’s enlightening. Wanda’s writing style has definitely changed and developed over the years. Some things never change but I gotta tell ya she was heavy on the adjectives in the early days. Descriptions of descriptions. I don’t mind it a bit. Her later work has a more simple tone to it. I appreciate that as well, I turn to Wanda when I need to take a break from the crazy. She’s soothing like that. The only real drawback for me with this book was the frequent (and I mean FREQUENT) changes of perspective, changing between multiple characters in the same chapter. It took me a minute to get back into my characters and the time jump forward but they slipped in easily, like old friends.
If you remember back to ‘The Storekeeper’s Daughter‘ when Zach Fisher was kidnapped from his front yard and taken to live in the Northwest. In ‘The Quilter’s Daughter‘ we watch as his original Amish family grows and changes as does Zach/Jimmy. Twenty years after he is taken Jimmy discovers the truth and sets out to learn about his family of origin. This book brought all of these families full circle. The characters and storytelling kept a sameness through all three novels. Even with so much time (for me) between the books I didn’t have near as much as if I had read them as they were released. (Yet another benefit of delayed reading or re-reading!). I’m sad that we are saying goodbye to these characters and families with this book as I really loved this series. I’m kinda of excited that it’s being turned into a stage play. I’m also kinda bummed as it’s not being preformed anywhere near me. But then I’m excited again as I know that this series is being re-released this year.
About Wanda E. Brunstetter
Wanda E. Brunstetter is an award-winning, New York Times best-selling author of Amish and historical fiction. She’s also written Amish cookbooks, Amish-themed devotionals, and several children’s books with Amish characters.
Wanda E. Brunstetter writes about the Amish because they live a simple life, which she feels we all need in this day and age.
Wanda and her husband Richard, who grew up in a Mennonite church, have Amish friends in several Amish communities.
Besides writing books, Wanda’s a professional ventriloquist. In her spare time she photography, gardening, knitting, looking for shells and agates on the beach, and spending time with her family.
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