Guest Review: Leah’s Choice by Marta Perry

But Daniel’s past haunts him at every turn. Though he cannot miss the beauty in Leah’s bright eyes and patient ways, but he also sees a reminder of the pain he came so far to escape. And Leah has a burden on her heart that could daunt even someone as strong and steady as Daniel. Years ago she was engaged to Johnny Kile, a young man who became swept up in the outside world, leaving her behind, alone and heartbroken. Since then she has immersed herself in her love of the children she teaches, forgetting any hopes of having her own family. When Johnny returns, seeking reconciliation, Leah suddenly must decide between two pathways, either of which will change her life forever.

Author Marta Perry, drawing upon her own Pennsylvania Dutch roots, has written a gentle and inspiring story of a lonely woman in an Amish community in central Pennsylvania. Teacher Leah, as she is respectfully and fondly called, has subjugated her personal grief and broken heart in the task of providing the best possible education that can be had within the Amish Tradition. She and her younger sister Anna are the only sibling still at home with her parents and her sister is already involved in the rumspringa, the period given to all older teens in every Amish community to come and go and become involved in the outer world. Each must then decide whether to leave the community or return, declare their desire to stay, be baptized, and join the church and community. Anna appears to be wandering farther and farther away from her Amish roots.

Add to Leah’s conflict the re-appearance of her old fiance who had betrayed his promises to her and left the community permanently ten years earlier. He appears to be trying to re-establish contact with his family, especially his twin sister who is Leah’s best friend, and he also invites her to volunteer her time at a local clinic that is seeking to find treatments for those children suffering from genetically caused diseases. Working with Johnny causes increasing pressure on Leah. The match-making women of the Amish also are constantly seeking to throw Leah in the path of Daniel who is looking for a mother for his children but who is guarding his heart zealously because of past hurts. All this within the context of a community that is built on friendship, family, faith, mutual respect and hope for the future, respect for the land, and a desire to maintain a tradition of faith and life that has sustained them for hundreds of years.

I didn’t know if I would enjoy this book, but after beginning the story I found so much that reminded me of my father’s tradition in the Mennonite community in the Northern Plains of America. The greatest conflict in this story is that between the Amish Tradition and the lure of the outside world. The pain of Anna’s defection, the hurt and scars of Johnny’s leaving, Leah’s own love of learning and scholarship that can only go so far, – all are constantly whirling in her mind and in her heart. I think this book really chronicles Leah’s journey of learning where she belongs, finding her own inner serenity, and gaining what is often called “a settled heart.” Then, and only then, can she open her heart and mind to the future and to the love she truly desires. I liked the way the author took the time to develop the personalities and give shape and form to the characters. Each is really an icon of the kinds of people one will find in every community, especially one that is so defined as the Amish.

This is not one of your hot and heavy romances, but its exploration of the human heart and spirit make it a worthy literary effort. This is not so much about religion as it is about the marriage of faith and living. Leah really symbolizes every individual who must come that critical point of choosing whether to live in the outside world or remain within the Amish context. Marta Perry writes delightful books and she has done it again! When I finished the final page, I said to myself, “That was really a wonderful book.”