Life as a newlywed is tough for all newly married people. For Susanna and Herman it is tougher because she married Herman after the one man she truly loved, Matthew, left the Amish Community. To make life more difficult she tries to convince both herself and her new husband that they truly do love each other. Then there is the culture clash. Herman’s family doesn’t celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December. Her family had always celebrated on the date the English celebrated. In his culture they celebrate it on the 6th of January. Since they are married he expects her to adapt to his culture since they are now one. She goes to her sister’s house to help with Thanksgiving and learns Matthew has returned. When they go for Thanksgiving he is still there and that creates more stress. Matthew is stirring up trouble. Herman is so insecure in his marriage and then his mother gets involved. What is Susanna to do except rely on her faith in God to get her through this touch time, and to save her marriage. This is a wonderful novella. It is great no matter what time of year.
I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own. ( )

Author: Jerry S.Eicher
Published By: Harvest House Publisher
Age Recommended: YA
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Blog For: GMTA
Rating: 4

Review:

"Susanna's Christmas Wish" by Jerry S.Eicher was a nice holiday Amish novel. This novel was of how Susanna who thought that she would be happy ever after with Matthew, however, he decided to leave the Amish community and enter the English world. At this point Susanna knows that this would be no life for her so, she moves on and becomes interested in Herman Wagler....later they get married and life is good for them until Matthew comes back to his brother's home and then Susanna learns that Herman's family didn't celebrate Amish Christmas. Now there were two things that didn't sit well with Susanna and that was the return of Matthew and Herman not wanting his wife to celebrate 'christmas.' What will happen with all of this? This is where I say you must pick up "Susanna's Christmas Wish" to see if she got her wish!

I would recommend that you read "Susanna's Christmas Wish"... story and learn how her faith helped her live a different life than she had first chosen for herself and how God made it a better one as time went by because of her faithfulness. ( )

Title: Susanna's Christmas Wish
Author: Jerry S. Eicher
Post Date: September 12, 2012
Blog URL: http://sweetpea0944.wordpress.com
Review Link: http://sweetpea0944.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/susannas-christmas-wish/

Susanna's Christmas Wish was the first novel I have read by Mr. Eicher. I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised when I sat down to write this review and found that Jerry Eicher is a man and not a woman as I had assumed. His writing is wonderful and he beautifully expresses the heart of the female character in this book. I found the book to be very enjoyable and finished reading it in one day.

Amish fiction is one of my favorite genres and this book addressed issues that I have never encountered in any other Amish literature. Susanna and Hermann are newlyweds and face the issues that come along with the joining of a couple and the traditions and ways that each bring from their individual families. The couple face some difficult situations as they begin their new life together but handle them with dignity and grace. I could relate to the problems the young couple encountered in blending their lives. Mr. Eicher gave me a new dimension of the Amish that I have never thought about before. I'm sure that there is some resistance in an Amish marriage just as in the English world. Individual families have their unique ways of interacting and have small differences even though they come from very similar backgrounds.

I give Susanna's Christmas Wish 4 out of 5 stars and look forward to reading more books by this wonderful author.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of Susanna's Christmas Wish through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions stated are solely my own and are unbiased.