This story had some twists I wasn't expecting, and it highlights so beautifully the author's personal insights into the Amish world. At times heartwrenching, at times heartwarming, I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something slightly different than the typical Amish novel. ( )

Title: Promise to Cherish
Author: Elizabeth Byler Younts
Pages: 352
Year: 2014
Publisher: Howard
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Cherish-Novel-Sunrise/dp/1476735034/ref=sr_1_1?s=b...
Elizabeth Byler Younts’ new series was introduced to readers in the first book, Promise to Return in October 2013. When I read that story, I fell in love with the way the author showed the Amish lifestyle and English lifestyle without lifting one above the other. Instead, she beautifully shared the point of view that each world had some things to offer the other, that people had both positive and negative choices and neither lifestyle was completely perfect. Her characters were rich in transparency along with presenting how the Amish may have lived with being pacifists during war time.
In this tale, we are introduced to a young woman named Christine, who became a nurse, attempting to work at a hospital that houses a variety of people with mental handicaps and struggles. The author informs the readers how some people in society were named and dealt with back during WWII, unlike today. The novel then shows us a young man named Eli who is a “conscientious objector” to war believing there has to be alternate means to settle disputes.
I was intrigued by the way society put people away to be cared for by others, but not having their basic of needs met. The work in the Hudson River State Hospital shows readers how the demands for material and care were definitely higher and many going without decent treatment. The story takes readers from that setting to individualized situations between workers after their shifts are over. In one case, Christine makes a choice she knows to be wrong, but throws caution to the wind only to find her in a situation that quickly spirals out of control.
Finally, readers are taken to Eli’s home where he grew up. He asks Christine to accompany him until she makes her decisions for the future. As time in the novel progresses, we are let into the possible budding romance of Eli with Christine. The questions of in which world they would live in as one is Amish the other English, the ending shows a beautiful weave of the best of both worlds. The novel is one where the reader’s heart will be touched by both the lack of care extended to people with mental health needs and tugged by the patience of Eli, reaching out to Christine with a profound love.
My rating is 4 stars.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255. “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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A Promise To Return is a book that will linger in my mind for a long time, a book that I really didn’t want to end. The story takes place near the end of WWII and with the Amish being Pacifists, Eli, and our main character is sent to dig ditches. Eventually he ends up working in a mental hospital in Poughkeepsie, NY.
Also working at this hospital as a nurse is Christine, a person who cares too much, and is the sole provider for her parents. Both of her brothers have been killed in the War, and her father is very handicapped having been injured in WWI. Now you can see how she might feel about a pacifist.
What an eye opener being in that mental hospital is, such a horrible place, the state provides one sheet and one set of clothing per patient. So if your clothes get dirty, you walk nude until they come back from the laundry. Not enough beds, sheets or blankets, and never mind not enough staff.
Christine would be what we think of now days as a geek, she was an outstanding student, but very quiet. Now some of her high school friends get her to go to a reunion party, and there is the star football player Jack, back from the war, and she is again smitten he would play attention to her. I felt so sorry for her, and what a jerk, for lack of a better word, he was to her and other woman.
When circumstance force Christine to leave the hospital and Eli’s tour has ended, he persuades her to come home with him. What a rude awakening Christine is in for, I can’t even imagine! No turning the switch, or flushing the toilet here.
Can someone go from non-Amish to Amish? I suppose it is possible, but how about Eli, can he marry and English? There are answers here, and some you probably won’t like, but this page-turner kept me reading right to the end, and I wanted more. This one is sure to keep your attention.

I received this book through Net Galley and the Howard Books, and was not required to give a positive review. ( )