Cynthia KellerCritiques

Digital audiobook narrated by Cassandra Campbell
2.5** rounded up

A family living the American dream in North Carolina discovers they’ve lost everything. With little more than the clothes on their backs, they head for a family’s home in Maine, only to crash their car in the midst of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Meg, the mom in this middle-class family, is a well-organized, suburban housewife, who loves to entertain, and is completely caught off guard when her husband, James, reveals he’s been out of work for four months. She’s upset by the family’s financial circumstances, of course, but more, she’s afraid she will never trust her husband again. And she is suddenly aware of how spoiled and bratty her kids are.

But the family’s enforced stay with an Amish family while their car is being repaired opens everyone’s eyes to what is really important in life: stability, family, teamwork, good neighbors, faith, kindness, good manners, and love.

It’s a sweet, and somewhat sappy, holiday story.

Cassandra Campbell is one of my favorite narrators. She does a fine job of voicing the large cast of characters.

Stressed and dysfunctional English family meets friendly and functional Amish family. Object: changed behaviors that results better familial relationships. In the first part of the book, the reader is introduced to the Davis family, Shep and Jeannie and their two teenaged kids, Willa and Tim. They have inherited a rundown house and bicycle shop in an Amish community. It’s their last chance to make a living, but they have no savings to fall back on, and little ability to make a go of things. Shep has not been able to earn a living, despite having several jobs. The kids snipe at everyone, and no one is happy. Enter the Fisher family, Mattie and Abraham and their eight kids. The interaction between the two families, and the growth of the characters really make this tale interesting. Bad things have happened to both families, but their outlook and coping mechanisms are different, at least until the families start to alter the way they look at things and react to them. It’s a heartwarming story, and nice for any time of the year.

A nice story with a good message but I found myself skimming through a lot of the middle chapters.

Not your typical sappy romance. This story has meat to it. Two completely different families figuring out what tomorrow will hold.

I very much enjoyed this book.

This was a great read of how when God shuts a door he opens a window.

Meg and her family were living high on the hog (as they say) when her husband drops the bomb that they are now broke. This is the story of Meg standing by her man in front of her children and parents, even though she is furious at what he has done. This is a story of change, forgiveness and the kindness of Amish people ( I do hope some non amish are this kind but I haven't run across any in a long time).

This is a book that made me feel like life can be ok - even in what you think are the worst times.

“An Amish Holiday” by Cynthia Keller is an anthology featuring two Amish Christmas stories. The first, “An Amish Christmas” should be required reading by all pre-teen and teen youngsters. It is the story of a well-to-do family, who enjoys the good life with all the perks and play toys that money can buy. Unbeknownst to the wife and children, the husband and father has been fired from his job many months before. Finally, it all comes down to the truth. They have lost everything…the house, cars, social standing…the whole thing. In coming to terms with their situation, the family has to beggar itself to go to the wife’s parents for sustenance. While driving their old car, each with one suitcase, to the grandparents’ home, they are in a near-accident with an Amish buggy. Their care needs lots of work and the Amish family takes them in while repairs are being made. The children are little beasts and continually belittle the Amish children for their simple ways. As the story progresses, the kids come to appreciate and enjoy their stay with the simple Amish people. The end of the story provides a wonderful climax to the family’s life.

“A Plain and Fancy Christmas” is the second story in this book. This story is about two babies named Rachel who were switched at birth. One went to a Pennsylvania Amish family and the other baby was taken home by a wealthy New York City couple. The nurse who was a party to the unintended switch is old and dying and needs to set things straight, and write letters to both girls, now grown. The sad thing is that both girls have flourished in their respective lives, even though they are with the wrong family. The story it about how they and their families deal with the news and which of the girls adopts a new life.

I received a free print copy of this book for my honest review from the publisher. The opinions expressed here are my own.

You can read my reviews on my blog at: http://wp.me/p2pjIt-3E

“An Amish Gift” by Cynthia Keller is a wonderful Christmas book. It’s the story of a down-on-their-luck English family who inherits a home and business in Lancaster Pennsylvania. Their troubles have led to disillusionment and distress among the family members. Shep, the husband, forbids Jennie, his wife, from helping bring in money for the family even though they are floundering. Tim and Willa, the kids, are sassy mouthed and ill-behaved. When the family befriends their Amish neighbors, the Fishers, their home life gradually becomes more civilized and happy. When Jennie finds a business that she can run, with the help of her family, things look up for them.

This is a story of how the hectic, material pace of the world can be tempered by the easy, but work-filled way of the Amish.

I really liked this story. It was a good read for me at Christmas when the material world collides with the religious world and we all seek a peace that is elusive for the most part for many of us.

I received a free print copy of this book for my honest review from the publisher. The opinions expressed here are my own.


You can view my review on my blog at http://wp.me/p2pjIt-3K

Raised in a close-knit Amish family, Rachel Yoder did toy with the idea of not returning from her Rumspringa but she did, marrying Jacob. Jacob is dead now and Rachel and her daughter Katie have returned home to help her family. In New York, Ellie Shore is consumed with her public relations career to the point she ignores her love life and family at times. The two seemingly have little in common but when they discover they were switched shortly after birth and sent home with the wrong family, each decides to live with their biological families for a while to get a taste of what their life might have been like. Each of them will find themselves and their lives forever changed.

"A Plain and Fancy Christmas" is an interesting, at times thought provoking, novel about two women whose worlds unexpectedly collide. Author Cynthia Keller does lean a bit toward making the Amish lifestyle seem more appealing but she does do an excellent job of showing how such news can initially shatter each family yet ultimately pull them together and perhaps make them stronger. I thought the novel got off to a bit of a slow start as Keller built the characters of Rachel and Ellie, but once the switched at birth thing was brought into the book the pace picked up quickly and the book became quite interesting. Keller does an excellent job of showing how Rachel and Ellie cope in their new worlds (again since Keller seems to lean towards the Amish lifestyle, Ellie seems to adjust more easily than Rachel). The characters may handle the situation a bit too easily (Rachel and Ellie do seem to struggle with their changes - Rachel especially so - but their families accept things far too easily) but it is a Christmas novel after all. While Keller does guarantee a happy ending for all, she puts in an unexpected twist not seen in many Amish novels which is a very nice touch.

"A Plain and Fancy Christmas" is a nice holiday novel.

This was a great book loved it!

Author: Cynthia Keller
Published by: Ballantine Books
Age Recommended: YA - Adult
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Book Blog For: GMTA
Rating: 5

Review:

"An Amish Gift" by Cynthia Keller was a good novel It really was just a great, short, sweet, feel-good book to read especially during this blessed holiday. "It was definitely a reminder of what is really important during the holidays." We find that this story is of the 'Davis Family' which consisted of Jeannie (mom), Shep (dad) Tim, Willa (the children) and Scout(the dog). We will travel through two different Christmas's with this family where the first Christmas was one full of sadness, bitterness and much anger. As the story moves along we now find that the Davis Family has moved due to an inheritance. They thought this was a good move due to the fact that Shep has lost his job and their finances were nearly in bankruptcy. Maybe a new start in a new place would be great but upon on arriving the 'new house' and Shep's new job a lots of TLC was needed.

You can see in the read that "Jennie was holding the family together with a string and a prayer." "When the family befriends their Amish neighbors, the Fishers, their home life gradually becomes more civilized and happy." "When Jennie finds a business that she can run, with the help of her family, things look up for them." Now, this is the time that I will say you must pick up the excellent read to see how the author gets the reader through this storm for the Davis's. It will be a bumpy ride but in the end...well you will see.

"An Amish Gift" was a good clean book even with some Bible references in it that wasn't overly done. It was interesting to see the 'Davis Family' actually were learning from their Amish neighbors. So, if you are interested in a good clean read that could be read any time...not only at Christmas...I would recommend "An Amish Gift" novel to you.

What an entertaining book...I read it in one afternoon. The story begins with what is a new beginning for the Davis familly..Jennie, Shep, Tim, Willa and their dog Scout. Can you imagine a relative you have never heard of leaving you their home, and business?
What we soon discover is that both the house and business need a lot of TLC. On several walks with Scout, Jennie meets an Amish family, first Mattie Fisher, and then the whole family and extended.
We travel through two Christmas's with the Davis Family, on the first there is so much anger and bitterness. As we travel along the next year, something changes.
What an enjoyable read between the two cultures. Yes there are differences, but there are also many of the same problems. We see how things are handled within each family, and we come to love them all.
A really different story of Amish books...I for one Loved it, and didn't want it to end!

I was provided with a copy of this book through the Publisher Random House, and Net Galley, and was not required to give a positive review.

Think about what you would do, if as an adult, you discovered that your whole life was built on a lie. What if everything you believed in – your family, your faith, even your aspirations as encouraged by your parents – really weren’t your own? What if you suddenly discovered why you didn’t look like your siblings or parents, why you always felt like somehow you didn’t belong, why you vaguely seemed to be missing something in life? How would you react if at age 30, you discovered that as an infant you were given to the wrong parents by a doctor at the hospital where you were born? This is the dilemma faced by two woman; one born Amish but raised by “English” parents, one born “English” but raised Amish – a situation known only by one doctor and his wife, a nurse, and only brought to light when the dying nurse confessed her deceased husband’s long buried secret. The author does a remarkable job in conveying the anguish both families go through, trying to understand and cope with this most unusual turn of events. A well crafted story, this tale will make you ponder just how much of our personalities are formed by heredity and not necessarily by environment.

all is made right for a troubled 21st century family when they are taken in by an Amish family. Sweet, although improbable

In "A Plain & Fancy Christmas", Cynthia Keller offers a very intriguing human quandary in an unusual setting. I believe that who we become as individuals is as much a matter of our environment as it is our genetic heritage. This is a "switched at birth story" with a twist: at birth, the daughter of an Amish couple is given to a well-heeled New York family, and the city baby goes home to be raised in the Amish community. Both of the girls are fortunate to have loving family homes, yet each of them yearns for something unknown to make them feel complete. When the widow of the doctor who made the mistake in a drunken stupor actually reveals the secret thirty years later, many lives are changed forever. Ellie is the Amish girl raised as a New Yorker, and Rachel is the city girl raised among the Amish. After they meet face to face, they eventually decide to try on each other's lifestyle for size. The characters are appealing, the story line offers much food for thought, and the ending is satisfying and seasonal. This is a somewhat slow read, but it is eventually quite worth staying with until the end. How would any of us handle this total life upheaval? Haven't you ever wondered what your life would be like if you had different parents, and were raised in a completely different environment? If so, then you will very much enjoy "A Plain & Fancy Christmas".

Review Copy Gratis Amazon Vine

When two baby girls are born in the same hospital, just two days apart, they are mixed up at the time their mother's were discharged for home. Each girl was raised in the home the other should have been raised in. Their destinies forever altered, each girl named Rachel, lived thirty years unknowing of the situation.

When a death bed confession brings light to the hidden secret of the mix -up, lives are once more altered.

What could have been a devastation forever changes who each woman thinks she really is.

This book brought laughter. And tears.

This was a read you simply did not want to set down!

I give this book Five Stars and my Thumbs Up Award!

****DISCLOSURE: This book was provided at no charge from the Amazon Vine program for independent, non-biased review.

What would you do if you found out your parents were not YOUR parents. What if you found out that instead of being a Professional in NYC, you were supposed to be a plain Amish woman?

That's what happened to Rachel & Ellie.

An alcoholic doctor on his second strike, mistakenly sends baby Ellie to Manhattan with the Lawrence family. Rachel is sent to Lancaster Co. P.A. to be raised Amish.

Rachel is still reeling from the loss of her husband and is raising her daughter Katie. Rachel has always felt that she did not fit in the Amish life. As a child she was always questioning and had a hard time following the strict rules. If it wasn't for her husband she might have not returned to the community to be baptized.

Ellie wants to meet her biological parents, not that she doesn't love the parents that raised her. She is stressed out and over worked. She is starting to question her choices in her life. She wants to get married and have children.

The closer that Ellie gets to her Amish family, the more Rachel feels jealous. Though Rachel is becoming closer to her English family she feels torn between her Amish upbringing and her desire to learn.

This was a great and uplifting book.

Two baby girls from completely different backgrounds were born in the same hospital in Lancaster County. A doctor under pressure to not make any more mistakes drinks too much and send the wrong baby home with a couple. Years pass and no one knows that it happened except his wife. When she had been widowed and knows that she is dying, she wants to make things right by telling the truth to the two women.

Rachel Yodel has grown up in an Amish community, married and then widowed and was left with a daughter, named Katie. Rachel always felt that she didn’t quite fit it. She looked different from her parents and brother and sisters and she was always the one who got into trouble. During the period that she lived away (rumspringer) from her family in an apartment. This time away is a tradition among the Amish to help them find out if they are ready to commit themselves by baptism to the Amish way of life
She found that she loved to read and learn. There was always something that was missing for her in the Amish life. The Amish have education just to the eight grade as that is thought all that they need.

In contrast, Ellie Shore had a high powered public relations job with an apartment in New York. She found herself working constantly to keep from making a mistake and to keep up with the job. It took all of her time. She was a slave to her cell phone and her computer.

What happens when these two unrelated women receive the letter from the widow telling them that they are not really who they think they are?

I loved the characters of the two women that Cynthia Keller created and especially little smart and spunky Katie, the daughter of Rachel.
All of the families of both the women are richly developed and have their own personalities. The writing is clear and straight forward and you can easily get immerse in the cooking part of Amish life while New York environment is wonderful and dangerous at the same time.

That is enough details about the story, I think you will truly like what developed over time and many conversations at the end. I think you will love little Katie!

I recommend this book to all who love Amish fiction and a great story.

I received this book as a part of the Amazon Vine Program but that in no way influenced my review.

A family losing their home and having to be on the road to her parents home at Christmas time finds living with an Amish family , for a time, a rude awakening for the 3 children. They learn to love the simple way of the Amish and the mother finds that she can do baking and selling the products. Her husband finds that furniture making is another way to bolster the income because of furniture making in NC. where they originally lived.

This is a wonderful read that teaches the lesson that just maybe breaking the bank and counting how many presents are under the tree really isn't as fulfilling as many of us try to convince ourselves. The Amish way of life compared to upper middle class living at first may seem boring and much too difficult but as the book moves along, the rich family in question soon learn just which way of life is the fullest.

I won this Advance Reader's Edition from GoodReads. This was a nice easy read. A heartwarming story of a family who finds what really matters after losing everything they thought was important. The story flowed nicely, it was well written. A genuinely feel-good family story. I will say I would have liked a little more depth to the characters and maybe gotten a little deeper into the conflict/resolution aspect. Also, I lived in a small town in PA for 10 years and spoke with many Amish people, I would have liked to have seen them portrayed a little more realistically. Their characters fell a little flat for me. However, overall it was a nice sweet story that I have given to my mother to read because this will be something that she will absolutely love. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys feel-good, family oriented, down-home type books.

An Amish Christmas played into all my desire and longing to know more about the Amish culture and live a simpler life myself. A family in crisis gets a lesson in the truly important things in life. I loved the portrayal of the modern family, the focus on things, and the contrast between the lives of teenagers in the two different cultures. I found the book to be sweet and inspiring.

This book would make the perfect Hallmark Christmas movie. Rich family has it all. Rich family loses everything. Now poor family sets out to start new life. Family gets caught in accident. Family is taken in by kindly strangers. Family learns to change their ways. It's a simplistic plot but one that many people enjoy because of it's familiarity and heartwarming plot.

Ok, the Hobart family was just really unbelievable. The entire family was just plain spoiled, all of them. James deceits his family for months and then throughout the entire book NEVER looks for a job himself. Even at the end, with the resolution he is basing his career just on Meg and hoping that she will be able to do enough for his job to work out. I did not like him at all. Meg is a total pushover. I can understand her ignorance in the beginning of the story and then her shock and anger when she does discover the truth. However she doesn't do anything to counter James' actions, she is pretty much just a doormat. I wonder if that has anything to do with her horrid parents and the disgusting way that they treat her. Then their three children are just plain spoiled. Will and Lizzie are rude and spoiled. The youngest son shows all signs of being a hoarder which his mother seems to think is a cute trait of his, never thinking that he might have some issues that need to be discussed.

While I could not stand the Hobart family, on the other hand I really did like the Lutz family , the Amish family that they stayed with. They were an excellent, although a bit stereotypical, example of the type of family that the Hobarts should have attempted to live like. What does make the book stand out is that this is not a faith based Amish novel. While references to the Amish faith is mentioned, there is nothing in this book that encourages or even really discusses any talk about faith at all. It is simply just used a plot device to get the Hobart family to realize that they need to change their ways in order to survive as a family. As it stands, nothing about the Hobarts' own faith is ever mentioned throughout the entire book.

Overall, this was an ok read. It's a predictable yet feel good story for the most part. As I stated, I'm not a fan of the Hobarts at all but I hoped that they learned their lessons and will be able to move on in life as better people. The story is simplistic but not groundbreaking. To be honest, at times I felt as if the Amish characters were simply used because of the recent Amish trend and craze that is going on now. Still it's an interesting read and if you like Christmas stories as well as the Amish, you'll enjoy this book.

While is was a sweet book, and I enjoyed watching the mom and the youngest child discovering one another when the family is broke and has an accident. The Amish details weren't overly accurate according to items I've read over the years but it was a pleasant and short read, which is nice in the holiday season.

This was a nice Christmas book that focused on the simple joys of life. After the family looses everything they find joy in living with an Amish family after a car accident and discover that all the gadgets and things didn't mean anything and actually made life more stressful. A great book to get you in the Christmas spirit.

Overall, I would say that this was a good book, although I would not consider it excellent. It was a unique idea for a story, and the interaction of the family with the Amish is very interesting. Also, the concepts of how the lifestyle of luxury many of us find ourselves in often does not have the same fulfilling appeal of a simple life, as well as a theme of forgiveness were well portrayed. However, I thought the book was lacking a bit of substance which would have otherwise made it more than a "quick read." The pace of this book made it feel almost like a short story, and the ending was also a bit abrupt. It was an entertaining enough read that it will be placed in the books to be lent to my Mother in Law, as I think she will enjoy a quick holiday story at this time of year.