"A Joyful Break" is the first in Diane Craver's four-part novel series, Dreams of Plain Daughters, about Amish women. Rachel is still grieving over the loss of her mother at age 44. She also is struggling with blaming her father for the death, wondering if her mother might have lived, had they had a phone so they could get help more quickly. In addition, Rachel is feeling a stirring, wondering if the Englisch world would be better for her. But she does love her "intended," who is an Amish young man that loves her deeply but is trying to be patient with her and to resist the advances of a forward competitor to Rachel. Amish young people have the options of enjoying and experimenting with "rumschpringe"- a break from Amish culture in which they can experience the outside world and participate in limited worldly habits like using phones, going to movies and such. Rachel, who has always longed to see the ocean, spends her break with her aunt and cousins at the seashore. Little does she know that while there, she will be faced with yet another choice - how to interact with a young man named Nick. They do have something important in common - the recent deaths of their mothers. But Nick yearns for more than just friendship with Rachel; he falls in love with her and even pursues her by later visiting her in her hometown after she returns from her rumschpringe. Will she choose to return to her aunt's secular world, or will she stay in the environment that has always been her comfort zone, her home in the Amish community? Will she remain faithful to her boyfriend or will she date Nick, too? Do Rachel and her father come to an understanding and reconcile? I won't give anything away. I would like to say that I think that Craver does a splendid job of illustrating both the Amish and Englisch worlds, without showing any judgmentalism of either one. And while Craver was honest about the too-often impure motives of political actions, she also included a refreshing sentiment and comment about Rachel's uncle feeling "an obligation to make the world a better place by being involved in government" (Chapter 5). This is awesome! The Bible tells us that we are to be salt and light in the world. In fact, if we Christians were to disengage totally from politics, that would just lead to more corruption, problems and pain, and giving into evil. So kudos to Craver for this astute realization that some people truly do feel that being in politics is a calling-albeit not an easy or pleasant one! 🙂
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