Mattie’s Pledge by Jan Drexler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’ll admit I’m growing a bit weary of Amish books in general, but Jan Drexler has gone back in time and gives us an account of the Amish in the mid-1800s. “Mattie’s Pledge” continues the story started in “Hannah’s Choice.” There are a lot of characters, so I recommend reading these in order.
Mattie Schrock is thrilled to be moving west. She dreams of the open prairie with its long, low hills and miles of sky. When her childhood sweetheart, Jacob Yoder, meets up with them for the journey, she discovers the emotions behind her young heart have only grown stronger in the years since they’d parted. But Jacob’s desire is to homestead in Indiana while Mattie yearns for the wide open spaces of Iowa, or even seeing the ocean off Oregon. When a dark-eyed stranger offers her the chance to follow her dream, she’s torn between family and adventure.
The rigors of travel in this era are well represented. The reader journeys along with the characters feeling every mosquito bite and looking over their shoulder for possible horse thieves. Well worth the read. Looking forward to book three.
Pegg Thomas 