About this item
In the first novel in the Keepers of the Promise trilogy, three cousins sort through the treasures of their Amish family and discover stories from the past that provide inspiration for their own lives... Central Pennsylvania, current day. Rebecca Fisher gladly accepted her husband Paul's dreams as her own, but now that he has passed away, she's struggling to raise two children and keep her home. Renting her stable to carpenter Matthew Byler offers a partial solution - even though Matthew has a troubled history, having sometimes failed to embrace Amish beliefs. As Matthew seeks to prove himself, Rebecca realizes how dependent she has become on others. Where can she find the courage to grow and change? Lancaster County, 1941. As war threatens, Anna Esch pours her experiences into her diary. Her world seems to crumble as neighbors turn against the Amish and her love, Jacob, is sent to a camp far away for refusing to fight. She can't know, as she grows from a girl into a woman during a time of trouble and grief, that one day another Amish woman will gain strength from the words she writes and will learn that she, too, can become a keeper of the promise.
About the Author
I realized I wanted to be a writer at age eight, when I read my first Nancy Drew novel, The Secret of the Old Clock. Most little girl reach the end of that book wanting to be Nancy. I wanted to be the person who created the story! The dream lay hidden for years while I became a teacher, married, had children...all the usual things. But eventually it re-surfaced, and I began to write, beginning with short children's stories for Sunday school take-home papers. It seemed a long time until that first acceptance, but eventually I began to sell. After some three hundred published short stories, I finally found the courage to work on the novel I'd always wanted to write. Sixty-some published novels later, I still feel the same excitement every time I begin a new book--a mix of not believing I can do it combined with an overwhelming urge to see the story on the page. A lifetime spent in rural Pennsylvania and my own Pennsylvania Dutch roots eventually led me to the books I'm writing now about the Amish. The Pleasant Valley Amish series from Berkley Books are longer, more complex emotional stories with Amish main characters, while my forthcoming HQN suspense novels are more adventure-filled books set in Pennsylvania Dutch country. I'm also writing a Love Inspired series about the Amish, The Brides of Lost Creek. When I'm not writing, I'm busy with church activities, traveling, and spending time with my three children and six beautiful grandchildren.
