Amish Love

What’s all the hubbub about Amish fiction? Major media outlets like Time and ABC Nightline are covering it, and authors like Cindy Woodsmall are making the New York Times bestseller list regularly. What makes these books so interesting?

Check out the recent ABC Nightline piece here:
http://abcnews.go.com/ about Cindy and her titles When the Heart Cries, When the Morning Comes, and When the Soul Mends. It’s an intriguing look at Amish culture and the time Cindy has spent with Amish friends.

And don’t forget that Cindy’s new book The Hope of Refuge hits store shelves August 11, and is available for preorder now.
Carrie Bradshaw -- in a Bonnet?
Stories of Forbidden Love, Communal Spirit Put Amish Romance Novels on Best-Seller List
By DAVID WRIGHT and ELY BROWN
http://abcnews.go.com

The Amish lead a private, rural lifestyle that hasn't changed for hundreds of years. It's a far cry from the glittery, gossipy, sexually carefree world of "Sex in the City" and its lead character, Carrie Bradshaw.

But the Amish now have their own Bradshaw, of sorts: Cindy Woodsmall, one of the several best-selling authors who specialize in Amish-themed romance novels.

"People are seeing this quaint, peaceful-looking, picturesque view of [the Amish] and they want to know the real life," Woodsmall said.

Watch the full story tonight (May 26) on "Nightline" at 11:35 p.m. ET.

After a debut novel, "When the Heart Cries," Woodsmall chalked up two New York Times best-sellers: "When the Morning Comes" and "When the Soul Mends." The trilogy, known as "Sisters of the Quilt," tells the story of a conservative Amish woman as she comes of age, experiences tragedy and struggles with the demands of her world -- and her love for a young man from outside.

Woodsmall has a second Amish-based series in the works, set to launch in August with the publication of "The Hope of Refuge."

Read more of Cindy Woodsmall at
http://www.cindywoodsmall.com

Here are a few comments I found online:

"Cindy's books were some of the first books of this type I really thoroughly enjoyed. She did a great job of portraying them, honoring them and not exploiting them or mocking them. I feel many of the books now tend to make them out to be stupid in their simplicity, which is far from the truth. Also, in many books it had the characters leaving the Amish or Mennonite faith in a way that was taken as no one could take that for long and of course they long to wear jeans! As someone of a faith similar to Mennonites, it sort of bothers me that people would look at us and think that. I do not try to get them to change and dress differently. I live this way by choice and not because I feel I have to!" posted by MJVA28

"As a writer-friend of Cindy's I congratulate her on this successful series. They are well-written, capturing the reader on the first page. Nearly a year's span passed between books 1 and 2, and later 2 and 3. After book 2 I saw Cindy at the American Christian Fiction Writers annual conference and kidded her saying, "Hannah has been out on the road way too long Cindy, referring to where book 2 stopped. We had a good laugh and I wasn't disappointed when I finally got to read book 3. It is strongly suggested that readers read these stories in succession. I can't wait for the next books to come out at the end of summer. Cindy is one author that I consider an auto-buy." posted by writerwoman106

I am looking forward to reading this book. I so much enjoyed watching the trailer video of Cindy Smallwood. How fortunate to have a relationship of love and trust with the Amish!

The Hope of Refuge: A Novel (An Ada's House Novel)

-- LadyD