A dusty carved box containing two locks of hair and a century-old letter regarding property in Switzerland, and a burning desire to learn about her biological family lead nurse-midwife Lexie Jaeger from her home in Oregon to the heart of Pennsylvania Amish country. There she meets Marta Bayer, a mysterious lay-midwife who desperately needs help after an Amish client and her baby die.
Lexie steps in to assume Marta’s patient load even as she continues the search for her birth family, and from her patients she learns the true meaning of the Pennsylvania Dutch word demut, which means “to let be” as she changes from a woman who wants to control everything to a woman who depends on God.
A compelling story about a search for identity and the ability to trust that God securely holds our whole life—past, present, and future.
“This engaging novel dives right into the grief of losing a last
known family member. As Lexie steps outside of her world to find
her birth family she finds herself swept into an unfamiliar stream
of uncooperative characters in a totally different culture. I was
driven along with her, eager to learn each new clue. The characters
were authentic, interesting and their faith and hope kept me
engaged and hopeful. A very satisfying read.”
—Mary Richman Sankaran
“This is an engaging account of a young nurse-midwife, raised by
her adoptive family in Oregon, who travels to Pennsylvania to
discover the truth about her past. She ends up learning much more
than she expected, both about her family and herself. Issues of
identity, forgiveness, and belonging are deftly interwoven into the
story of this woman's quest. The gradual unraveling of the mystery
holds the reader's attention throughout. An added bonus is the
respectful but candid depiction of the Mennonite and Amish
cultures.”
—Elizabeth Cosgriff
"Suspense and tension deepens as The Amish
Midwife progresses. The characters seem so real I want to pray
about their problems and cry at their struggles. I won’t soon
forget them.
"This first book in The Women of Lancaster County series is
definitely a winner. It also contains discussion questions, which
provide added depth to the reading experience. I came away with a
peace like Lexie found, glad God is in control of our lives."
—Mary A. Hake, OCW president
“The Amish Midwife by Mindy Starns Clark and
Leslie Gould was an excellent read, with multi-faceted,
well-developed characters, and good plot pacing. Typical themes of
Amish books were explored, such as secret-keeping, behavior
expectations, and forgiveness. In addition, there were themes of
midwifery, adoption, a bit of romance, and others that I won’t
mention here, since I don’t want to spoil the story for readers.
Especially enjoyable was the process of learning Lexie’s story of
her beginnings in life as she discovered pieces of the puzzle, her
growing love for her newfound relatives, and the conclusion when
all was revealed. It was not a book that I raced through to get
done, but one that was savored to a strong and satisfying
completion. I highly recommend it.”
—Mary Steinbrenner, Library Lady, Cedar Mill Bible
Church
“The Amish Midwife is a compelling page-turner
with characters so believably drawn they took my breath away.
Lexie's spiritual journey touched my heart in a way that will live
on even though I've turned the last page.”
—Pam Hanson, co-author with Barbara Andrews of women's
inspirational fiction for Guideposts
“I highly recommend this book to all lovers of Amish fiction.
This isn’t your run of the mill story; it is definitely set apart
by the different subject matters that are brought out within the
text.”
—Brandi Fitzpatrick, The Faith in Fiction Book Club,
BookFun.org
“It was enjoyable spending time with Lexie in the world of the
Amish and following Lexie as she works to solve the mysteries
surrounding her birth. Terrific read, highly recommended!”
—Lonnie Cruse, LonnieCruse.com
“In The Amish Midwife, Mindy Clark and Leslie
Gould give us ‘English’ a fascinating look into the Amish-Mennonite
culture in its contemporary form. And to the non-adopted, they
reveal the culture of adoption and search. As an adult adoptee that
has been through search, I was grateful to see how tenderly, and
accurately, Leslie and Mindy presented Lexie’s journey to her
birth-family and the strength, courage and endurance, as well as
the love it required.”
—Caroline F. Daniel
Leslie Gould, a former magazine editor, is the author of numerous novels, including Beyond the Blue and Garden of Dreams. She received her master of fine arts degree from Portland State University and lives in Oregon with her husband, Peter, and their four children. www.lesliegould.com
Mindy Starns Clark is the bestselling author of more than 20 books, both fiction and nonfiction (more than 750,000 sold) including coauthoring the Christy Award–winning The Amish Midwife. Mindy and her husband, John, have two adult children and live in Pennsylvania.