Wonderful Lonesome

In a struggling Amish settlement on the harsh Colorado plain, Abbie Weaver refuses to concede defeat to hail, drought, and coyotes, even as families begin to give up and return east. The biggest challenge of all is the lack of a spiritual shepherd and regular worship. When Abbie discovers the root of a spiritual divide that runs through the settlement, she faces her own decisions about what she believes. She must choose between a quiet love in her cherished church, passion with a man determined to leave the church, or imagining her life with neither.

In a struggling Amish settlement on the harsh Colorado plain, Abbie Weaver fights for the life of the church she cherishes. Hail, wind, drought, and coyotes are daily enemies to the farming Amish, and some families are giving up and returning east. But the loss the community feels most deeply is the lack of a minister. Visiting bishops have stopped coming—a mystery that demands explanation.

Even Abbie’s closest friends aren’t much comfort: Ruthanna is pregnant and afraid her husband will die. Rudy is lonely and weary. Willem is fiercely determined to succeed at any cost. Their unfolding responses to daily challenges press Abbie to confront the convictions that form the backbone of her dreams for the settlement. Though Abbie loves Willem, his choices put a wedge between them. She turns her gaze to Rudy as a blessing that just might save the settlement.

When Abbie discovers the root of the unspoken spiritual divide that runs through the settlement, she finds herself questioning her own father's faith. Will a collision of loves and values cost her Willem forever?