A Season of Love

Review: A Season of Love by Amy Clipston

Reviewed by Darin Godby

While A Season of Love is chock full of different characters, I especially liked the storyline of Katie and Jake. Katie looks deep within herself and determines that she desires to be a part of the Amish faith, so she seeks baptism. While Jake was raised by family who were Amish, his mother decided to leave that faith and he was raised to be a Mennonite. Jake worked aroundthe Amish on a daily basis and soon took a liking to a young lady named Katie. However, Katie being Amish and Jake being Mennonite creates drama that could have Katie shunned not only from her family, but her church and community as well.

I enjoyed the way Amy Clipston writes about the various struggles that both Jake and Katie face. She gives us great insight into their internal warfare as they desire to be with each other but know they can’t because of their beliefs.

There are several times when Katie’s father is very harsh and non-forgiving because he views his daughter as disobedient and disrespectful. Once, when Katie was walking along the street, several men began to attack her, and it was Jake who intervened and chased the men away.  In despair and forgetting that it isn’t allowed within her faith, Katie hugged Jake. She was seen by the bishop who reported the sighting to her father, later causing separation between Katie and her family.

I became really disgruntled with the father when I saw how close-minded he was. He was more concerned about his appearance to the bishop, church and community than he was to his own daughter and family. While this was easy to get frustrated about, it did leave me wondering about how often we make decisions based on how others will view us instead of considering what really matters in the long run.

A Season of Love takes several twists along the way, but, needless to say, it ends up with a bright and happy ending. This is a book that will keep you rooting for Jake and Katie and hoping that they will make the right decision. It is also a book that will challenge you to make sure that the decisions you make are made for the right reasons. I really enjoy reading the works of Amy Clipson and feel others will as well.

Rating:  

Darin Godby is an active reader, husband, father and soon to be author.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Zondervan. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.