"The Love Letters" by Beverly Lewis is one of her best books. Marlena is an Old Order Amish raised young woman whose parents have left the church to join the Beachy Amish ( a modern group of Amish). Her Mennonite grandfather has recently died and she has gone to stay with her widowed grandmother. While there her sister (who has left all of the above groups) is in a car wreck leaving her infant daughter in Marlena's care. While in her new location she befriends her Old Order neighbors and their son with disabilities, Small Jay. Small Jay, or Jake, as he would rather be called, has recently befriended a homeless man who has trouble remembering even his name. There are many storylines interweaving and many faiths crossing in this novel. Marlena starts to question which road she would like to take in her religion. Where does she belong? Small Jay, whose father appears to have no use for him, starts to question his care and where he belongs as well. The homeless many has a mysterious bag of love letters who he may or may not be the recipient of. Is someone our there looking for him? To add to the reoccurring theme of where does one belong, Angela Rose, the tiny orphan, is looking for a place to belong as well, even if she doesn't know it.
I really liked this book. Lewis usually can't go wrong. She spent a little too much time in her past novels with the "tales of the missing kid"; but she has moved on with that and has developed a much more complex method of writing. I like the new path she is taking with her novels. Will continue to read more! I give it 4.5 stars. I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Bethany Publishers.
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