religious

I finished this book in less than 24 hours. That alone should speak volumes!

I was given Beverly Lewis' first book, "The Covenant" for my birthday in March of 2003. I was instantly taken to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (my husband knew I had ancestors from Lancaster County and thought I would enjoy it) where I met the Ebersol family and their "plain" girls and "plain" ways. I devoured that book as well, learning of the oldest daughter, Sadie, and the shameful "rumschpringe" she went through. The secret that her next youngest sister, Leah, had to keep as well as learning about the twins, Hannah and Mary Ruth, and the new baby girl, Lydiann, born to Abram and Ida Ebersol.

"The Betrayal" continues on where "The Covenant" left off, and takes you on a wild downhill buggy ride as Sadie and Leah deal with their shared secret.

Leah and Jonas Mast are courting with letters from afar and they are both about to go through Baptism rites at the same time before their impending marriage...or so it seems. Love and trust seem to grow between them, until...

Aunt Lizzie Brenneman (Ida Ebersol's sister) is in on the secret as well...and she may even have a few secrets of her own to tell. How will Lizzie's secret be revealed?

What about Naomi, Sadie's "rumschpringe" friend, who knew the truth about Sadie's baptismal vow being false? She's about to be married, and is trying to clean herself up with a few confessions of her own before her baptism. What is there to tell? And how will that affect Sadie, Leah, and the Ebersol family?

And Abram so wants Gid Peachey (the neighbor's son) to be Leah's husband that he plots and plans to put a wrench into Leah and Jonas' potential happiness. Will he succeed?

All of these things are explored in "The Betrayal." Questions are answered, but even more questions are left undone as we await Beverly Lewis' next book in the "Abram's Daughters" series.

I was left with a gut wrenching feeling thinking about having to wait to hear how this story will end! Only Beverly Lewis knows at this point!

Having read THE COVENANT, I've been looking forward to reading THE BETRAYAL which is the second book in the Abram's Daughters stories. This book was well worth the wait.

Ida and Abram Ebersol live with their daughters in Gobbler's Knob, a small town that's located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The Ebersol's are Amish and have five daughters, Sadie, Leah, Mary Ruth, Hannah and baby Lydiann.

The story begins with Sadie being unhappy because of something that happened to her during her rumschpringe. That's a brief period in the life of Amish teenagers where they experience a form of dating, and where they will hopefully meet the person they will eventually marry. Only Leah, and their Aunt Lizzie, know of Sadie's problem and have both promised not to ever tell anyone about what happened to Sadie during rumschpringe.

Leah is engaged to Jonas Mast, a charming young man that she's loved from the time she was a little girl. He's living in another area, where he's in training to be a carpenter. Unfortunately, Jonas is not the man that her father wishes her to marry. He prefers that she marries Gid Peachey, a good man who loves Leah, but someone she considers to be just a kind friend.

The twins, Mary Ruth and Hannah have their own secrets because Mary Ruth loves to read and in the Amish community, pleasure reading is not acceptable. Mary Ruth also hopes to go to high school and college to become a teacher. Shy Hannah is worried about her twin and is afraid that Mary Ruth might eventually leave the community to pursue her dreams.

There are a lot of stories going on in THE BETRAYAL and it's a book that is very difficult to put down. Learning about the Amish beliefs and their way of life is indeed fascinating.

I came across this book and honestly the picture is what grabbed my attention. I picked up the book and starting reading the back cover. I have always been fascinated by the Amish and their culture so I decided to give the book a try. This book lived up to what I had hoped it would. Since I had never read any books by this author I was extremely pleased with the outcome. Beverly Lewis makes you feel as if you are part of the storyline (just as any great writer would) you become close with the characters and honetly feel for them as they go on their journey. I would recommend this book and any other books by Lewis.