First and foremost, Beverly Lewis is an amazing and prolific author. She has so many books published, and a made for TV movie of The Redemption of Sarah Cain that I am astounded. However, The Secret is a bit disappointing only because it is intended to be the first of a trilogy. I found it very slow moving. In my Creative Writing class 101, I learned that by the end of the story, the main character must show some growth, either forward or backward, but grow she must.
I am truly not sure who the main character actually is.
We get the bird's eye view from many character's standpoint, which in a way, is extremely hard to do in a smooth well written fashion. Lewis has mastered this and it does work well in the broad scope. But, from a first of a trilogy standpoint, the end of the book left me very dissatisfied. We know the secret by the end of the book, but only one character has moved beyond her beginning point, albeit in the wrong direction.
The characters are very likable, somewhat irritating at times, then you find out the secret and there is such a great reason why you instantly forgive the character and start turning pages faster and faster until there are no more pages and still lots of questions.
I can see where the story line is going and it should prove very interesting... But, it moves very slowly which can truly wear a reader out.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Not until her own children were well into middle school did Bev seek to publish her work, first in magazines such as Highlights for Children, Dolphin Log, and Guideposts for Kids. Her first book followed in 1993—Mountain Bikes and Garbanzo Beans—presently retitled Big Bad Beans (book #22 in the popular CUL-DE-SAC KIDS series of chapter books—see list of Bev's children's books).Beverly's first venture into adult fiction is the best-selling trilogy, THE HERITAGE OF LANCASTER COUNTY, including The Shunning, a suspenseful saga of Katie Lapp, a young Amish woman drawn to the modern world by secrets from her past. The book is loosely based on the author's maternal grandmother, Ada Ranck Buchwalter, who left her Old Order Mennonite upbringing to marry a Bible College student. One Amish-country newspaper claimed Beverly's work to be "a primer on Lancaster County folklore" and offers "an insider's view of Amish life."
Booksellers across the country, and around the world, have spread the word of Bev's tender tales of Plain country life. A clerk in a Virginia bookstore wrote, "Beverly's books have a compelling freshness and spark. You just don't run across writing like that every day. I hope she'll keep writing stories about the Plain people for a long, long time."
A member of the National League of American Pen Women, as well as a Distinguished Alumnus of Evangel University, Lewis has written over 80 books for children, youth, and adults, many of them award-winning. She and her husband, David, make their home in Colorado, where they enjoy hiking, biking, and playing with their three grandchildren. They are also avid musicians and fiction "book worms."
ABOUT THE BOOK
In the seemingly ordinary Amish home of Grace Byler, secrets abound. Why does her mother weep in the night? Why does her father refuse to admit something is dreadfully wrong? Then, in one startling moment, everything Grace assumed she knew is shattered.Her mother's disappearance leaves Grace reeling and unable to keep her betrothal promise to her long-time beau. Left to pick up the pieces of her life, Grace questions all she has been taught about love, family, and commitment.
Heather Nelson is an English grad student, stunned by a doctor's diagnosis. Surely fate would not allow her father to lose his only daughter after the death of his wife a few years before. In denial and telling no one she is terminally ill, Heather travels to Lancaster County-- the last place she and her mother had visited together.
Will Heather find healing for body and spirit? As the lives of four wounded souls begin to weave together like an Amish patchwork quilt, they each discover missing pieces of their life puzzles--and glimpse the merciful and loving hand of God.
If you would like to read the first chapter of The Secret, go HERE
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