Brighter Dawn (Amish Memories)

After her parents’ die in a car crash, Ivy Zimmerman travels across the country to stay with her father’s distant family before an international Mennonite meeting in Germany. On the way, she hears about a trip one of her relatives took to Germany almost a hundred years before: in 1937, as the Third Reich came to power. From the story, Ivy learns not only things about the Mennonites’ history she hadn’t guessed at before, but also gains inspiration and courage.

She will need both in the days to come. The more she thinks about it, the more certain she becomes her parents’ deaths were no accident.

I’ve seen enough Amish romances in bookstores that I thought this would be mainly a romance with some historical detail and mystery tossed in for flavor. Instead, I was swept away into a world I know little about, populated by characters who feel not only real but deeply sympathetic. This is the first of Leslie Gould’s books that I’ve read, and I will certainly be on the lookout for more, especially in this particular series. Ivy’s story is only book one, and I’m very curious to see what will come next.