Falling to Pieces
A Shipshewana Amish Mystery
by Vannetta Chapman
Paperback
Price: £9.99
Publisher:Zondervan Publishing House
Published:October 2011
ISBN:978-0-310-33043-1
GoodBookStall Review:
This is the first Amish novel I’ve read, and I’m clearly rather late to the party as there seems to be a vast amount being published these days.
Falling to Pieces was marketed as an Amish mystery but in some ways both the Amish aspect, and the mystery aspect, were secondary to the story of Texan Callie Harper finding herself anew after making friends with Deborah, an Amish woman.
Callie is Englisch (not Amish) and arrives at Shipshewana, where both Amish and Englisch live, to pack up and sell her deceased aunt’s Quilting shop. She meets Deborah, an Amish woman, and finds herself drawn into life in Shipshewana, making friends and meeting a variety of people, both Amish and Englisch.
The mystery aspect of the story was perhaps a little simplistic (the ‘baddie’ seemed a bit cardboard-cut-out), and there were some slight loose ends about Callie’s personal circumstances when the story finished, but the development of Callie through her friendship was well handled. We meet other Amish characters and learn about their life and this made the book more enjoyable. Overall I was pleasantly surprised, especially as the Christian aspect of the story was natural and believable, not preachy and forced.
I enjoyed this, my first Amish novel, and look forward to reading another from Vannetta Chapman.
Reviewer: Helen Hancox (27/10/11)
This is the first Amish novel I’ve read, and I’m clearly rather late to the party as there seems to be a vast amount being published these days.
Falling to Pieces was marketed as an Amish mystery but in some ways both the Amish aspect, and the mystery aspect, were secondary to the story of Texan Callie Harper finding herself anew after making friends with Deborah, an Amish woman.
Callie is Englisch (not Amish) and arrives at Shipshewana, where both Amish and Englisch live, to pack up and sell her deceased aunt’s Quilting shop. She meets Deborah, an Amish woman, and finds herself drawn into life in Shipshewana, making friends and meeting a variety of people, both Amish and Englisch.
The mystery aspect of the story was perhaps a little simplistic (the ‘baddie’ seemed a bit cardboard-cut-out), and there were some slight loose ends about Callie’s personal circumstances when the story finished, but the development of Callie through her friendship was well handled. We meet other Amish characters and learn about their life and this made the book more enjoyable. Overall I was pleasantly surprised, especially as the Christian aspect of the story was natural and believable, not preachy and forced.
I enjoyed this, my first Amish novel, and look forward to reading another from Vannetta Chapman.
Reviewer: Helen Hancox (27/10/11)
