Somewhere to Belong

This is a new faith to me, I had never heard of it until I started reading this book. I thought it sounded like a cult at first until they started talking about Jesus and then I knew that it was a community as the Amish, but believed different. A story of two very different girls, one of the girls is a young woman, the other a teenager Johanna Ilg has lived her whole life in Amana, but wants to see the outside world until a secret is revealed that changes everything about the world she thought she knew. She must confront her family and find out the answers to her questions. Will she break her mother's heart to seek these answers? Berta Schumacher has lived a privileged life in Chicago before being moved to Amana by her parents. Berta does not share this desire to live such a life as her family and she makes that clear as she rebels against the ways of Amana and its people. Will her heart ever soften to the ways of these plain people or will she continue to live a life of rebellion and discontent? Judith Miller has done an excellent job with this book. Thanks to Bethany House Publishing for the free review copy of this book and I am under no obligations to post a positive review.

MY OPINION Miller has yet again woven a story that once you pick up her book, you're hooked. Her history is impeccably researched, her story extremely well-written, and her descriptions make you feel as if the book is literally unfolding before your very eyes and you're there. Even if historical fiction is not the first shelf you seek out at the bookstore, you will enjoy this book. Don't think for a moment that a story about a place and time of a plain people with a simple lifestyle, routine ways, cooperative living, and faithful service to God will be less than exciting or predictable. Au contraire! Get ready for some wonderful "I did NOT see that coming" moments. Somewhere to Belong is the first in Judy's Daughters of Amana series and I can't wait to read the second. In the meantime, get your hands on this book and be prepared to sit a spell because you will be enthralled. ABOUT THE BOOK Despite living her entire twenty-one years in Main Amana, Johanna Ilg has always been intrigued by and wanted to see the outside world. However, she has continued to stay in Amana believing that Amana is where she must belong. That is, until a secret is revealed that changes everything about the world she thought she knew. Where does she truly belong? She must confront her family and find out the answers to her questions. Will she break her mother's heart to seek these answers? Intertwined, is a story of the newest member of Main Amana, Berta Schumacher, a worldly girl with parents who desire a simpler life in Amana, for reasons she can't fathom. Berta does not share this desire to live such a life as her family and she makes that clear as she openly rebels against the ways of Amana and its people. Will her heart ever soften to the ways of these plain people or will she continue to live a life of rebellion and discontent?

Somewhere to Belong (Daughters of Amana)by Judith Miller is a well-written novel with well characterized people, and compelling conflict. The seven villages of the Amana colonies in Iowa are not well known by most people. This book opened up a world that I was not familiar with from a region that is not often written about. More than a historical novel, this is also a coming of age story of two very different girls. Johanna Ilg has lived her whole life in Amana, and Berta Schumacher who has lived a privileged life in Chicago before being transplanted to Amana by her parents. In addition, is the haunting of secrets and the impact of family. The life in Amana may resemble the Amish but this was a different society. Based on historical facts, the story is not so much about the communal living as the lives of two very different girls and their reactions to that lifestyle. Whether one agrees with the lifestyle of the Amana or not, this story is still of interest in revealing a time and place in American history and two young girls decisions as they are exposed to the conflicts of growing up in the midst of that world. Just as Judith Miller gave us in Carousel Painter, The, we have here a good read. A J Hawke

I love books that surprise me. :o) This book managed to encompass so many elements at once. It is a coming of age story. One of the girls is a young woman, the other a teenager and both grow more into their "skin" as the story progresses. Thrown together because Berta needed someone responsible to train her, neither girl could foresee how much they would need each other for the trials ahead of them or how close they would become. It is also a story of family ~ what that means and why it is important. It examines how those bonds hold us together, what can break them apart, and if they can be mended again. I can't think of a more important topic. And it's a story of romance (gotta have that) and what makes that a real love or not and how to tell. And of course the love God has for all of us. The author pulls all of this off because she invests so much in the characters of Johanna and Berta. Although on the surface the girls may seem near opposites, neither girl is one dimensional and both are easy to love. Johanna is the obedient, responsible daughter. However she sneaks fashions magazines from her brother (who lives in Chicago) in from the outside and hides them in her room and she longs to visit the world outside her village borders. Berta rarely thinks beyond her next opportunity for fun and despises anything resembling work. When told she can't wear her pink skirt to work in the kitchen, she puts it on underneath the plain skirt so she can still wear it without anyone knowing (or so she plans). She does try to make others happy and cares about people's feelings far more than even she's willing to admit. She has a natural gift for cheering people up as well. Both face adversity, mystery, and being lied to by people they have trusted. Both really want to know where they fit in. How they come through the journey is something to behold. Judith Miller has done an excellent job with this book. [...]

Living in Iowa, and having visited the Amana Colonies several times, I was easily drawn to this book. I felt a connection to each character and the challenges they presented. Often the people at Amana are confused with the Amish. They are not the same. This book helps understand this. I found the book difficult to put down, as I was not always able to predict what the characters would do. I found myself wondering what I would have chosen, had I been the different characters in the book. I found this an enjoyable and thought proving read for a break from the routines of life.