The Bishop's Daughter

The third book of this trilogy is a fit ending. You feel the heartbreak and despair of the main characters, Leona Weaver and Jimmy Scott. The Weaver family face a harrowing accident and the Fisher family receive an answer to years of pain and prayer. If you are a Wanda Brunstetter fan, then you will love this book. But I would recommend you read the whole series (three books) to get the full impact of these families lives.

Leona Weaver is a devoted to her job as schoolteacher in the local Amish school. Leona's faith has been tested twice in her life. First her fiance Ezra Yoder is killed and then her beloved father, Jacob Weaver, the bishop, suffers a blow to his head that leaves him in a "childlike" frame of mind. Leona wonders how God would allow such things to happen. Jimmy Scott arrives in Lancaster,Pennsylvania searching for his "real family", after learning that he was adopted as a young child. Liking the area so much, Jimmy decides to stay for awhile, and takes a job as a painter, with Leona's father's painting company. Jacob and Jimmy become close and much to their surprise, Leona and Jimmy find themselves becoming attracted to each other. How will it work out between an Englisher and an Amish young woman. And what about Jacob, will he ever be himself again. Many secrets and answers are revealed in this final book of Wanda Brunstetter's Daughters of Lancaster County series. We will once again be able to "catch up" on the lives of all the wonderful people in The Storekeeper's Daughter and The Quilters Daughter. You don't want to miss reading the conclusion of this great series of stories. You will keep on turning the pages until the end of the book.

It was wonderful. She is a very good writer.I love to read about the amish. She needs to write more books.

Reviewed by Stephanie Rollins for Reader Views (9/06) "The Bishop's Daughter" by Wanda E. Brunstetter is such a great book. I was hooked from the first page. There are two stories being told in this book, but they end up intertwining. A few of the details may be a little unreal. For example, a woman who has waited years for a child of her own would never let a headache prevent her from going to the lawyer's office to see her child for the first time. Just over look these details, because "The Bishop's Daughter "is a great book to enjoy. The first story involves Jimmy and his father Jim. Jim is an alcoholic, and he is not religious. Jimmy is a devout Christian, and is opposed to his father's excessive drinking. Jimmy's mother died a few years ago. Leona is an Amish school teacher. She was engaged to be married, but her finance died. She does not feel that she will ever marry again which is upsetting to her parents. Then a hardworking, thoughtful man settles in the community. They fall in love, but he is not Amish. She cannot turn her back on her Amish faith; she will be shunned. Can he turn away from all of life's conveniences in order to win her love? Through a note left by his birth mother, Jimmy discovers that he was adopted. Then his father reveals the secret he has been keeping since Jimmy was adopted - the secret that has upset him to the point of becoming an alcoholic. Jimmy decided to find his biological parents; however, how will Jimmy pull through, if his biological father keeps rejecting him? I will not reveal the secret--read the book. You will want to keep reading until you know all the characters are okay. Reaching the end of the story is sad, because you will have a relationship with all of the characters. In a nutshell, I love this book! I want to go out and get the other book in the Daughters of Lancaster Series. If you like the works of Barabara Lewis, you will love this book.

The Quilter's Daughter is the 2nd book in this series and both were absoluly wonderful. Living in Amish country my whole life (as an "Englisher"), the stories are accurate and descriptive of their daily life and struggles with just the right amount of drama and romance to take us away from our lives for a brief time. Wanda generously spreads God's word through the pages of her books, offering encouragement and enlightenment to all who read them. I whole heartedly recommend the first two books and am planning on buying the third tomorrow. I love the use of the German words with the English translations. This also adds a believability to the story. It also explains what my great-grandma was muttering under her breath all those years ago. Buy the book. You won't be sorry.

I know I'm behind the times as I've never read a Beverly Lewis novel, so this was my first experience reading a novel about the Amish. It was a pleasurable journey for me. I loved the plot and the twists and turns. The characters were also well-developed. I think the author sprinkling in Amish words helped me to get a feel for their culture. It reminded me of a soap opera in that every time the secret was about to come out someone interrupted them. Can you say As the Amish World Turns? :) Seriously, I really enjoyed this story. It was unique in many aspects and the conflict was good and seemed very realistic to me. I don't want to spoil it for the reader so I won't go into details by identifying the secret, but I'll just say that this story will put a smile on your face and bless you as you experience God's hand moving in the lives of the characters. The Englisher's father's struggle with alcoholism was well developed and true-to-life as well, making this novel a page turner for me. Again, I loved how the secret almost came out about twenty times. I wanted to shout at the characters to stop interrupting them--the hero and heroine (like on the soaps when someone walks past them in a crowd who has been missing for years. You want to reach into the screen and turn the person's head.) The Bishop's Daughter is listed as general fiction, but had just enough romance to satisfy me. (Did I mention it was a "sweet" romance? Those don't normally appeal to me, but this was so well done I enjoyed it anyway.) I highly recommend this novel, and now I wish I had read the first two books in the series as well.

Jimmy, kidnapped from an Amish farm at age one, is now celebrating his 21st birthday. His beloved mother, Linda, has been dead several years and his dad, Jim, is the alcoholic owner of a painting company in Washington State for which Jimmy works. Before her untimely death, Linda had asked her husband to promise to tell Jimmy (when he was old enough) all about his adoption which she believed was a legal, attorney arranged adoption. However, years of shame, sadness and guilt kept Jim from revealing anything at all to his son about his birth and first year. Ironically,assuming he would have already been told, a birthday card with a pre-written letter from his mother reveals the whole story and tells him how much he was loved. Shocked and angry that his dad has kept all this from him, Jimmy starts demanding answers to his questions. When he is not satisfied with his father's answers, he leaves, alone, in search of his "real parents" and birthplace 2,000 miles away. A stop at the attorney's office reveals that Jimmy was not adopted there at all and Jimmy is furious with his father for yet another lie. In a cell phone call to his dad, he demands to know the whole truth. His dad answered "When the adoption fell through, I was distraught and drove through Amish country, seeking answers. I happened upon an Amish farm that sold home-made root beer, and while the young girl was gone to the house for a cold jug, I grabbed a little boy she had left sitting on a picnic table and I fled. That baby was you." Jimmy now became extremely angry, believing his dad not only lied, but made up a preposterous story. All he had to go on was 20 years, an Amish farm that sold root beer and a baby abducted from a picnic table. However, since he was already in the area, Jimmy rented a place and got a job with a local Amish painting crew. Then his search began. His quest to find the truth about his heritage makes this a very heartfelt, suspenseful book. Jimmy's falls in love with a young Amish woman which only further complicates matters. After several severe tongue lashings from elders threatening him not to pollute their community, Jimmy decides he has made a huge mistake and decides to go back home to Washington State. However, the pull to the Amish is too strong for Jimmy to get away from. Brunstetter does an awesome job holding the reader spell-bound to the end of this book and the conclusion of the series. I am sad to have this series be over. Thank you for three excellent books, Wanda. I am already ordering others you have authored!!!!