Irvin, Kelly. An Amish Heirloom: Four NovellasBeneath the Summer Sun. Zondervan. (Every Amish Season, Bk. 2). Apr. 2018. 400p. ISBN 9780310351887. pap. $15.99; ebk. ISBN 9780310351870. CF
Four of today’s top Amish fiction writers contribute to this sweet collection of novellas about love, marriage, and secrets found in family heirlooms. In Clipston’s “A Legacy of Love,” Leon King realizes he still cares for ex-girlfriend Susie Bontrager when he agrees to repair her grandparents’ rocking chairs for her upcoming wedding. Susie, still drawn to Leon, knows she is marrying the wrong man. The titular object in Beth Wiseman’s “The Cedar Chest” contains family love letters that reveal a long-hidden secret; Catherine Fisher and her mother must decide whether to share it. Kathleen Fuller’s “The Treasured Book” revolves around a young man’s choice between the Amish life he desires to join and the law practice his father expects him to assume. His answer may lie in an old Bible he finds at a flea market. As Iris Beachy cares for an abandoned newborn wrapped in an antique crib quilt, she and Mahon Kurtz consider the possibility of a future together in Kelly Irvin’s “The Midwife’s Dream.” VERDICT Recommended for fans of the authors as well as newcomers who want a sampler of the best the genre has to offer.