A Seat by the Hearth

This third book in Clipston’s Amish Homestead series (following Room on the Porch Swing) is a moving portrait of a disgraced woman attempting to reenter her childhood community. Pricilla Allgyer fled her family and their Amish community in Lancaster, Penn., when she was 18 to live with a cousin in Baltimore. Now, eight years later, she has a six-year-old son, Ethan, and an abusive husband. Deciding she has finally had enough of her husband, she reluctantly returns penniless to Lancaster County and her perpetually disappointed father. Instead of welcoming Pricilla home, her father immediately establishes a firm set of rules for her to follow, including undergoing a shunning for her sins and marrying an Amish man of his choice. Mark Riehl, the social butterfly of their Lancaster county, is glad Pricilla has returned and is set on winning her friendship—but not her heart. However, Clipston predictably steers the two together, and their growing affections provoke Pricilla’s father to attempt to control his daughter’s life even more. Though readers won’t be surprised by how the romance plays out, this will please Clipston’s fans and also win over newcomers to Lancaster County. (Nov.)