The Promise of an Angel

First-time novelist Reid taps into two fan bases%E2%80%94Amish fiction and angel tales%E2%80%94in this lovely story that seamlessly blends both worlds. Judith Fischer is the first to reach her brother, Samuel, after a dramatic fall, and she sees a tall Englischer kneeling near him. The stranger disappears, but Judith later meets him repeatedly, coming to understand he's an angel. The Amish community doesn't believe, as Judith does, that Samuel will walk again; instead, they turn on her for her talk of angels. Only Andrew Lapp befriends her as Judith struggles with her faith, her wayward sister, Martha, and the chaos of her feelings for Levi Plank. Judith's dreams reveal the choices she must make, but can she face the ire of her Old Order Amish community in light of what the angel reveals? Will she leave her Michigan home, and perhaps her dreams for the future, and so avoid shaming her family? Reid has written a fine novel that provides, as its series title claims, a bit of "heaven on earth." (June)