Title: The Sacrifice

Author: Beverly Lewis

Publisher: Bethany House Publishers

ISBN: 0-7642-2872-2

Genre: Inspirational/Women/Fiction

Life in Gobbler’s Knob, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, was everything Leah Ebersol wanted. She dreamed of marrying her life-long love, Jonah Mast, settling down and raising the family God would give them. But all that changes when Jonah is banned from the Amish Community, along with Leah’s elder sister, Sadie. Now rumor says that Jonah and Sadie are married and have children. Leah has no choice but to believe the stories and try to move past her sister’s betrayal.

Leah’s twin sisters, Hannah and Mary Ruth, now court brothers. Smithy Gid is continuing to show interest in Leah. Mary Ruth still harbors her dreams of becoming a teacher, but she also wants to marry and settle down. Sadie remains estranged from her family.

Will Leah find love? Will Mary Ruth marry—or go to school? Is there any hope that Sadie might repent and return to the Amish community after all these years? Or will family misfortune and an over-strict bishop stand in the way of happiness?

The Sacrifice is book three in the Abram’s Daughters series. I recommend reading the first two books in the series before reading this one as the books do not stand alone. I anxiously awaited this book coming out in print as I am a huge fan of Beverly Lewis’ work. I enjoyed reading about Leah as she continues to mourn her beau’s betrayal and shunning, and yet tries to embrace all life offers her. This book moved me to tears several times but I was unable to put it down. I read through the entire book in a day. Readers will definitely want to keep Kleenex near while reading this book.

Book four, The Prodigal, is scheduled for release in October 2004. Readers will want to wait until all the books in the series are available before starting because there are several unresolved issues. Otherwise, The Sacrifice is a book for the keeper shelf. Readers will want to enjoy it several times.