Anything but Plain

October 3, 2022
A young woman contemplates leaving the Amish community in this enjoyable romance from Fisher (The Sweet Life). Nineteen-year-old Lydie Stoltzfus is easily distracted and struggles to hold down a job. Though most of her peers have been baptized, she still feels she isn’t ready and believes that she’s a disappointment to her family and friends, so she’s secretly planning to leave the Amish community. Then her domineering grandmother, known to Lydie as “Mammi the Meddler,” arrives in town and announces her intention to keep an eye on Lydie and help take care of her younger siblings. Lydie takes a job as a receptionist for her aunt, a doctor who left the Amish community as a teenager and who diagnoses Lydie with ADHD, offering her a new perspective on her troubles. Meanwhile, Lydie’s 19-year-old neighbor Nathan Yoder competes with his brother for control of the family farm. He develops a crush on Lydie, but she fights her feelings for him because she plans to leave soon. Readers will be won over by the delightful leads, and the nuanced treatment of Lydie’s ADHD and crisis of faith brings depth to the narrative. This is another winner from Fisher.