Review of: The Preacher’s Son
Patricia Johns. Zebra, $8.99 (352p) ISBN 978-1-4201-5236-4
Johns kicks off the first
of a new series set in Bountiful, Pennsylvania, with a cautionary tale of
dishonesty’s aftermath and the tragedies left in its wake. When community preacher Abe Yoder is
sentenced to prison for swindling people out of their money for the purpose of
a fake charity [p. 2 ff], he leaves his son Isaiah to shoulder the burdens of
guilt and shame. After the bank
repossesses his house and land to pay for his father’s crimes, Isaiah is forced
to beg for work at a local book bindery owned by Nathaniel Glick [p. 8]. The owner’s daughter, Bethany, who works at
the bindery, is struggling with her own loss as her former fiancé, Micah, broke
off their wedding in favor of leaving the Amish community [p. 3]. However, Bethany discovers not long afterward
that she is pregnant with Micah’s baby [p. 81].
Isaiah has always secretly loved Bethany but never courted her as his
friend Micah expressed interest first. Unlike
both his friend and his father, Isaiah is committed to practicing the values in
which he believes, even it means suffering social ostracization [p. 3 ff]. He and Bethany initially bond over their
shared notoriety in the community, but gradually realize they share common values.
They help each other learn how to forgive and trust again, and in so doing,
fall deeply in love and find new hope in a shared future together. A complicated yet inspirational work as Johns
introduces characters and lays the foundation for future books in the Amish
community of Bountiful. [Feb 2021]
