Readers often ask Beth Wiseman how she knows so much about the Amish.
“The Amish and Mennonite contacts I have established in Pennsylvania and Colorado help me to keep the books authentic,” the author says. “These very private people might dress differently, avoid the use of electricity and modern conveniences, but they are just like everyone else. They love, hurt, have daily challenges and struggles, and strive to be the best they can be.”
Beth returns to bookshelves with the second volume in her new Land of Canaan series, The Wonder of Your Love (Thomas Nelson). Katie Ann Stoltzfus—settling into her new life in Canaan, Colo.—gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. The boy’s father died before their son is born; despite the man’s history of infidelities, Katie mourns his loss and vows never to trust another man.
Then Eli Detweiler arrives in Canaan to attend his niece’s wedding. He’s been raising his kids alone in Middlefield, Ohio, since his wife’s death 15 years ago. Now each child is married, so Eli looks forward to living a less structured life—and eating shoofly pie for breakfast every morning. There’s no one to care for except himself.
Until a meddling but good-hearted Englisch woman plays matchmaker…
Beth began her writing career as a newspaper reporter. She wrote on all kinds of topics, from premature birth to performance boating.
But her heart was set on writing fiction. In 2008, she left her job as a journalist to write novels full-time.
“Writing about the Amish lifestyle within fictional love stories has been a wonderful experience,” Beth says. “An often misunderstood sect of people, it has been a privilege to learn about their ways.”
Amish fiction fans will be glad to know that Beth is in for the long haul. Not that she doesn’t have additional ideas for stories: “The success of the Amish sub-genre suggests I will be writing them for a long time. However, I will be writing my first non-Amish Women’s Fiction novel this year, slated for release March 2012.”