Amish Cooking Class: The Seekers

By: Wanda E. Brunstetter
Publication Date: April 2017
Publisher: Shiloh Run Press
ISBN: 978-1-62416-744-7
Reviewed by: Diane Lunsford
Review Date: May 23, 2017

Heidi Troyer is a good Amish wife. She loves her husband Lyle to the moon and back, but there is still a void in her life that may never be filled. They’ve been together for more than a handful of years and the only ‘child’ Heidi and Lyle share is their Brittany Spaniel Rusty. No matter how many times Heidi has broached the subject of adoption with Lyle, he won’t budge. His belief is: ‘...if it were God’s will for us to have children, you would have gotten pregnant by now...’ Heidi’s faith and belief is as strong as her husband’s, but lately she has her doubts. She needs something more than the household and garden chores to occupy her mind. Perhaps the cooking class she is about to start is the perfect distraction from that baby she fears she will never have.

With an eclectic group of students, the group assembles for the first day of class. Loretta Donnelly had the happily ever after until the passing of her husband, Rick. Left with two beautiful children, Abby and Conner, she is reminded daily that life must go on and perhaps Heidi’s cooking class is the comfort and distraction she needs to carry on. Charlene Higgins is young and in love. However, even though Len and she have a strong love for each other, perhaps a cooking class will find its way to his heart and the marriage proposal Charlene desperately seeks. Eli Miller is a kind and caring Amish gentleman, but he is lonely. There isn’t a day that goes by that he doesn’t pause and think about his beloved Mavis and wonder why she had to die. Kendra Perkins is young and in trouble. She is pregnant and her boyfriend, the baby’s father, is long gone. She is kicked out of her childhood home and faced with the reality of raising her unborn child alone. Maybe Heidi’s class will have the answers. Last but not least, there is the drifter Ron Hensley. Down on his luck for too many years and facing the future on a con and a prayer, he finds his way to the Troyer’s home for the next chapter in his life. Perhaps the gathering of the group was destiny but only time would deliver the answers they all so desperately sought to find.

Ms. Brunstetter is no stranger to the Amish way of life. As one of the founders of the Amish fiction genre, it’s no wonder she would pen her next novel on such a topic. The story has a nice flow and balance with lots of believability infused throughout the story. The dialogue is rich and each character assumes a solid role in the part he or she plays as the story unfolds. There is no predictability toward the outcome and as a result, the reader will naturally continue to turn the pages and enjoy the journey from beginning to end. There is just enough fact about the Amish way of life sprinkled throughout the unfolding plot to intrigue a new comer to Ms. Brunstetter’s latest addition to her library of titles to entice the reader to perhaps take a step back and read another. Thank you for an enjoyable read Ms. Brunstetter.

Quill says: Amish Cooking Class: The Seekers has a solid plot and entertaining premise from beginning to end - certainly a story to pack along with you on that summer getaway this year.