The Kari AnnAlysis

Lydia’s husband died in a logging accident, leaving her to raise their little boy in Amish country. When she loses her job as a waitress, she has no other choice than to move into her grandfather’s home with him and her mother. Lydia is setting up a new life in Charm, Ohio. Things start to be looking up. Her little boy is her pride and joy (and one that you grow close to and want to squeeze his little cheeks and give him a kitten), she gets a job as a waitress, she meets a couple of nice unmarried Amish men (she is Amish too). Her relationship with her mother is still rocky, but it’s nothing that prayer and faith can’t fix, or ease.

But then Lydia’s life turns tragic, for the second time in a year. She loses two people that are very close to her. She knows she needs to move on and that she can’t stay in bed forever and help comes in the form of presents at the door. Food, firewood, money, someone is lending a helping hand. But who? Is is Rueben, who has had a crush on Lydia’s mom since they were young kids? Is it Menno who wants Lydia as his wife to help raise his four young boys after the death of his wife? Or is it Levi, who is the only normal size man in a family of little people and has used that as an excuse not to marry his entire life?

Lydia’s Charm had a lot of great things mixed in. There was the reality that anything can happen to anyone at any time. Lydia goes through a number of hard times, devastation and death. But she never gives up. She is proof that it will hurt, and it will hurt hard, but you have to push through it.

I have been aware of the Amish culture my entire life. That may have sounded like a strange statement, but let me explain. There are Amish in the county where I grew up and my mom’s family grew up at the edge of Amish country. I’ve never really had a one-on-one with the Amish, but we always see them in Walmart and even had a little accident when our car spooked a horse a few years ago. Fortunately no one was hurt, unfortunately the thousands of dollars worth of furniture were destroyed when the buggy tipped over off the side of the road. So, needles to say, I’ve always had an interest in the people who have lived on the outskirts of our towns, but I’ve never really known. I’ve watched a few movies and tv specials, but always have more questions. This book answered some of those questions, but always made me want to learn more.

One of the things I liked most about this book was how Pennsylvania Dutch was woven through the text. I feel like I’ve started learning a new language after finishing this book and even caught myself telling my husband that I was hungerwich (hungry) and wrote danki (thank you) on Twitter this week. I didn’t know that the Amish taught Pennsylvania Dutch to their little ones. Brunstetter made the mixture of the two languages work really well but using a Pennsylvania Dutch word in one sentence, then reiterate what was said in English. Very creative.

I will say that towards the end of the book, it was very predictable. There were a few curveballs that threw me for a loop, but by the time it was getting time to reveal who the secret admirer was, I had the ending already worked out and I sure was right.

I give Lydia’s Charm 4 bookmarks.

ISBN: 971602600638
Released: September 1, 2010
Author Website
Kari won this book from Goodreads.com

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