The Weaving of Life - New Directions by Linda Byler Paperback

The Weaving of Life by Linda Byler is the debut of the New Directions series. I like the author’s writing style. It makes the story easy to read. I thought the characters were developed. The storyline is different from other Amish novels that I have read. Susan Lapp is in her twenties and has two jobs. She has no desire to marry. Susan has seen how her sister Kate’s husband Dan treats his wife and kids. Susan prefers her independence. I found Susan to be a hard character to like. She is extremely opinionated and stubborn. She refuses to listen to other opinions or thoughts (such as in any marriage there is good and bad). It made Susan insufferable. The pacing in the first half of the book is a little slow. It does pick up in the second half when Susan relocates to Wyoming. The author addresses some difficult topics in this story (mental abuse, alcolhism, mental illness). Susan is judgmental about her sister, Kate’s situation, and her brother-in-law’s behavior. I wish Susan had been sympathetic and helpful instead of judgmental. I was very surprised that Amish singles and couples were allowed to go off on trips without a chaperone. I liked seeing them head off for a snowboarding weekend and their RV adventure. It seemed like an unAmish thing to do. Since the author is Amish, she would know what is appropriate or inappropriate for Amish singles. The Weaving of Life ended abruptly and left me wondering what would happen next. I will have to wait for the next book in the New Direction series to find out.

The first in a new series, The Weaving of Life introduces readers to Susan Lapp, an independent young Amish woman determined not to marry and settle down. Jadded by watching her sisters' spoiled marriages, Susan commits herself to the single life. But when her brother's co-worker comes into her life, Susan begins to experience new and confusing feelings. Fleeing these feelings, she takes a teaching job as part of a new Amish settlement in the west. However, even here, life is far from perfect. Susan's new life is rocked with homesickness, teaching challenges, and new relationships. Will Susan ever find God's will through life's ups and downs? This is only the second book I've read by author Linda Byler and it was much more interesting than the first. The character of Susan Lapp is complex and interesting. At the beginning of the book, she is so frustrating. There is so much about her character that is dislikable. But as the book progresses, we get to see different sides of her. Her complexity becomes more obvious and she's much more relatable. The book took several twists and turns, leading to multiple settings and introducing a host of characters. All the personalities displayed and the cliffhanger at the end were really what made The Weaving of Life interesting. I'm anxious to see how some of these loose ends get resolved in book two. *Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.