Treasuring Emma

This latest novel by Kathleen Fuller is a great insight to an Amish community. This was my first venture into this series, and I certainly plan to read the others. Emma is a tragic character who has experienced tremendous loss in her life; parents, grandfather, first love. Ms. Fuller presents her such a way to evoke sympathy from the reader. Mystery, deception, longing, and devotion to God, family and friends are all included in this book. The reader understands the struggle of Emma's young man, Adam, who must decide to either stay banned from the community or choose to return because of his love and devotion to God and not simply because it's the faith of his father. Ms. Fuller does an excellent job of presenting the turmoil and finally the clarity Adam experiences as he works out his faith. There is a happy ending, however one thread is left untied to perhaps create a gateway for the author to write another book in her series of the Amish community. An interesting addition is a glossary at the beginning of the book with a list of common words used in the Amish community and their English translations. The characters were well developed and the pace moved at an acceptable pace. If you've never read Amish fiction, this would be a great book with which to begin.