What a delightful story by Cindy Woodsmall! I am a huge fan of Amish Fiction and though I have read a few of Ms. Woodsmall's works, I have not read a lot. What I have read, I have greatly enjoyed. The Englisch Daughter is an amazing story of true forgiveness and love. There were some twists and turns and many moments that tugged at my heartstrings. The characters were so well written and created that I instantly felt a connection to them. The story itself was incredibly well written and I loved the intertwining of the characters and the author's ability to tell their backstories and create a multifaceted story all in one. An excellent story that I highly recommend!

The Englisch Daughter will shock you, make you sad, and then mad all in a couple of pages. You will say, I knew something was up, but you won't be able to guess how it happened or why.

Jemima was my favorite character- Loving, trusting (maybe a bit too much) and always there when she was needed the most. I was so worried how she would stand up to what was in her future.

Focusing on dreams, forgiveness, love, and trust this was great Amish read that will keep you turning the pages!


This book was sent to me by Netgalley. I was not required to leave a positive review.

I was interested in this novel until I got about half way through then lost interest. **********************************************************************

It is the holiday season and my book reading time gets a bit bogged down. I have not finished this book yet. Review to come...

I enjoyed this book. It really delved deeply into the issues and relationships between the family members, and didn't offer "one size fits all" solutions or downplay the emotional healing that needed to take place. I would guess that some readers might find that the "depth" of that emotional sorting-out to not be to their taste, but I found it very authentic.

I have not read Cindy & Erin Woodsmall before. The Englisch Daughter was different than other Amish fiction that I have read and I was not opposed to this at all! I loved this story! The characters were all wonderfully written and the story so engrossing that I could not put it down. The fact that they all had cell phones was a little jarring at first (only because this isn't something you ordinarily see in Amish fiction), but there were several times in the story that I was so glad the characters had the phones! I also really liked the side story of Abigail and Chris. Chris being willing to box to help his brother was also a difference that I enjoyed. This story also dealt with addiction and infidelity. It's an incredible story of acceptance and forgiveness. I'm not sure if all the authors' novels are this progressive, but I will definitely be reading them. Thank you to Netgalley and Waterbrook & Multnomah for the ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

Two bad boys among the Amish! After being in an accident, Roy Graber is taking a lot of pain killers. While his expectant wife and three children are at her mother’s, he fixes a renter’s plumbing and learns later that he got her pregnant. For ten months, he lies to his wife, Jemima, about where he is as he spends thousands of dollars on Tiffany and her baby, using Jemima’s money for a food truck.
Chris Fisher agrees to pay his brother’s gambling debt by boxing, a taboo among the non-violent Amish. He hasn’t joined the church yet, but still gets in deep trouble when he’s caught by the ministers. He goes to Mirth to work on Roy’s horse farm, where he meets Roy’s sister Abigail. There’s instant attraction, but Abigail doesn’t approve of boxing.
Roy and Jemima’s marriage is in deep trouble when she learns of baby Heidi. How can she ever trust Roy again? Then things take a surprising twist.
There’s a lot of discussion or private mulling over what causes people to put up walls or why Tiffany is such an awful mother. It tends to read like a textbook.
Baby Heidi will pull your heartstrings, so unhappy at being unloved by her mother and Jemima. Chris and Abigail’s bantering is amusing. Jemima wins your sympathy. Good story.

Time has changed. The Amish women of Mirth, Pennsylvania, specifically Jamima and Abigail, are catching up with the time and are beginning to question their worth and place on Earth. Jamima is married to Abigail’s brother, Roy. The beautiful couple has four young, obedient children. Jamima’s life revolves around God, her husband, and children. Sadly, when her husband’s supposedly one nightstand with a troubled Englisch woman produces a baby, their world turns upside down. Her heart is shattered. She is forced to not only hide her husband’s infidelity from the community, for fear of being branded as an adulterer and being shunned, and to protect their own children from such stigma and trauma; but she also has to love, nurture and protect another innocent child of God, the fruit of her husband’s infidelity.

In the Amish community, a woman is not to express herself in a hostile manner or lose her temper. It’s unbecoming and unwholesome. But how can any woman withstand such cruelty and betrayal from a husband whom she loves with all her heart and who claims to love her, too. They share a sacred vow. How could he do this to her? Jamima and Abigail know that no matter what her husband has done, the church would demand her to “forgive her husband and walk in love.” She is still “supposed to be his dutiful and faithful wife, still serve him as a humble servant.” Jamima is wounded and cannot shake the repulsion of her husband’s action in creating a baby with another woman, Tiffany. Not to mention all those times he lied to her when he snuck to be with her. On top of that, he took all the savings she and Abigail put away to buy a food truck to spend on Tiffany.

Jamima finds it unfair that while her husband makes all the decisions, has total control over their finances, and gets to do whatever he wants while she is stuck in a cage (metaphorically speaking)—a cage he and the community built for her, which she happily accepted until Roy becomes entangled with Tiffany and fathers a child with her. She loses herself in pity and even wishes, for a brief, sinful moment—her weakest moment—to walk to the center of the river and let it sweep her away. In a way, she slightly envies Abigail and wishes she had freedom like her.

Abigail finds freedom in being single. It’s abnormal for a woman of her age to be single but she doesn’t care. She is a teacher and volunteers her time to help men who are addicts to be cleaned, sober and become part of the Amish society again. Upon seeing how wives and children of these dishonest men suffer immensely at their hands and seeing how her sister in-law suffers too, Abigail built a wall around her heart. She generalizes and sees all men as being dishonest no matter how nice and caring they are. No man can penetrate her heart until Chris, a man who is caught between the Englisch and Amish worlds, comes along and shows her how to love.

Cindy Woodsmall and Erin Woodsmall’s The Englisch Daughter is about believing in the power and work of God, love, and forgiveness. In the end, as the new generation of Amish people, Jamima, Roy, Abigail and Chris find balances in their lives and support each other equally and offer each other the freedom to pursue their own interests through the love and guidance of God. For Jamima and Abigail it is the food truck that they had saved up for, before Roy used up the money for Tiffany’s medical bills and rents. Roy had to sell his most prized two stallions to get the food truck for his wife and sister.

No spoilers. I will not give away the ending, but I want to say, what a happy and wholesome story. I enjoy reading it very much and learn a lot about the Amish world, even though it is fiction. This book is wonderfully written. I enjoy it from the beginning to the end. The prose floats across the pages with ease. I know other readers will enjoy reading The Englisch Daughter, too. I highly recommend it. And thank you for the ARC.

This is a well written book that holds your attention. This is not your typical Amish book, it deals with problems that show the Amish are just like everybody else and have to deal with the same sins and problems that everybody has to deal with. The authors words made the book come to life, you could feel all the emotions. I can't wait to see what they will write next! All of their books that I've read are 5 stars all the way! Thank you WaterBrook & Multnomah via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Englisch Daughter is a sweet but colicky baby named Heidi. An innocent child who could rend asunder the Amish family Graber. How would a loving people deal with economic distress, physical and mental health issues, addictions, gender roles, faith… and the arrival of a child born out of wedlock, out of infidelity? This a story on the need for dedication to one’s convictions, and on the need for convictions of our own choosing.
Cindy and Erin Woodsmall introduce us to the world of the Amish. This is shown not only as an idyllic, religious, dedicated society, with specified roles for men, women, children, and God; but, also, a society whose members deal with what the reader would consider ‘Englisch’ (i.e. not Amish or Mennonite) issues. Pastoral, picture perfect lives come at a price just as much as our modern ones do, they tell as. And at the very heart of all issues, they seem to claim, beyond fear and pain, there lies love.

Who would enjoy this
The Englisch Daughter would be a good choice for those who like stories about love triumphant, strong female characters and wholesome romance. It works well for those who like ‘Hallmark movies’, yet also for those looking for a bit of real bite to the characters. Mss Woodsmall bring forth difficulties and demanding situations for the Grabers, and for Chris Fisher, the chivalrous rebel on the brink of shunning.

Who should give this a pass
This novel is soft paced, and seems mostly targeted at a female audience. Readers should bear this in mind when picking it up. In addition, it presents a very specific culture, attitude, even language, which is remarked upon repeatedly – if this is something readers find irksome (like constant paraphrasing of Pennsylvania Dutch into English), they should be aware this narrative might push their patience. Similarly, this is not a demanding story, so if high literature is the object, well, this is not it.

Conclusions and suggestions
I admit it, I like romance novels. I find them cheering and a great escape from daily drudgery. The Englisch Daughter met those expectations, providing a soothing, quick, easy read. On the other hand, I tend to simply read and discard romances. This novel, though, wouldn’t allow that. It is well built. It slides smoothly, gripping you without need for excessive scenes. It is human, and humane in its portrayals of foibles. It provides enough insight into the characters’ growth to fully integrate the drama. Finally, it provides the resolution which one expects, happy ending without fireworks.
My one bone to pick would be that the personal struggle is rather quicker than the build-up of antagonistic feelings, of pain, of anguished betrayal, would lead us to expect. Either the characters were more angelic than they seemed to that point, or the ending took too great a jump into happiness. Yes, it is tough to develop emotional shift without being repetitive, let alone without additional scenes of action to conflict. Still, Mss Woodsmall’s tale would be all the rounder for that additional effort.

This, in short, is a novel I warmly recommend.

this is a complex story, it has a lot of characters , it is set in amish country, but modern day with cell phones carried on them. Roy is married to Jemima but he changes when he and a daughter are in an accident then he becomes distant and tells lies , what is going on it also has Chris and Abigail but each has problems , then there is Tiffany she is one troubled person and causes a lot of problems. a good story I was given a copy of the book but this is an honest review

This review is freely given and not required even though I received a free ARC through Netgalley.com.

I have not read a book by Cindy and Erin Woodsmall before but I truly enjoyed this book. It is a Christian book with the main characters from the Amish faith. It is different than most of the "Amish" books I've read before as it doesn't deal so strongly with their practices. It did mention being shunned and some other forms of discipline but it wasn't based on these things.

There were four main characters in this book and they were quite well developed. You learned "what made them tick". The minor characters were understandable also.

The story flowed well and kept my interest. I was glad they put in an epilogue at the end. It was written so that a second book could happen but is not needed. The editing was well done, a couple of minor things but nothing to distract a reader.

Overall I would give this book a 4 out of 5-star rating. I will look forward to reading more from these authors.

Wow! The Englisch Daughter tells a difficult story of possible infidelity, drug abuse, abandonment, struggling marriage, new love, adult siblings, and forgiveness. Although all of those issues might make this sound like a depressing book, it is FAR from depressing as the characters deal with real-life issues and discover God's grace in the midst of their struggles. Marriages are strengthened in the story, new love is discovered by two single individuals not looking for romance, and a baby born in a difficult situation receives love and support in unexpected places. This is a FANTASTIC book!

"The Englisch Daughter," sheds a whole new light on the Amish life. To say the very least , it is not your typical Amish story. One would be surprised to read of repeated use of cell phones and Uber apps.
Rather than whisk the reader to a simpler lifestyle and community ,this book is filled with twists and story lines that lead one to believe that the lives of the Amish are just as complicated and worldly as the societies from which they separate themselves.



I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley and was not required to post a favorable review. All opinions are my own.

Is there infidelity in the Amish community? Yes, this book abundantly proves this by telling the story of Roy, Jemima and Tiffany. Roy was in a buggy accident with his 5 year old daughter Laura, and he had to be put on painkillers. His wife Jemima sees him answering his work cell phone constantly and he is cold and distant towards her. His personality and judgment was affected and he was told that he fathered a child .
You will have to read this book for yourself to find out what happens to him, his family and the child.

Her English Daughter is an exceptional book written by authors Cindy Woodsmall and Erin Woodsmall. I was drawn into this story from the first few pages with the mystery surrounding Roy and his disappearances first are brought to light. I enjoy reading books by these co-authors because you can distinguish between who is actually doing the writing. They are definitely in tuned to one on there making for an exceptional read.

The characters are very likable and fit well together to tell this amazing story of love, forgiveness, distrust, and deceit.
All of the characters have a role to play in this story and if they were left out it would alter the story.

I always enjoy A good Amish book and I love this author. This was slightly different than other topics in Amish books but very enjoyable. The story was about Jemima and her husband Roy. After a car accident they were in there marriage seem to be having problems. Jemima felt the pull in there marriage but could not figure out what the problem was. After Roy was missing and came home hurt the secret started to unravel. Could Jemima forget Roy and could there marriage be saved? A good book of secrets and forgiveness. I could not put this book down. Read it in one day.

I am fascinated by the Amish community and enjoy books set within their lifestyle. This book was different, having infidelity and trust as central issues in the characters's lives. I wasn't sure how I would feel about that. The book, for me, started a little slowly, but then, as I got to know the characters, I found I just could not put this book down. I would definitely read another book by these two ladies!

This was a very interesting and different take on an Amish marriage. I'm pretty certain this is the first one I've read in which the husband has not only had an affair but produced a child during that affair. I'm glad though that there was also the side story of Jemim'a own dreams for the future instead of chapter after chapter focusing on the drama they were going through.

The ending was a nice twist I hadn't expected.

** ARC received from Netgalley **

This story is a lot different from what I normally read. I have always been intrigued by the Amish community and their ways. This story doesn’t disappoint. Following the path of family, dreams and disappointments. Calling upon inner strength and god to help guide her. Bravo Cindy and Erin!