Hope in the Land is quite a bit different Amish historical that I have read. I have always enjoyed reading Depression era novels, but have never read one involving an Amish story. I found that to be unique and refreshing personally. I enjoyed the characters and setting and, of course, the era. This is my favorite of Olivia Newport to date. 5 stars

If this book were a television show, it would be a drama on the order of Little House on the Prairie, just a bit more grown up. Olivia Newport has a way of spinning a story that keeps the readers engaged and involved. Hope in the Land takes the reader back to the Great Depression where the Amish may have just been the wealthiest people in the nation because of all they could do for themselves.

Gloria and Marlin have a housefull of children--but the boys have married and moved to their own homes on the farm, leaving only the five girls at home. Minerva and Ernie have just one child still at home. These two couples are next door neighbors, but Gloria and Minerva have a history of competition going back to early primary school, even though Gloria wanted nothing to do with competing.

Polly is in love with Thomas, but he seems more interested in her sister, Lena. Henry is an agent from a WPA program doing research on family farms and how they are managing to get through the Depression. Rose is Minerva and Ernie's daughter, but she's also intrigued by Henry, interested in farming, wants to learn more of the homemaking arts that her mother hasn't taught her.

Minerva's favorite thing to do is spend money, and Ernie finds out that Minerva has spent their reserve money on frivolous things and makes her take them back or sell them or somehow get the money out of them so they won't lose the farm.

This all seems disjointed, but they are all subplots to the main plot of the book, and they all make the book the readable tome that it is. Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and some self-sufficiency in your life.

My thanks to Barbour Books for allowing me to read and review this book.

Fantastic book. Well written and keeps you wanting to read more

This was a delightful, as well as, educational read. This book is set in Lancaster County, PA, during the Great Depression era. It was interesting to learn what all people would do to survive during this time.

This was such a hard time in the history of our nation. Both the Amish and the English struggled to make ends meet. This book centers on the Grabill family, who are Amish, and the English Swain family. Gloria Grabill and Minerva Swain grew up together as children and are now neighbors. Their daughters, Polly Grabill and Rose Swain play significant roles in the book.

One of the government programs during the depression sent Agent Henry Edison to Lancaster County to survey the farm women to learn about their part in maintaining their farms, such as how much food they grow on the farm and can for their families. Henry, Polly, Rose and Polly’s romantic interest, Thomas Coblentz, along with several other characters in the book, make an entertaining read. Most of all, we learn what they learn about hope.

I would highly recommend this book. I received a copy from Shiloh Run Press for my honest review.

Hope in the Land (Amish Turns of Time)
by Olivia Newport Edition: Paperback Price: $10.22 40 used & new from $7.43

5.0 out of 5 stars Another brilliant book from Olivia Newport, April 9, 2016 Edit Review Delete Review This review is from: Hope in the Land (Amish Turns of Time) (Paperback)
I am a big fan of Olivia Newport's writing. There is always a good story, well written, good character development, easy to read. But, there is always well-researched, sensitively approached challenges for the characters that explore the historical setting as well as have some application to today's world. In this book, the author explores the issues of consumer consumption, adult vs children's difficult relationships, monoculture vs polyculture agriculture, etc... I really liked the book!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the loan of a time-constrained e-galley which I consumed almost instantly. I am looking forward to more books from Ms. Newport. The one thing I would like is easier and more economical access to epub versions of the books!

Very enjoyable story. An Amish woman and English woman have struggled for forty years to get along. This story takes place during the depression where everyone lacked money and learned to rely on others to make due. Minerva loves her catalogs and buying as she pleases while Gloria barters her chickens and eggs to help her family. When the depression hits Minerva' s home, she will have to swallow her pride to obtain help from Gloria. Gloria will have to rely on God even more to get along with Minerva. This story has a number of other characters that all blend in to make this a very warm-hearted take.

Travel back to the time of The Great Depression of America in "Hope in the Land" by Olivia Newport. The setting is in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where Amish and Englishers coexist as neighbors.

We meet Amish housewife Gloria Grabill and her large family. The Grabills all run the family farm as a team working off the land.

We also meet English neighbor, Minerva Swain, who has at lot to learn about the state of the economy and her family's farm. Minerva has also been trying Gloria’s patience for forty years, with their husbands being best friends.

Henry Edison from Philadelphia lands a government job to survey farm women about their domestic contributions during the 1930's in Lancaster County. What Henry gains is so much more than what he puts on paper.

I loved how Olivia Newport merged characters in piece by piece to bring us a grand story of the 1930's; where Amish and English coexisted fighting the same struggles differently. The details of the characters, the experiences, and description of the land could all be visioned in my mind's eye of the reader.

I have read all of Olivia's Amish genre books so far. I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

I received a free copy from NetGalley with the only request to write an honest review about the book. No money was exchanged. This is my review written in my own words.

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1936, Ernie had rolled up his shirt sleeves and was scrubbing his arms all the way up to his elbows. Minerva's stomach sank. "We're going to the Grabills' for lunch." Ernie flashed a grin. "Did you invite yourself again?" "It was Marlin's idea this time." Minerva is the English neighbor and Gloria, the Amish homemaker, and the two have never gotten along. The two women attended school together as youngsters and they didn't get along then and they still don't get along. But Marlin had invited them all to dinner so Gloria would play the dutiful housewife and serve the neighbors a decent hot meal. Times are very hard as the Great Depression is upon the country and Ernie comes along to survey the local farm wives about their domestic contributions. Gloria again does what a good Amish housewife would do and offers Henry a place to stay in their barn. This book greatly saddened me in many ways as I thought of my mother and father being born during the early 1930's and I knew that times had indeed been very hard for them. What I loved, though, was their hope in the land.....hope that the vegetables they grew in their little family gardens would sustain the family through the winter. Minerva and her daughter, Rose, had many things they would learn from Gloria and her daughters. The dynamics of the two families was quite interesting. This book evoked great emotion for me. I believe that readers will feel torn between many emotions as well as they read. I rated this book 5 stars and highly recommend it to readers/
I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I have read several books by Olivia Newport, and I have loved every one of them. This is a story of how the Amish and English come together during trying times. Even though they have different ways of life, they come together to help each other during hard financial times. Highly recommend!

A Joy to Read!

Ever since reading my first Olivia Newport book, Accidentally Amish (Valley of Choice Book 1), I realized that the author writes a very different type of story. One of the main differences is that Ms. Newport’s writing is outside of the box. None are a cookie cutter format, which maker her writing very refreshing.

Her series, Amish Turns of Time, is a wonderful series, and Hope in the Land is a great addition to it. The author incorporates a history lesson into a story of hope, romance, intrigue, mystery, overcoming obstacles, forgiving, and faith,. The author combines these elements flawlessly in a way that keeps the reader enthralled up to the very end, and that is no easy feat.

As a reader, I enjoy reading historical fiction from the the old west era. However, I always bypasses any other era, especially the Depression. And yet, once I began reading Hope in the Land, I didn’t put it down until I had read the very last word. That’s how much it grabbed me and sucked me in. I even learned a few things that I didn’t know had occurred during that time. So, not only did I enjoy the story immensely, I also learned a few things in the process.

Part of Hope in the Land focuses on the forty year trying relationship between Amish Gloria Grabill and Englisher Minerva Swain. However, more of the story focuses on Polly Grabill, Gloria’s daughter. I really enjoyed seeing how unique Polly is and how that factored into her relationship with her family, friends, Thomas Coblentz, and Englisher Henry Edison. While all of the characters had their special place in the story, l loved Polly’s character and her uniqueness the most. It added a whole new dimension to the story. All in all, Hope in the Land is a perfectly blended story that is a joy to read and one that will keep you guessing up to the very end.

****While Hope in the Land is part of a series, it can be read as a stand alone.
*****I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and viewpoints are my own.

I so enjoyed this book! Typically, Amish stories are not my favorite but this one was so well written that I now what to go back and read the first books in the series. A great story!

I loved this book, once I started reading it it was really hard to put down. I have recommended it to three friends . It is truly a book that I could read again, very realistic