The Bishop's Daughter

Daughters of Lancaster County #3

by Wanda E. Brunstetter

Leona is Bishop Jacob Weaver's daughter and a dedicated teacher in a one-room Amish schoolhouse. After her father's tragic accident, Leona's faith wavers. How could God allow something like this to happen to one of His servants? Outlander Jimmy Scott comes to Pennsylvania in search of his real family. When he is hired to paint an Amish schoolhouse, Jimmy and Leona find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other. Can anything good come from the love between an Amish woman and an English man? What secrets will be revealed and what miracles await God's people in Lancaster County? The Bishop's Daughter is book 3 in the Daughters of Lancaster County series. Other books in the series include The Storekeeper's Daughter: Book 1 and The Quilter's Daughter: Book 2.

Genres: Amish, Christian Fiction, Amish Fiction, Romance, Christian, Fiction, Christian Romance

288 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2006

About the author

New York Times bestselling and award-winning author, Wanda E. Brunstetter is one of the founders of the Amish fiction genre. She has written close to 90 books translated in four languages. With over 10 million copies sold, Wanda's stories consistently earn spots on the nations most prestigious bestseller lists and have received numerous awards.

Wanda’s ancestors were part of the Anabaptist faith, and her novels are based on personal research intended to accurately portray the Amish way of life. Her books are well-read and trusted by many Amish, who credit her for giving readers a deeper understanding of the people and their customs.

When Wanda visits her Amish friends, she finds herself drawn to their peaceful lifestyle, sincerity, and close family ties. Wanda enjoys photography, ventriloquism, gardening, bird-watching, beachcombing, and spending time with her family. She and her husband, Richard, have been blessed with two grown children, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

To learn more about Wanda, visit her website at www.wandabrunstetter.com.

Reviews

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A touching and inspiring conclusion to this trilogy. All of the plot threads were resolved very well, and the ending made me smile.

[Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am the first to admit I am not a fan of Amish fiction. I read it so much when I first got into Christian Fiction books that after awhile they all seemed to read alike. A friend gave me this book when she finished it, and I am glad I read it.

This book is a definite twist on the usual Amish fiction. Jimmy Scott learns when he is 21 that he has been adopted. But when he decides to trace his biological parents, the attorney who supposedly handled the adoption tells him it fell through at the last minute as the mother decided to keep the baby. When his dad finally admits what really happened, Jimmy is in for the shock of his life and heads immediately to Pennsylvania and Amish country.

This is a well written story that kept my attention from start to finish as Jimmy's journey leads him to find out who his parents really are. It is also a story of redemption and forgiveness for both Jimmy and his adoptive father. Even though it is book three in the series, it read well as a stand alone.

[Tasha enderby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book totally made suffering through the second one well worth it. I didn’t care for it, could you tell? I am glad that Zach finally found his way home. His life wasn’t easy but at a very young age his adoptive mother was showed the love of God that he would need to bring him home. I also love the way healing comes to the whole community after a long season of bad things. It proves that even the Amish must endure can loose their way in their faith.

[Terrah · Rating 2 out of 5]

These books were nice to read while I was woozy in the hospital, but were a little melodramatic (3 fiances die, one baby kidnapped, one case of amnesia...).

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the story itself was very good and well written, I was extremely disappointed in the ending. It happened so quickly and without much explanation. It was like the "line ride" that some cartoons have in their scripts. You're waiting and waiting, getting even more excited to see what's at the end of the line and then they tell you that the line was the ride and you're thinking, "What? That was it? How disappointing."

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book draws a nice conclusion to the Daughters of Lancaster County series. Unresolved issues that carried over from the previous two books finally reach a climax in this installment of the triology. Leona Weaver, the Bishop's daughter, is dealing with a grieving heart and Jimmy Scott is trying to find out who he really is. Both of these subplots make for an interesting and inspiring story.

[Michelle Robinson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow I hate and despise this book for sooooo many reasons. It is hard to focus on just one.

First of all there a critical secret that comes up in conversation so often and EACH TIME the author contrives an interruption of the conversation so that the information is not shared and we are left waiting to see an important matter be resolved. IF you don't want to have charachters to aqctually share information or COMMUNICATE then fine but at some point the polot used to keep interrupting the conversations become tedious and ridiculous why is no one thinks to say what were you saying? Or maybe people in this author's "Amish community never asks the person that are conversing with could you please finish what you were saying before we were interupted? Just seems like normal behavior to me but then what do I know? As I already stated this was a big issue for me.

My main gripe with this book was that a charachter in this novel does something particularly heinous and disgusting it seems as if this author felt that this act should be almost totally overlooked that the perpertrator of this awful act should be given a pass. That as readers we should be completely sympathetic of his behavior and feel sorry for him because of his mitigating circumstances. Forgetting all about the victims of his criminal behavior. UGH! I see enough of this tho9ugh process, the criminal as victim. I was totally disgusted and alarmed to find this theme in a Christian novel. Why is accountability so wrong today???????

My other major gripe with this novel, as with every novel I have ever read by this author is that if you had not read the novels before this one there is information that you would have missed. Also the end is not actually the end the main purpose of these novels seems to be to generate a a guarenteed audience for future "books".

This author seems to specialize in tales filled with woe. While sadness is a part of life, aqt some point, give me a break.
Disappointing is not a strong enough phrase.
I would not reccomend this to ANYONE.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful happy ending to a 3 book series by Wanda E. Brunstetter. It follows the life of Leona Weaver, who has lost her fiance and swears not to fall in love EVER again. But of course she does when she meets Jimmy Scott, an Englisher, who has come to Lancaster CO, PA to find his birth family after finding out from his Dad on his 21st birthday that he kidnapped him from an Amish family 21 years before.

What the reader is hoping for finally comes to pass at the very end of the book, when Jimmy finds out that he is really Zach Fisher, the once infant, kidnapped from Abraham Fisher's yard so many years ago.

This opens up the path for Jimmy (Zach) to be able to court (date) Leona and eventually marry her since he can now become Amish as he once was as a baby.

I highly recommend this and the other 2 books of the series, The Storekeeper's Daughter and the Quilter's Daughter!!!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third in the "Daughters of Lancaster County" and I was pleased to meet again Abraham, Naomi and Abby, with the key characters here their close friend's family of Jacob, Grace and Leona Weaver. The other strand of the book brought up to date the situation of Jimmy Scott, which I had found frustrating in the earlier books. I found this the most readable of the three books in the series. I felt involved with the characters, and learnt more abvout their Amish faith, as seen through outsider Jimmy's eyes. The feeling remained that I was reading a story set in the late 19th century and the revelation of Jimmy's secret, which was halted every time, by a stream of interruptions threatened to get tedious However it certainly held my attention and I could not put it down to find out how matters were resolved. So all in all a good read.

[the_hero_of_books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very unimpressed with the ending of this trilogy.

I starts off 11 years years after the second one ends. It felt like the author just wanted to get this over with and that's how I felt while reading it. This trilogy was very plot driven, it's hard to care for the characters when the only time you read about them is when they are complaining or dying(so many people die it's just ridiculous, most Amish books make me want to live the plain life but definitely not these ones). These were just filled with heart ache and second guesses.

I have some other books by this author and I may just have to return them to the library because I don't want to waste time on more rushed bad writing/story telling.

[Averystoys · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this entire series to be well-written, well-thought-out and quite enjoyable!
It is a NICE change from Beverly Lewis' story lines that all end in "become a Christian-leave the Amish faith".
In these stories, the answers are HOME, FAITH and FAMILY.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review of the trilogy, Daughters of Lancaster County. The three novels cover the year that the Amish baby was kidnapped, until his unexpected return twenty years later. Losing the baby plunges the Amish family into years of anquish. The years go on and the family grows but they can't forget the lost baby until they give up the idea that he will return. The books also follow the growing up of the stolen baby who is grown up before he finally learns who he is. He returns to the Amish community to find his family. He falls in love with an Amish maiden but realizes that she is not allowed to marry an English man. How is this going to end? Are dreams going to come true? I encourage you to read the trilogy.

[Della Tingle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a sweet series! The first book is the best of the three, and if you you read them, be sure to read them in order. Jimmy is seeking for information which takes him MONTHS to find! For the rest of us, it would take us only hours, if that long. I still have enjoyed this series from start to finish and look forward to reading more of Wanda Brunstetter’s work!

“Faults are thin when love is thick” (219).

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful ending to the series. Everything worked out as it should have! The suspense was that everything didn’t work out until the last few pages

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: Kristin reads and reviews both Christian and secular fiction on A Simply Enchanted Life. Out of respect for my readers, I am including a content review. This content review will help you decide whether this book is suitable for you.

Content Review:
Christian or Secular: Christian
Profanity: None
Sex: None
Violence: None
Trigger Warnings: None
Disclosure: Mentions of alcoholism & treatment.

You know, sometimes you find a book that just does it for you. I won’t say that this book is without flaws but I genuinely enjoyed the entire series. Let me just go ahead and address the complaints that I had and that I’ve seen others complain about.
The time jump:

I get why this bothers people because it threw me for a loop as well. You have a 10+ year time jump from book two to three. I was momentarily confused and felt as if I missed out on key elements that weren’t fully wrapped up in book two. An example of this would be the romance between Abby and Matthew. I needed more from that relationship and didn’t get it.
The Rushed Ending:

I too felt that this ending was rushed. Jimmy quickly worked through his conflicting emotions and found himself fully immersed in Amish life. I didn’t see much to propel Leona and Jimmy together and I actually shipped her with another character for the first half of the book.
But…the book still worked for me:

I was connected to Jimmy and the entire family. I wanted to know if Jimmy would forgive Jim for kidnapping him. I wanted to know if he would go back to his Amish family and become Zach again. I just didn’t know how all of this would work. I’m glad he decided to remain Jimmy. I can’t imagine spending 20+ years of my life and then changing my name—even if I’d been born with a different name.

Despite all of the near unbelievable melodramatic situations, I still needed to journey with these characters. It was the connection that I felt to them that made this book such an enjoyable read for me.

I wouldn’t say this series is a favorite of mine but I’d still give it a solid four-star.

This review originally posted to A Simply Enchanted Life

[Beverly Duell-Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

As we open the pages of The Bishop's Daughter, we find Linda Scott dying with breast cancer. She wants Jim to tell Jimmy that he's adopted when he's old enough to understand. Jim feels so guilty for the way Jimmy was "adopted" that he goes to the bottle to try to get rid of the guilt. He decides that she doesn't need to know the truth as she is dying. She knows that she is going to be with Jesus.

Jimmy has now turned 21 and his father still hasn't told him that he's "adopted". His mother has been gone for nine years now. Before she dies she had written a letter to Jimmy and given to her mother. She wanted her mother to give it to him when he turned 21 thinking that he would have been told he was adopted. The letter from him mom was the first he even heard about being adopted.

Jim doesn't know what to do about getting the information Jimmy wants on his adoption. Since there was no "real" adoption there are no records of it. Jimmy wants to find his birth family, so he goes to the city where the adoption was supposed to have happened. The attorney says that there wasn't any adoption that took place at that time. All these years of guilt and drinking, Jim still wants nothing to do with God or church.

Jimmy is very angry with his dad when he finds out that he was kidnapped from the front yard. He was also angry because he wasn't told before now. He goes off looking for information on his adoption. Jimmy at first doesn't believe that he was kidnapped.

Jimmy decides to stay in the Lancaster area for a while so he can find his birth family.He finds a job as a painter with Bishop Weaver. Jimmy befriends these people not knowing the he is related to some of them

Leona Weaver lost the she loves. She has decided that she isn't going to marry. She was just going to teach school the rest of her life.

Jimmy and Leona start to become more than friends. Neither can do anything about their attraction to each other. Jimmy is English and Leona is a baptized member of the church. (JImmy does feel at home with Amish people.

Does Jim come to the conclusion that he's an alcoholic? Does Leona love again?Does Jimmy find his birth family? Stay he stay in Lancaster County and become Amish? Does Bishop Weaver get his memory back?

You'll have to read, The Bishop's Daughter by Wanda Brunstetter to find the answers to these questions and many more.

[Linda Branich · Rating 4 out of 5]

At age 21, Jimmy Scott receives a letter in his birthday card from his grandparents that was written by his mother as she was fighting a losing battle with cancer. Jimmy's whole world falls apart because of this letter. He learns that he was adopted when he was a year old and that his mother had asked his father to tell him when he was old enough, but he never did.

Jimmy decides that he wants to know who he is, where he came from, and who his parents were. His father has been a drunk for many years and Jimmy is fed up with covering for his Dad at work and putting him to bed when he passes out, which has increased in frequency. He questions his father about his adoption, goes back east to question the adoption attorney only to find out that no adoption took place that day. Jimmy's father tells him that he couldn't go back to his mom without a baby, so he stole one. Jimmy isn't sure if this is the truth or if it is alcohol talking, so he heads to Pennsylvania to try to find his real family, somewhere in the Amish communities.

What unfolds next is a series of events in Jimmy's life, his father's life, and those of the Amish friends he has made while quietly seeking his family. His employer and friend who is also the Bishop has a terrible fall from a high ladder and loses his current memory, thinking he is just a young boy again. His father meets a recovering alcoholic from Jimmy's church back home. The Bishop's daughter is filled with embarrassment and anger with her Dad. Jimmy and the Bishop's daughter find themselves in an impossible situation, and the Bishop's best friend still grieves over the loss of a child many years before.

What I especially liked about this book was watching various characters confront their sins-- hurt, anger, extreme grief, jealousy, pride, and more-- and come to the realization that their lives won't be right until they restore relationship with God and broken or damaged relationships with others. Each must seek God's forgiveness and forgive themselves.

[Paula-O · Rating 4 out of 5]

Series Daughter of Lancaster County, book #3"The Bishop's Daughter" by Wanda Brunstetter

I was happy to read the final book in this series wanting to know how would Jimmy Scott find out about himself, he had been kidnapped and thought he was adopted throughout the series to his parents Jim and Linda Scott.
This book tells the story of Leona Weaver who is a Bishop's daughter. the Bishop had been longtime friends with Jimmy's dad back when he was a baby named Zach. The kidnapping made a whole in the life of Abraham Fisher and he was already grieving the loss of his wife before this.
Leona is a school teacher and loves children and helping them to learn. She is a big help when Naomi's little girl has problems learning to read. The amish did not have a lot of skills with learning disabilities but she was determined to find out how to help.
Jim Scott had so much guilt from taking the child he has led a life abusing alcohol. When he loses his wife to cancer and his son learns of his adoption life takes a hard turn for him and with the help of others after much struggling Jim does get his life together and accept help.
Jimmy works in the Lancaster county as a painter for many months before finding out the truths that will help him. He spends much time with the Bishop after he is hurt and also with his daughter who finds she just might be able to care again after losing her betrothed.
reading amish stories is such a blessing..finding faith always helps and this book has a lot of faith involved.

[Pamela Pavkov · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Bishop's Daughter is the final book in the Daughters of Lancaster County series written by Wanda Brunstetter. This series centers around thd kidnapping of an Amish baby boy, Zach Fisher. In all three books there is another story or two woven in and around the kidnapping. This book is the story of Leona Weaver and the tragedies that has taken over her life. The story is fast moving and several times I was on the edge of my seat thinking Jimmy Fisher would find his original family. The author definitely keeps us reading until the end. No early give aways.

The characters are fantastic and I really enjoyed getting to know all the characters and how they relate to the story. I really liked Jimmy Scott who is actually Zach Fisher, Leona Weaver, and the Bishop who has lost his memory and thinks he is a young boy. The antics that he goes through will bring you to laughter even amongst all the tragedies. This story really reminds us of the power of prayer.

I was not given a complimentary copy of this book to read and review. I was not approached by anyone to post a favorable review. I have rated this book with five stars for meeting my expectations of a wonderful story that I can highly recommend to others.

Congratulations to Wanda Brunstetter for writing a fantastic series for her readers to enjoy. It was this series that hooked me on the Amish genre and I thank Wanda for that. I will continue to read all books published by Wanda.

[Jennifer Baxter · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful conclusion to this trilogy. I was hoping to read about what continued on after everything was said and done but they left that up to the imagination. Yes this series had sad parts but the many happy exciting parts far out weighed the sad. I loved it and would read the series again in a heart beat.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this last of three novels the cast of characters from “The Shopkeeper’s Daughter” are back to finish their stories. Amish widower Abraham married Fannie Miller, the widowed quilt shop owner from Ohio, and they had twin boys. Fannie’s daughter Abby came from Ohio to help her mom, leaving her quilt shop and her fiancé. When fire strikes the shop and her fiancé is killed, Abby takes it hard until her cousin Edna steps in with a plan. In the second story, Jim and Linda Scott, an unchurched English couple who adopted a child some years ago, are not getting along. Linda accepts God and takes her son Jimmy to church, leaving her husband to his work and his beer. After Linda’s death, Jimmy learns he was adopted and his father finally tells him the truth. He goes to Pennsylvania to find his birth family but finds a forbidden love with an Amish woman, the daughter of a bishop. When an accident befalls the bishop, Jimmy must come to terms with who he is and what he wants. Can he forgive Jim Scott, his adopted father?

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the first two books in this series and found them to be "just okay" for mindless entertainment by the pool. They passed the time without drawing me in enough to take my mind off the kids in the water. I picked up the third book and read a little here and there in waiting rooms, etc. The book was due back at the library by the time I'd made it halfway through. I intended to renew it, but I dropped it in the return box instead. Even though I wasn't finished, I couldn't bring myself to continue. There were two reasons for this:

1) I could see the ending coming from a mile away. The series is nothing, if not predicatable.
2) I didn't really care to find out whether or not I had correctly guessed the ending. I wasn't caught up in the plot enough to go to the trouble of reading the rest of it.

Other readers may find the story very appealing, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

[Diane U · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leona's faith is tested over and over again. She starts to question why God would let things these happen in her life. Then she meets Jimmy Scott, an Englisher, who is in Lancaster County searching for his real family. Jimmy learns that he is adopted on his twenty-first birthday and wants some answers. Upon his arrival in Lancaster, Jimmy takes a job as a painter with Jacob Weaver and starts to get to know the Amish community. Leona and Jimmy become close friends and start having forbidden feelings for each other since Jimmy is not Amish. In the end, God shows his involvement in Leona's life and His reasons for all of His actions.

This book ended the Daughter's of Lancaster County series very nicely. Although I knew where Ms. Brunstetter was going with her story, it was nice to wait and see how it worked out. This was the first series that I read by her and I am anxious to start another one soon.

[alexxus kristyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bishop's Daughter is the third and final book in the three-part series called Daughters of Landcaster by Wanda E. Brunstetter.

Maybe something was wrong with my mood when I read the first book of this series, because the last two were significantly better in my opinion. Still think the writing was a bit bland and the characters still a bit underdeveloped. But, the series wasn't awful. I enjoyed the last book better than the other two.

I recommend this series to those who like an easy read and if you have enough time on your hands. But, if neither of the two apply to you, this series probably isn't worth your time, and you could find something much better, book-wise, to take your time.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This needs to be read following the first two books in this series. It draws a conclusion to the interweaving threads from the first two, although after introducing us to the characters and developing their characters, they are given short shrift at the end. Each book in the series focuses on a different family, although all characters move about in the series. Maybe since the joining theme began in book one and ends in book three with the focus on different families, it seemed wrong to give too much space to previous main characters. I don't know, but even though the end is satisfying, it is not fulfilling.

[Sarah Nannette Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last book of this series was such a wonderful close to the other two books! I am so glad I read the three books in order from one to three , as the story builds and the characters grow from the early years portrayed in the first book through the third book. I really loved the characters and enjoyed reading about their lives, struggles and how they grew and learned how to trust in God through difficult circumstances and tragedy. I also loved how the author used prayers to God and scripture throughout the three books. This series was so enjoyable , that it was addicting and the author cultivated a desire for me to read more of her books!!!

[Mayda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series finally ends with a satisfying if somewhat contrived conclusion. Again, author Wanda Brunstetter uses her novels as a witness to a Christian faith which illustrates that God is in charge. The characters in this series are not free from problems or troubles and must cope with unhappiness and tragedies, and yet their faith sustains them. An interesting story that is filled with Christian beliefs, God-fearing lectures, and biblical quotes. It was so much like being in church, I half expected someone to come through my door with an offering plate.

[Rosemarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent ending to the trilogy. The bishop's daughter, Leona, is struggling with her faith after the death of her fiance. Then, when her father has a tragic accident that leaves him with the mentality of a ten-year-old, Leona has a difficult time believing God has anything good for her in life. Right before the accident, a English stranger comes to town and is hired by Leona's father to work in his painting business. No one knows who he is, and Abraham, the bishop's best friend, doesn't trust the stranger. But there is a wonderful twist at the end. (No spoilers.)

Very good book!

[Alisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but not as much the other two. In some ways, though I enjoyed the ending with Jimmy finding out he was kidnapped from the Fisher family, and then deciding to convert to Amish to be able to marry Leona. However, it did seem a little farfetched that all the happy ending, at least in this situation, would occur. But, still overall enjoyed the series.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series has been one of the most inspiring and uplifting books I've read. (Just the kind of book I love!) This last book pulled everything together from the other two and leaves you knowing "all things come together for the good of those who love God" Romans 8:28. (Which is sooooo true!) I look forward to reading other books by this author.