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Hester’s Hunt for Home #1-3
Hester's Hunt for Home
Here is a trilogy of historical romance novels from Amish writer Linda Byler. If you love Amish Romance, you will love the Hester’s Hunt for Home Trilogy!
In colonial America, a Native American orphan raised among the Amish explores her identity, torn between two cultures and unsure of where she belongs. When she's forced to leave everything behind and forge her own path, where—and with whom—will Hester choose to make her new home?
Hester on the Run , Book 1: One April morning, an Amish couple finds a Native American infant, wrapped in deerskin and placed next to the spring where they gather water. Kate and Hans adopt the child and name her Hester, despite the criticism of certain community members. Hester glows as she grows, an unmistakable beauty both inside and out, but begins to realize she doesn't quite fit in. An encounter with a Lenape medicine woman gives her a glimpse of her undiscovered heritage. When her own father becomes a threat, Hester is forced to flee from the Amish community, the only home she has ever really known.
Which Way Home? , Book 2: Twice rescued—first by matronly Native women who find her unconscious in the woods and then by a boy in downtown Lancaster where she'd been left for dead by the dreaded Paxton boys—Hester finds herself wondering if she will ever find a safe haven. When an Amish man from her past reappears, it seems like destiny, but William King is more in love with the way she looks than with her heart and mind. When a Native American man makes a proposal to Hester, she is perplexed more than ever. Where will her heart lead her?
Hester Takes Charge , Book 3: Now widowed and living in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Hester is startled by the unexpected appearance of Noah, the firstborn son of her adoptive parents. Their father's misplaced love for Hester and utter neglect of Noah drove each of them away from their Amish family. When Noah suggests they return to their childhood home to see their ill father, Hester can no longer ignore her buried anger and bitterness. Can they possibly forgive Hans? Can Hester trust herself—and Noah—enough to marry again?
In colonial America, a Native American orphan raised among the Amish explores her identity, torn between two cultures and unsure of where she belongs. When she's forced to leave everything behind and forge her own path, where—and with whom—will Hester choose to make her new home?
Hester on the Run , Book 1: One April morning, an Amish couple finds a Native American infant, wrapped in deerskin and placed next to the spring where they gather water. Kate and Hans adopt the child and name her Hester, despite the criticism of certain community members. Hester glows as she grows, an unmistakable beauty both inside and out, but begins to realize she doesn't quite fit in. An encounter with a Lenape medicine woman gives her a glimpse of her undiscovered heritage. When her own father becomes a threat, Hester is forced to flee from the Amish community, the only home she has ever really known.
Which Way Home? , Book 2: Twice rescued—first by matronly Native women who find her unconscious in the woods and then by a boy in downtown Lancaster where she'd been left for dead by the dreaded Paxton boys—Hester finds herself wondering if she will ever find a safe haven. When an Amish man from her past reappears, it seems like destiny, but William King is more in love with the way she looks than with her heart and mind. When a Native American man makes a proposal to Hester, she is perplexed more than ever. Where will her heart lead her?
Hester Takes Charge , Book 3: Now widowed and living in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Hester is startled by the unexpected appearance of Noah, the firstborn son of her adoptive parents. Their father's misplaced love for Hester and utter neglect of Noah drove each of them away from their Amish family. When Noah suggests they return to their childhood home to see their ill father, Hester can no longer ignore her buried anger and bitterness. Can they possibly forgive Hans? Can Hester trust herself—and Noah—enough to marry again?
1000 pages, Paperback
Published July 4, 2017
119 people are currently reading
97 people want to read
About the author
Linda Byler
86 books226 followersLinda Byler grew up Amish and is an active member of the Amish church today. Growing up, Linda Byler loved to read and write. In fact, she still does. She is well known within the Amish community as a columnist for a weekly Amish newspaper. Linda and her husband, their children and grandchildren live in central Pennsylvania.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 25, 2023
As a general rule, I have never much cared for Amish fiction but this trilogy was loaned to me so I gave it a try. And, surprisingly, I found the story quite readable.
The author is Amish and I feel this lends an authenticity to what she writes. I particularly enjoyed descriptions of the countryside and, even better, marvelous write-ups on the Amish way of cooking.
The three books follow the story of Hester - an Indian baby left to the care of kindly Amish couple. In the course of her life, Hester will have to choose whether she wants to follow the Amish ways or go back to her own Lenape tribe. I found her story harrowing at times but definitely always engrossing. And I truly enjoyed the books.
The author is Amish and I feel this lends an authenticity to what she writes. I particularly enjoyed descriptions of the countryside and, even better, marvelous write-ups on the Amish way of cooking.
The three books follow the story of Hester - an Indian baby left to the care of kindly Amish couple. In the course of her life, Hester will have to choose whether she wants to follow the Amish ways or go back to her own Lenape tribe. I found her story harrowing at times but definitely always engrossing. And I truly enjoyed the books.
March 10, 2018
When I started working at a library I was surprised to discover that “Amish Romance” was a thing. In January I checked-in an Amish Romance book that featured on the cover a “Native American” woman. She was dressed in generic buckskin and wore a headband… that featured paisley brocade and looked like something from 1975. I found myself snorting, read the back, and discovered this was a three part series about an Indian baby adopted by an Amish family. “What the heck?” I figured I’d read them and see what they were all about.
The books are, obviously, the “Hester Hunts for Home” series by author Linda Byler.
I read all three books and was gravely disappointed with some major issues I came across- namely the racist Native American themes, which leaves me no choice but to STRONGLY not recommend these books. For the sake of discussion, I'm going to talk about why.
For those trying to decide if they want to read these, I'm going to start with a very basic summary of the books. Please note that there will be spoilers.
The books take place in Pennsylvania in the 1700s. An Amish couple without children find an Indian baby abandoned by a stream that they happily adopt. Immediately after, they suddenly become fertile and the mom bears 11 more kids pretty rapidly over the ensuing years. Oh, they name the baby Hester.
Hester grows up, the dad favors her “unnaturally.” The mom dies. His inappropriateness escalates. He marries again. The new wife hates Hester and is really mean. Hester runs away.
She flees, walks forever, gets sick, falls in a creek, gets fished out by local Indians, and is nursed back to health. She lives with the Indians for all of 20 pages in book 2 (which is over 400 pages total), they get slaughtered, she survives, and goes back to being Amish, this time in the city of Lancaster.
Hester gets married to an Amish guy who turns out to be a major jerk. He conveniently dies in an accident. Hester moves in with another single Amish woman and they raise their own produce, which they sell in the market, to fully support themselves, which is actually pretty cool (but not historically accurate). Hester also administers herbs and remedies on the side (more on that later).
Her long lost brother shows up, he’s really handsome and has apparently been in love with her since they were kids, they get married. But first they go back to their childhood home to confront their father and stepmother. The dad is conveniently on his deathbed, he immediately apologizes for everything he did. All is forgiven in one page and he dies. The stepmother is still pretty awful, but then she confesses that nobody loved her, and again, all is forgiven. Hester and her brother get married. They adopt a kid. This is apparently THE magic thing to do, because Hester promptly starts popping out babies, which they name after all the horrible people in their lives that they have forgiven. FYI the whole marriage, adoption, and babies happens in 5 pages at the end of the third book. End of summary.
Now, let’s get into everything that is horribly, horribly, horribly (did I say, horribly) wrong with these books.
There’s a quote I love by Tom Waites: “The world is a hellish place, and bad writing is destroying the quality of our suffering.” The writing in this book is terrible. If you look up these books on the publisher’s website, the site has a “disclaimer.” “While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.” They warn you upfront that if you’re looking for a great work of literature, you are not going to find it here.
First, let’s dive into racist stereotypes.
In the first 20 pages of book 1 there are 20 references to her “red” skin. I stopped counting. By the time I finished the books, I’d say her “red” skin or even just calling her a “redskin” was referenced every other page. Here’s the thing. Hester is Lenape. Early descriptions by settlers described them as having fair skin, tall, and being good looking. The term “redskin” didn’t become common until the mid-1800s when scalps were being taken for bounty. If you’re going to write a historical novel, please, at least be accurate. BTW I was a history major specializing in Native American history, so I'm sensitive to historical inaccuracies.
Every time baby Hester is mentioned, even adult Hester, the colour of her skin is brought up. It reminds me of my grandma trying not to be racist and saying, “What a beautiful, BLACK baby!” Why isn’t it just a beautiful baby, Grandma?
Descriptors for Hester are always centred around nature. She is described as agile like a deer, delicate as a fawn, hair like a black bird, eyelashes like bird wings, quick like a rabbit… Other characters are not described in this way. Describing her this way makes it very clear that as an Indian, Hester is more animal-like than her Amish companions. Think about that.
As Hester grows, the books reference her “innate Indian abilities.” She moves silently, is graceful, good with horses, doesn’t like to be indoors, isn’t good at school and has trouble learning to read and write, she can shoot a bow and slingshot with perfect accuracy, she can perfectly sense changes in the weather, she’s strong and muscular, she instinctively knows all the healing power of plants.
As well as being a historian, I am also a Native person.
I like to say that there are two types of racism. There’s the really open, awful kind that we’re all familiar with and probably think of first. I also think there’s a subtler kind. I like to call it, “benign racism,” because on the surface, it doesn’t seem like a bad thing. There’s calling an Indian a dirty, drunk, redskin. There’s also calling an Indian a noble brave. Both define a race narrowly with a set standard that isn’t accurate. One of the things I encounter the most, is that when someone finds out I’m Native, they say, “That’s so cool. I’ve always felt such a strong tie to nature, too.” I never know what to say. I can’t track, don’t hunt, I can’t tell the weather, I don’t like spiders, I have no sense of direction, I’m ok with whale hunting by Indigenous people- same with clubbing seals and hunting wolves. I care about the environment, but trees don’t talk to me, and I’ve never had a vision of Raven Coyote, or White Buffalo. Oh, before anyone asks, I don’t have an “Indian” name. When I talk to these people I always feel like a really bad Indian. When I read this book, I felt like a really bad Indian, or maybe all that “innate” stuff just skips a generation.
Hester meets an old, Indian woman who is a gifted natural healer. The woman speaks in your standard, racist, broken English. But, she manages to write all her Indian knowledge down into a convenient book for Hester, complete with paragraphs of instructions. Hester, who because she’s an Indian, did poorly in school and can barely read or write, somehow manages to read all this fine. Before she can read the whole book her stepmother throws it in the fire and burns it. This ends up being ok, because as it turns out, her innate Indian knowledge means she knows all this anyway.
When she very briefly lives with the Conestoga, she repeatedly describes them as noble and wise, but they are also “greasy” and smell bad. While she lives with them it’s clear that she looks down on them, but she learns to tan hides and weave beautifully- she takes from the culture she also looks down on.
Also, she lives with these people, they save her life, take her in, and they treat her well- she makes friends and looks on the leader as a father-figure. Yet, when they are caught up in the Paxton Boys Massacre (a historical event that the author gets wrong), she watches them be slaughtered and the survivors taken to Lancaster where they are all hanged. She does nothing to try to stop it. I guess I can’t imagine being an Amish-raised, fluent English speaking person, and not at least going to talk to the sheriff or the mayor. That’s the last we hear about the Conestoga Indians.
The author described Hester using the words “Indian princess” on 3 occasions. This is so offensive. There are no Indian princess. Not one of the original 500 nations had a monarchy.
The author used the term “Indian brave” on multiple occasions.
There’s no other way to say it: this book was racist. I have no problem with racist terms or attitudes being used when they are a part of the world-view of a book or the plot. The characters in this book had many moments when they said racist things in dialogue. That didn’t offend me, it was a part of the character. It was the author’s “benign” racism that was offensive. Her choice of descriptors, her emphasis on certain stereotypes, is racist and is offensive, hopefully not just to me, but to anyone who reads these books.
The books are, obviously, the “Hester Hunts for Home” series by author Linda Byler.
I read all three books and was gravely disappointed with some major issues I came across- namely the racist Native American themes, which leaves me no choice but to STRONGLY not recommend these books. For the sake of discussion, I'm going to talk about why.
For those trying to decide if they want to read these, I'm going to start with a very basic summary of the books. Please note that there will be spoilers.
The books take place in Pennsylvania in the 1700s. An Amish couple without children find an Indian baby abandoned by a stream that they happily adopt. Immediately after, they suddenly become fertile and the mom bears 11 more kids pretty rapidly over the ensuing years. Oh, they name the baby Hester.
Hester grows up, the dad favors her “unnaturally.” The mom dies. His inappropriateness escalates. He marries again. The new wife hates Hester and is really mean. Hester runs away.
She flees, walks forever, gets sick, falls in a creek, gets fished out by local Indians, and is nursed back to health. She lives with the Indians for all of 20 pages in book 2 (which is over 400 pages total), they get slaughtered, she survives, and goes back to being Amish, this time in the city of Lancaster.
Hester gets married to an Amish guy who turns out to be a major jerk. He conveniently dies in an accident. Hester moves in with another single Amish woman and they raise their own produce, which they sell in the market, to fully support themselves, which is actually pretty cool (but not historically accurate). Hester also administers herbs and remedies on the side (more on that later).
Her long lost brother shows up, he’s really handsome and has apparently been in love with her since they were kids, they get married. But first they go back to their childhood home to confront their father and stepmother. The dad is conveniently on his deathbed, he immediately apologizes for everything he did. All is forgiven in one page and he dies. The stepmother is still pretty awful, but then she confesses that nobody loved her, and again, all is forgiven. Hester and her brother get married. They adopt a kid. This is apparently THE magic thing to do, because Hester promptly starts popping out babies, which they name after all the horrible people in their lives that they have forgiven. FYI the whole marriage, adoption, and babies happens in 5 pages at the end of the third book. End of summary.
Now, let’s get into everything that is horribly, horribly, horribly (did I say, horribly) wrong with these books.
There’s a quote I love by Tom Waites: “The world is a hellish place, and bad writing is destroying the quality of our suffering.” The writing in this book is terrible. If you look up these books on the publisher’s website, the site has a “disclaimer.” “While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.” They warn you upfront that if you’re looking for a great work of literature, you are not going to find it here.
First, let’s dive into racist stereotypes.
In the first 20 pages of book 1 there are 20 references to her “red” skin. I stopped counting. By the time I finished the books, I’d say her “red” skin or even just calling her a “redskin” was referenced every other page. Here’s the thing. Hester is Lenape. Early descriptions by settlers described them as having fair skin, tall, and being good looking. The term “redskin” didn’t become common until the mid-1800s when scalps were being taken for bounty. If you’re going to write a historical novel, please, at least be accurate. BTW I was a history major specializing in Native American history, so I'm sensitive to historical inaccuracies.
Every time baby Hester is mentioned, even adult Hester, the colour of her skin is brought up. It reminds me of my grandma trying not to be racist and saying, “What a beautiful, BLACK baby!” Why isn’t it just a beautiful baby, Grandma?
Descriptors for Hester are always centred around nature. She is described as agile like a deer, delicate as a fawn, hair like a black bird, eyelashes like bird wings, quick like a rabbit… Other characters are not described in this way. Describing her this way makes it very clear that as an Indian, Hester is more animal-like than her Amish companions. Think about that.
As Hester grows, the books reference her “innate Indian abilities.” She moves silently, is graceful, good with horses, doesn’t like to be indoors, isn’t good at school and has trouble learning to read and write, she can shoot a bow and slingshot with perfect accuracy, she can perfectly sense changes in the weather, she’s strong and muscular, she instinctively knows all the healing power of plants.
As well as being a historian, I am also a Native person.
I like to say that there are two types of racism. There’s the really open, awful kind that we’re all familiar with and probably think of first. I also think there’s a subtler kind. I like to call it, “benign racism,” because on the surface, it doesn’t seem like a bad thing. There’s calling an Indian a dirty, drunk, redskin. There’s also calling an Indian a noble brave. Both define a race narrowly with a set standard that isn’t accurate. One of the things I encounter the most, is that when someone finds out I’m Native, they say, “That’s so cool. I’ve always felt such a strong tie to nature, too.” I never know what to say. I can’t track, don’t hunt, I can’t tell the weather, I don’t like spiders, I have no sense of direction, I’m ok with whale hunting by Indigenous people- same with clubbing seals and hunting wolves. I care about the environment, but trees don’t talk to me, and I’ve never had a vision of Raven Coyote, or White Buffalo. Oh, before anyone asks, I don’t have an “Indian” name. When I talk to these people I always feel like a really bad Indian. When I read this book, I felt like a really bad Indian, or maybe all that “innate” stuff just skips a generation.
Hester meets an old, Indian woman who is a gifted natural healer. The woman speaks in your standard, racist, broken English. But, she manages to write all her Indian knowledge down into a convenient book for Hester, complete with paragraphs of instructions. Hester, who because she’s an Indian, did poorly in school and can barely read or write, somehow manages to read all this fine. Before she can read the whole book her stepmother throws it in the fire and burns it. This ends up being ok, because as it turns out, her innate Indian knowledge means she knows all this anyway.
When she very briefly lives with the Conestoga, she repeatedly describes them as noble and wise, but they are also “greasy” and smell bad. While she lives with them it’s clear that she looks down on them, but she learns to tan hides and weave beautifully- she takes from the culture she also looks down on.
Also, she lives with these people, they save her life, take her in, and they treat her well- she makes friends and looks on the leader as a father-figure. Yet, when they are caught up in the Paxton Boys Massacre (a historical event that the author gets wrong), she watches them be slaughtered and the survivors taken to Lancaster where they are all hanged. She does nothing to try to stop it. I guess I can’t imagine being an Amish-raised, fluent English speaking person, and not at least going to talk to the sheriff or the mayor. That’s the last we hear about the Conestoga Indians.
The author described Hester using the words “Indian princess” on 3 occasions. This is so offensive. There are no Indian princess. Not one of the original 500 nations had a monarchy.
The author used the term “Indian brave” on multiple occasions.
There’s no other way to say it: this book was racist. I have no problem with racist terms or attitudes being used when they are a part of the world-view of a book or the plot. The characters in this book had many moments when they said racist things in dialogue. That didn’t offend me, it was a part of the character. It was the author’s “benign” racism that was offensive. Her choice of descriptors, her emphasis on certain stereotypes, is racist and is offensive, hopefully not just to me, but to anyone who reads these books.
December 12, 2019
You should bookmark thr glossary in the back of the books
There is a lot of untranslated - within the text, that is - Pennsylvania Dutch, which is really German, a more colloquial form called "Detsch" or "Dietsch," depending on the author. The translations are in the back of the last book of this trilogy set.
The story revolves around a Native American baby, left near a creek, close to an Amish farm. She is discovered by a childless Amish woman who has been praying for a child. The woman, named Kate, does look around to see if the mother is there, but, finding no one on her brief search & concerned for the baby's risk of exposure, takes the precious baby with her. Her husband, Hans, is as captivated as the wife, & they raise her as their own.
As is often the way of things, within 10 months of the Native American - most likely Lenape - baby's appearance, they are blessed with a child of their own, a large infant with blue eyes & light blonde hair, whom they name Noah. As little as she is, Hester, the Lenape baby, is still interested in this newcomer, who fusses a lot, & she stays near him, attempting to engage him despite his not being a very interesting baby. Over the years, Hester seems to have an innate sense of the woods, what needs to be done, & she can outrun everyone. When it is time to attend school, however, she struggles with learning, which isn't helped by some of the older kids who bully her for her darker skin, black hair, & brown eyes nearly black in color. She manages, with her superb climbing skills & having practiced with a slingshot she made herself, to frighten them into believing there is a ghost along their path.
Her Amish family grows to 11more babies, one of whom dies in infancy, leaving 10. At one point, while they're picking berries, a bear comes toward the berry patch. She manages to get the older kids to get the younger ones out of the way, bit she can't get Kate to listen to her, & so Kate is mauled by the bear. She survives, but is not doing well. Hester is sent to get the doctor. She meets the boy running the ferry, & in their conversation, the boy tells her the doctor will do no good, but that there is an old Native American healer whose remedies have helped injuries like this when there seemed to be no help. The boy gets someone else to man the ferry & takes Hester to the healer, who tells her what to do...but first, tells her that she should return to learn more about both her people - whom she is certain are Lenape - & to learn to heal. The remedy does save Kate, but she is weakened, & it's not long afterwards that Kate falls ill, & still weakened from her mauling, dies.
On the frontier, a man widowed does not stay unmarried long. He marries a spinster who is thin, & harsh, even cruel. Hester can do nothing right in her eyes. Thinking to at least learn more about the Lenape, she goes to find the old woman & there is a note, & a book of herbal remedies. As is the way of the Lenape, she has gone into the forest to die, & no one knows how long ago as the woman lived a solitary life. As instructed in the note, she takes the book, determined to learn the secrets ot contains. Her old schoolteacher helps her with some of it, but some of the Amish believe the native tribes use witchcraft. Her stepmother, who is extremely hard on Hester especially, threatens to burn the book.
As a youngster, Hester was a daddy's girl...but at some point, after her stepmother accuses Hester of impure & inappropriate behavior with her father, her eyes begin to see what she has missed. Her father's affection towards her, she realizes, has crossed the line of a father's love & has become lust. Unable to live with the situation any longer, she runs away at a time when it will be a while befire anyone misses her. She heads east, roughly. As she goes, she harvests herbs & plants used in the remedies in the book. At some point, when she has memorized most of the book, sleeping rough & foraging food & water, she is caught in a storm & becomes ill, losing consciousness. She awakens in a strange place, in strange clothes, She has found herself in a lodge of the Conestoga tribe, rescued from the forest. The book is gone. She learns some of their ways & their language & finds herself attracted to one brave in particular. Smallpox devastates the tribe, but he won't let her use her skills. One by one, tribes are being killed off by superior firepower, European diseases to which they have no immunity, & leaving for the West. Unable to help, she leaves as she understands...& realizes how much she is torn between 2 cultures.
This sets you up for things that happen to her that help her make her decision. She is married & it is an unmitigated dosaster. She is widowed & meets an Amish spinster related to her deceased husband. She practices healing. She troes to find her way between & in 2 worlds. She meets some wonderful people & some horrible ones. She decided on a path with God's guidance. The books show the good & bad of her journey.
Well worth reading.
There is a lot of untranslated - within the text, that is - Pennsylvania Dutch, which is really German, a more colloquial form called "Detsch" or "Dietsch," depending on the author. The translations are in the back of the last book of this trilogy set.
The story revolves around a Native American baby, left near a creek, close to an Amish farm. She is discovered by a childless Amish woman who has been praying for a child. The woman, named Kate, does look around to see if the mother is there, but, finding no one on her brief search & concerned for the baby's risk of exposure, takes the precious baby with her. Her husband, Hans, is as captivated as the wife, & they raise her as their own.
As is often the way of things, within 10 months of the Native American - most likely Lenape - baby's appearance, they are blessed with a child of their own, a large infant with blue eyes & light blonde hair, whom they name Noah. As little as she is, Hester, the Lenape baby, is still interested in this newcomer, who fusses a lot, & she stays near him, attempting to engage him despite his not being a very interesting baby. Over the years, Hester seems to have an innate sense of the woods, what needs to be done, & she can outrun everyone. When it is time to attend school, however, she struggles with learning, which isn't helped by some of the older kids who bully her for her darker skin, black hair, & brown eyes nearly black in color. She manages, with her superb climbing skills & having practiced with a slingshot she made herself, to frighten them into believing there is a ghost along their path.
Her Amish family grows to 11more babies, one of whom dies in infancy, leaving 10. At one point, while they're picking berries, a bear comes toward the berry patch. She manages to get the older kids to get the younger ones out of the way, bit she can't get Kate to listen to her, & so Kate is mauled by the bear. She survives, but is not doing well. Hester is sent to get the doctor. She meets the boy running the ferry, & in their conversation, the boy tells her the doctor will do no good, but that there is an old Native American healer whose remedies have helped injuries like this when there seemed to be no help. The boy gets someone else to man the ferry & takes Hester to the healer, who tells her what to do...but first, tells her that she should return to learn more about both her people - whom she is certain are Lenape - & to learn to heal. The remedy does save Kate, but she is weakened, & it's not long afterwards that Kate falls ill, & still weakened from her mauling, dies.
On the frontier, a man widowed does not stay unmarried long. He marries a spinster who is thin, & harsh, even cruel. Hester can do nothing right in her eyes. Thinking to at least learn more about the Lenape, she goes to find the old woman & there is a note, & a book of herbal remedies. As is the way of the Lenape, she has gone into the forest to die, & no one knows how long ago as the woman lived a solitary life. As instructed in the note, she takes the book, determined to learn the secrets ot contains. Her old schoolteacher helps her with some of it, but some of the Amish believe the native tribes use witchcraft. Her stepmother, who is extremely hard on Hester especially, threatens to burn the book.
As a youngster, Hester was a daddy's girl...but at some point, after her stepmother accuses Hester of impure & inappropriate behavior with her father, her eyes begin to see what she has missed. Her father's affection towards her, she realizes, has crossed the line of a father's love & has become lust. Unable to live with the situation any longer, she runs away at a time when it will be a while befire anyone misses her. She heads east, roughly. As she goes, she harvests herbs & plants used in the remedies in the book. At some point, when she has memorized most of the book, sleeping rough & foraging food & water, she is caught in a storm & becomes ill, losing consciousness. She awakens in a strange place, in strange clothes, She has found herself in a lodge of the Conestoga tribe, rescued from the forest. The book is gone. She learns some of their ways & their language & finds herself attracted to one brave in particular. Smallpox devastates the tribe, but he won't let her use her skills. One by one, tribes are being killed off by superior firepower, European diseases to which they have no immunity, & leaving for the West. Unable to help, she leaves as she understands...& realizes how much she is torn between 2 cultures.
This sets you up for things that happen to her that help her make her decision. She is married & it is an unmitigated dosaster. She is widowed & meets an Amish spinster related to her deceased husband. She practices healing. She troes to find her way between & in 2 worlds. She meets some wonderful people & some horrible ones. She decided on a path with God's guidance. The books show the good & bad of her journey.
Well worth reading.
July 7, 2020
What a good book. Left by her Indian mother for a childness Amish couple to find and raise, Hester faces many challenges in her young life. When her died, Hesters life went downhill as her new stepmother treated her like a slave. Hester flees when her dad develops unnatural feelings for her. She perseveres as a young widow and finally when her brother Noah finds her and patiently pursues his lover for her. A well written book which not only shows the prejudice that existed among the Amish as well as some of their crazy rules and ideas. Overall, this is an interesting book and moving story of a beautiful Indian girl torn bewteen two worlds and her eventual coming to grasp and accept her place in the white Amish community.
June 2, 2018
Heather's Hunt
The story is winding and long but because of the details, one truly gets inside Hester's heart and hurts, cries, laughs, and loves. I can't see this as three separate books but one book. The 2nd and 3rd book could hardly stand alone. It takes the 3 books together to tell the story.
The story is winding and long but because of the details, one truly gets inside Hester's heart and hurts, cries, laughs, and loves. I can't see this as three separate books but one book. The 2nd and 3rd book could hardly stand alone. It takes the 3 books together to tell the story.
August 30, 2019
Native American and Amish story intertwined
I loved how the author used nature as the background of this beautiful story of the life and love a Lakota baby found by and adopted into an Amish family in the late 1700s. These three heartwarming,Christian books kept me reading late into the night and I’ll be reading more books by this gifted author.
I loved how the author used nature as the background of this beautiful story of the life and love a Lakota baby found by and adopted into an Amish family in the late 1700s. These three heartwarming,Christian books kept me reading late into the night and I’ll be reading more books by this gifted author.
May 3, 2020
Absolutely spellbinding
I so enjoyed every single word of these three books. I truly couldn’t predict the events in these books, but they were so so good. Of course it ended just as exactly as I’d hoped it would. I was so glad to see Hester truly content in finding her true love, making amends with Hans and Annie, and having the children she’d always wanted.
I so enjoyed every single word of these three books. I truly couldn’t predict the events in these books, but they were so so good. Of course it ended just as exactly as I’d hoped it would. I was so glad to see Hester truly content in finding her true love, making amends with Hans and Annie, and having the children she’d always wanted.
August 30, 2020
A Wonderful Trilogy
Set in the mid 1700's this trilogy is difficult to set aside. The story begins with the finding of a living American Indian infant and goes through her life and its grand events.
Set in the mid 1700's this trilogy is difficult to set aside. The story begins with the finding of a living American Indian infant and goes through her life and its grand events.
February 6, 2018
I haven't finished yet but awesome stories and great Author!
April 19, 2019
Great read
I really enjoyed reading this trilogy. I liked having the stories in order. The plot was interesting and very entertaining.
I really enjoyed reading this trilogy. I liked having the stories in order. The plot was interesting and very entertaining.
March 19, 2022
I enjoyed reading this series all compiled in one book. I rarely read the Amish theme books but enjoyed this series very much.
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October 7, 2022A Life
I couldn't put this book down. Very developed and though out ! Expresses the Amish life in a truthful way. Themes well developed.
I couldn't put this book down. Very developed and though out ! Expresses the Amish life in a truthful way. Themes well developed.
March 20, 2020
To say I loved this trilogy would be an understatement. I have very tough criteria for my "star giving" and I actually wavered between 4 and 5 stars, which is unheard of for me. I started reading Amish fiction recently and a lot of it is pure fluff, but I have been looking for clean, Christian fiction that isn't too heavy on the romance. I am also not interested in the 300 page books where 250 pages of the book are all about being a hooker/slut/etc and then finding Jesus and reforming in the last 50 pages. But these books were exactly what I was looking for!! Not only is the story interesting from start to finish in all three books, but the depth of character, the detailed setting descriptions, and the quality of writing were fabulous. My only complaint is that it was so exciting and interesting, that I was up WAY too late every night reading one more chapter... after another.. and another... I was also sad to find out that there weren't more Hester books written after the trilogy. Very highly recommend!!
December 9, 2025
My grandmother gifted me this book, which is the primary reason and bias of why I will give it a glowing recommendation. Of substance, the book is written decently well too, despite the ethnic stereotypes. It opens up a world long before industry and technology took over our lives, which is perhaps why my grandmother loved it so. She’s a woman who’s never ventured into the World Wide Web, the last generation to remember life’s simplicities before our great interconnectedness via the internet, and before the melting pot of culture actually taught some of us about those different than us. On the surface, the book portrays the innocence of youth, of womanhood, and of ethnic and spiritual differences so vividly, it had me searching for the nearest Amish colony just so I can get me a loaf of “good bread” slathered with fresh butter. Hester is a complex character who has to find solace in believing she doesn’t belong anywhere - not with white settlers who took her in, nor the natives who abandoned her in the great colonization of their land. I found myself tied to every page, painting a striking picture the author so graciously gifted us with in her prose. However, I also found it glaringly obvious the author is white and wrote it from her own limited worldview. Belief suspended, I still enjoyed it. Hester’s arc is one many of us in the in-between of bi-ethnic identities can relate to. The added complexity of reconciling her Amish faith with that of her native teachings of herb and plant medicines was an interesting layer. I wasn’t sure I’d like this book, and I certainly never expected to love it. Yet here we are. We found home.
March 2, 2024
A good story but long chapters. I thought each character was well developed and had good flow.
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