The Covenant (Abram's Daughters)
Inspirational novelist Lewis begins Abram's Daughters, a  Lancaster County series about four Amish sisters, in the  tradition of her previous novels. It should please her fans,  while not offering much in the way of fresh material. It's 1946  in Gobbler's Knob, Pa., and Sadie Ebersol and her sister, Leah,  are exploring the joys of "rumschpringe" the period of relaxed  rules and running around that Amish teens enjoy prior to their  baptism into the church. Tomboy Leah's first love is Jonas Mast,  but her father Abram has determined she'll marry Gideon Peachey,  whose father's farm adjoins the Ebersols'. Her beautiful sister  Sadie's defiance crosses the boundaries when she becomes  involved with Englischer Derek Schwartz. Heartache is  inevitable. The dialect (perty, redd, Dat, ach, wonderful-gut,  jah) is as dense as sugar cream pie, as are the italicized  terms. There are further challenges for the reader: multiple  points of view and cumbersome Amish definitions make the novel a  bumpy read for the uninitiated. The characters are flat and  unchanging, and the plot functions mostly as a setup for the  series. There are factual errors, as when Ebersol's home garden  produce stand features early spring vegetables in the month of  August. Several events, including a hidden pregnancy that  remains unobserved by the family until almost the eighth month,  require enormous suspension of disbelief, and readers will see  the key plot developments coming from the earliest pages.  However, none of these troubles may deter Lewis's enthusiastic  audience. (Sept.)   Forecast: With nearly three million novels sold, Lewis is a  staple on the CBA bestseller charts. Bethany plans a major  marketing push for the new series.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.