While I don’t read a lot of Amish fiction, I found myself intrigued by the back cover blurb of Suzanne Woods Fisher’s Anything But Plain. And I’m very glad I acted on the interest.

The story centers around Bishop’s daughter Lydia Stolzfus who can’t seem to please anyone with her behavior and is desperate to leave Plain life, just so she can feel less like a failure. But her neighbor Nathan is in love with her. Nathan lives at odds with his father and twin brother, over his dreams to stop using pesticides and turn their farm fully organic.

If you’d told me when I picked the book up that I’d be fully invested in the fate of a fictional farm, I’d have raised an eyebrow. But, by chapter three, invested I was. Such is the talent of Woods Fisher. I cared about both main characters, their siblings and parents in short order.

A surprise diagnosis changes everything

Lydie goes to work with her aunt, who left the order under similar circumstances as Lydie faces. But to her surprise, her aunt, now a local doctor, suggests Lydia may have ADHD and offers her some techniques to manage the symptoms.

As a parent of a daughter with ADHD, I can honestly say this was a really moving plot thread. The subject was handled sensitively and a range of views on the condition presented. I especially like Lydie’s handling of everything, and how this discovery changed everything for her, from family relationships, success at work and romance.

All told, this is a lovely book, about more than ADHD, being Amish and farming. It’s about love, acceptance and working things out with patience and love. Highly recommended.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley. The gushing is all my own.