This post contains affiliate links. I’ve been reading a lot of heavy books lately about WWII and the Holocaust, so I was looking for something lighter to read. I picked up An Amish Christmas by Cynthia Keller, and it perfectly met the bill of lighter reading.
About An Amish Christmas by Cynthia Keller
The story is about the Hobart family who live in Charlotte, North Carolina. Husband James is a successful bread winner, and wife Meg is a stay-at-home mom concerned with keeping up her home perfectly, hosting neighborhood dinners, and in all ways keeping up appearances for the lifestyle that they live.
They have three kids–Lizzie (15), Will (13), and Sam (8). The older children are self-absorbed and spoiled. Sam is full of anxiety and is clingy.
Meg notices that her husband, James, is distant and removed from family life, but she doesn’t know why. On Thanksgiving Day James finally tells her that he had lost his job months ago and that he had made a huge gamble with the family’s money–and lost. The family has just two short weeks to get out of their home. They have less than $2,000, and their car.
James and Meg and their children leave Charlotte forever and end up in Amish country. There, they learn about what truly matters in life and try to rebuild their lives.
My Thoughts
Honestly, the first half of the book (or maybe more) read like a Hallmark channel movie. I am NOT a big fan of those types of shows, so this book wasn’t that appealing to me at first.
This book was a light read, which I generally don’t care for. However, from a financial perspective (and as someone who has BALANCE as her word for the year), I loved to read about the Amish way of life. Keller has obviously done her research and offered a fascinating view of how the Amish live. I liked to read about how the Hobarts’ lives were so different financially from the Amish and how the Hobarts learned to appreciate the things that really mattered.
If you like Hallmark movies, you’ll probably love this book. If you’re looking for a lighter read that compares two cultures, you’ll probably enjoy this book to.
I give An Amish Christmas 3.5 out of 5 stars on the Mom’s Plans’ scale.
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