Somewhere to Belong

January 25, 2010
Amish fiction is so big it’s spawning offshoots. Miller sets her historical in 1877 in the Amana Colonies in Iowa. The Christian inhabitants of Amana’s seven villages lived cooperatively and simply by strict rules, and centered their life and work around God. Like the Amish, the Amana also say gut
(good) a lot. Miller (The Carousel Painter
) creates two heroines who are on the surface opposite numbers, but have more in common than is apparent. Johanna Ilg has lived her young life in Amana, but feels the pull of the outside world, particularly because her brother Wilhelm has left the villages to marry and live in big-city Chicago. Berta Schumacher and her family arrive from Chicago to live a simpler life, and rebellious teenage Berta has trouble adjusting, to put it mildly. Family secrets and misunderstandings drive the plot. Miller creates likable heroines, has done her historical homework, and develops credible tension because her characters are so flawed. The Amana lifestyle is also sufficiently different (starting with the bonnets) that bonnet fiction fans will be pleased by this variation on the theme of simple living and lots of gut
food.

March 15, 2010
When Berta Schumachers parents inform her that Main Amana is going to be their new home, she is certain that her life is over. Accustomed to the bright lights of Chicago, Berta doesnt know if she can adapt to life in the devout village. Johanna Ilg has spent most of her life in Main Amana, but she sometimes wonders what it would be like to live somewhere else. Given the job of instructing Berta on her new duties in the kitchen, Johanna has her hands full with the headstrong newcomer, who is determined to find a way to return to her real home in Chicago. Johanna had always believed her roots were in Main Amana, but after she stumbles across a family secret, she begins to wonder exactly where she does belong. Richly imbued with fascinating details about life in the Amana colonies, the first addition to Millers new Daughters of Amana series is a quietly compelling tale of faith and friendship.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)