Linda is a 17 year old Amish girl growing up in Lancaster County. When a strange "English" woman shows up and upsets her parents, Linda is curious who this woman is. Linda receives the most shocking news when she finds out that she was adopted and the "English" woman, Josephine, is her biological mother. Josie was 17 when she gave up her baby for adoption to an Amish family. She returns to Lancaster County to hopefully have a relationship with her daughter.
Plain Paradise covers the sensitive subject of adoption and the effect on both families. Linda's parents, Abe and Mary Ellen, struggle with the fear that a relationship with Josie could effect their relationship with Linda. They are also concerned that Josie could influence Linda to leave the Amish community. As Linda's "mom", Mary Ellen struggles with having to share her daughter. This has to be tough on an adopted mother and the author really goes into the inner struggle that Mary Ellen faces.
Josie is dealing with all the feelings of giving a baby up for adoption, reconnecting with her daughter, and also fighting a terminal illness. Linda is having to balance having a relationship with her parents and now with Josie. She is also having to deal with the possibility of losing Josie now that Josie is a part of her life.
While this is a book #4 in the Daughters of Promise series, it can be read without having read the previous books. I really like this about the author. I haven't read the other books, but was able to really enjoy this book and not feel like I was missing anything. I actually would not have known this was a book in a series had I not fully read the title. Because this book was really good, I will probably get the previous books in this series. I really enjoyed reading about the Amish way of life.
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