Review of Jerry And Tina Eicher "My Dearest Naomi"

From the back cover: 

Two Young Amish lovers separated by the miles...

 

 

Eugene Mast has his heart set on leaving his Amish community in Indiana to teach in a Mennonite school in Iowa.  But in so doing, he must part with his "dearest Naomi", the girl he plans to marry at the end of the school term.

 

For nine long months, Eugene and Naomi express their love and yearning for each other  through a series of treasured letters and poems they read over and over until the next letter arrives.

 

     Words of Love

  Your words are magic as can be.

  They cross the world from you to me.

  They bridge the distance I cannot sail.

  They heal my heart and tell their tale.

       Eugene Mast

 

This charming novel is based on the actual letters sent between popular  Amish fiction author Jerry Eicher and his wife, Tina, while the couple was separated during Jerry's tenure at a Mennonite school.

 

My Review:

It took me a while to read this book as I didn't get into it at first, but the more I read the more I liked it.  It was written as a series of letters between Eugene and Naomi.  Sometimes one would write a letter to the other and reference something that I didn't remember reading about in a previous letter.  I like that it was based on something that acutally happened and I like how Jerry portrayed the characters true feelings of lonliness for each other.  I would give this book four stars.  I enjoyed, but not as much as some of Jerry's other books that I have read.  Keep up the good work Jerry.