The Keeper by Suzanne Woods Fisher

A Writer’s Book Review 

by guest blogger Dawn Crandall

There were four reasons I decided to read The Keeper, the first in Suzanne Woods Fisher’s Stoney Ridge Seasons series earlier this month.

          1.) I was invited to take part in a Litfuse Blog Tour for the second book in this series.

          2.) I got this book for free for Kindle back in May... and it was just sitting there waiting for me.

          3.) I have NEVER once read an Amish novel in my life. I thought I should try the genre.

          4.) I’ve decided that it’s probably a good idea to read the authors who are also represented by my literary agent, Joyce Hart.

This was my first go at this, and since I am a rather picky reader, I went in praying.

What I found out right away was that I adore Suzanne Woods Fisher’s writing voice! I think she could have been writing about drag-racing farm equipment through muddy fields and I would have wanted to keep reading. I LOVED the characters, their farm, the name of their farm, their dynamic family relationships, their community... EVERYTHING. I started reading this book on Tuesday night... and I didn’t want to stop.

But I had to. I’d told my mother I would go with her to Shipshewana, Indiana on Independence Day. I’ve been there before. It’s small a town at the heart of an Amish community that’s only about an hour from where I was born and raised. I don’t even know how many times I’ve been there in my life... but not once before this last Wednesday did I feel like I had an inkling of where they were coming from. I thought about them constantly, wanted to study them (I’m a people-watcher anyway), and most of all, I wanted to get my kindle out and keep reading The Keeper. When I got home that evening I finally had my chance. I sat on my bed for the whole rest of the night until I was finished.

There wasn’t anything I didn’t like about this book. And I’m not able to say that very often. Suzanne Woods Fisher made me love every word and how she placed them together. It wasn’t just the story—although the story from start to finish was perfection—it was the way she put the story together that had me hooked. She uses her words so wisely! There were so many times she amazed me by the depth and meaning she was trying to portray to the reader—I’m sorry I can’t even remember a single one! I really should have taken better notes... but I was so enthralled! I just had to keep reading!

The title, The Keeper, is a great example... in that the hero in the story is a young drifter of an Amish man who hasn’t kept anything in the last six years... except for the bees he keeps... although no one ever calls him a bee-keeper, but rather, The Bee Man. And he, of all of the people in the story is the last person who would want to be called, or anyone else would even dare call a keeper in reference to falling in love and getting married.

Poetical is a perfect word to describe it. 

Celebration is in order!... for I’ve found another one of those “go-to” authors who I know will not disappoint. And she has so many other books for me to find and read! I have The Choice and The Haven setting right here beside me waiting for the next chance I’m free! Can you tell how excited I am? Sometimes I go weeks before finding a book that I actually ENJOY reading!

I give Suzanne Woods Fisher’s The Keeper 5 stars. 

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Dawn Crandall writes long inspirational historical romantic suspense from first person point of view and is represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary Agency. She has written two books which are on submission as part of a series, and is working on the third. Soon after finishing her first book and becoming a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) in July 2011 she attended the ACFW national conference where she gained literary representation and soon-after became a 2012 ACFW Genesis Contest Semi-Finalist. She has a BA in Christian Education from Taylor University, writes full-time and lives in northeast Indiana with her ever-supportive engineer husband, Jonathan, and their two cats, Lilly and Pumpkin. Dawn co-hosts a book review blog called A Passion for Pages at apassionforpages.blogspot.com and tweets those reviews at @dawnwritesfirst. To find out more about her, visit her author webpage at dawncrandall.blogspot.com or her Facebook author page: facebook.com/DawnCrandallWritesFirst.