History versus Contemporary
It was an interesting project to tackle: how to por
tray Amish people in the late 1800’s. I mean, at that time nobody had cars or telephones or any of today’s technology that sets today’s Amish believers apart from the rest of society. Everybody rode in wagons and buggies. Everyone dressed in floor-length dresses. So how were the Amish different from everyone else in that time period? It really was a challenge, and especially for a writer who had never explored the time period of the late 1800’s before.
In the end, Lori Copeland and I decided to approach the story of The Heart’s Frontier as we would any other story – from the perspective of the viewpoint characters.
I admit it took quite a bit of research to discover how Emma Switzer, Amish woman in 1881, would view her contemporary world and how it differed from her non-Amish contemporaries. It’s so different from anything we encounter today! But in the end, Emma and her family were such intriguing characters, and their beliefs were so strong, that the story of The Heart’s Frontier pretty much unfolded naturally. The Amish lifestyle hasn’t changed much since the late 1800’s, but the English lifestyle had undergone several dramatic changes. Today the difference are extremely noticeable. Back then…well, not so much. But there were some very important differences, and I hope we’ve captured the essence of those differences in The Heart’s Frontier.
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I cannot wait to read this book
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This looks really interesting. I’d be anxious to see how different the Amish were from the English in the 1800’s. This is certainly a new angle from which the Amish genre is written.
Definitely looking forward to reading this one.
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Looks and sounds like it will be a wonderful book. Can’t wait to read it.
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Can’t wait to read it as I love Amish books but also love history. So I will be unavailable for 2-3 days after it comes out.
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