“A Patchwork Past” by Leslie Gould … and a GIVEAWAY!

Welcome to Friday Reads!

 

You can enter to win a copy of A Patchwork Past by Leslie Gould, courtesy of the publisher. (US ONLY). You can enter by using the Rafflecopter link at the bottom of this post. (Contest ends May 21, 2021.) Share on XIf you’re the chosen winner, I’ll contact you for your information. 

 

About the book…

When wild child Sophie Deiner—the daughter of an Amish bishop—is forced to return to Nappanee, Indiana, quilt-shop owner Jane Berger is one of only a few who welcome her back. It’s the last place she wants to be, but Sophie’s recent illness requires that she recover for a while.

As Sophie heals, she befriends a group of migrant workers and is appalled to learn of the wretched living conditions they’re forced to endure. Sophie begins advocating on their behalf, but soon finds herself opposed by an ex-boyfriend who is the farm foreman.

Jane begins relating the story of an Amish couple who rescued survivors of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, many of whom were Irish immigrants. And Sophie is more convinced than ever that she needs to fight for the powerless. But when digging deeper makes conditions even worse, has she chosen a fight she can’t win?

 

Q&A with Leslie…

 

Q: A Patchwork Past, like others of your recent novels, is written with a contemporary and historical timeline. Why did you choose that style? What opportunities and challenges does it have?

A:  In Requiem for a Nun, William Faulkner wrote, “The past is never dead. It’s not even the past.” I agree with Faulkner. The past is only a split second away in our memory, and not only our own past but also the pasts of our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, communities, nation, and world—as long as those stories have been shared. I love exploring that in dual-time (or time-slip) novels.
I especially love that Amish dual-time stories provide historical backgrounds for Plain communities. I think it’s easy for people to sometimes think Amish communities don’t change. Or it’s easy to think they weren’t affected by historical events. Neither is true and contrasting historical time periods with current Amish life shows that.

The challenge with writing about the Amish in any time period is getting specific details that weren’t or aren’t documented correct. I dig deeper, asking questions and reading more, but if I can’t find the answer I have to make a decision, with help, about what would be plausible. The challenge with writing dual-time novels is connecting the contemporary and historical threads. There needs to be a solid, shared theme that runs through both stories.

Q. Learning about Amish involvement in helping survivors from the Great Chicago Fire must have been fascinating. Tell us more about the research that went into your historical timeline.

A: The seed of the Amish involvement in the story came from my friend Marietta Couch, who grew up Amish in Elkhart County, Indiana. She remembers hearing as a child that her Amish ancestors donated supplies after the fire and some of the men even helped with rebuilding in Chicago.

Besides tugging on the heartstrings of those living near Chicago who were close enough to help, the story of the fire—the 300 dead and the one in three residents who were displaced—touched the entire world. Material donations from across the nation arrived by train (thankfully most of the Chicago railroad tracks survived) and financial donations arrived from around the world. Specific donations, from water from the Joseph Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to 5,000 sewing machines to a financial donation from England to rebuild the city library and make it public, made all the difference for the people of Chicago.

Although 1871 seems like a long time ago, as far as sources, there’s a plethora
concerning the Chicago Fire and the aftermath, including eye-witness accounts,
newspaper reports, and photographs. It is a well-documented, historical event, complete with detailed maps, which made the research absolutely fascinating.

Q. Tell us more about Sophie Deiner. What qualities make her a main character you (and readers) cheer for? Are there any elements to her that you had never included in a character before?

A: Sophie has Lupus, and a flareup forces her back to her Amish parents’ farm to rest. Writing about an autoimmune disease was a first for me. Considering how many suffer from autoimmune diseases, it became an important part of the story.
Although I didn’t realize it when I started planning the novel, Sophie turned out to be one of those main characters who would practically write the story. She’s a go-getter who is fighting past trauma, which makes her all the more in-tune with others who struggle to overcome challenges.

Q. What ties the books in the Plain Patterns series together?

A: In all three of the stories—Piecing It All Together, A Patchwork Past, and Threads of Hope—Jane Berger, the owner of the quilt shop Plain Patterns, tells the historical tale. She’s a never-married Amish woman in her 60s, and she’s especially drawn to young women in her quilting circle who are struggling to find their places in the world. Jane encourages them through stories of strong Amish women from the past.

 

Thanks for taking the time to share a bit of information. I’m sure my readers will enjoy it!

 

Excerpt…

 

Prologue
Jane Berger
August 25, 2017
Nappanee, Indiana
Five months ago, planting a large garden on the property of Plain Patterns seemed like a good idea to Jane Berger.

But as she stood in the middle of it now, a basket on her arm, she wasn’t so sure.
She still had her monthly historical column to write for the Nappanee News. She’d finished and mailed the one for September, but now she needed a topic for October. Between her writing, running her quilt shop, and trying to find time for her
gardening, she was feeling overwhelmed.

She’d made watering a priority, but she couldn’t keep up with the weeds. And now she couldn’t keep up with the produce either. Spinach had bolted, fallen tomatoes were rotting on the ground, and zucchinis had grown into the size of baseball bats.
Six months ago, she’d imagined hosting preserving classes in the kitchen area of the quilt shop. She’d hoped they’d draw more Englisch customers to Plain Patterns. Maybe they’d be interested in quilting too.

She’d also imagined the quilters sharing the produce with neighbors and kin.  Miriam, the young single mother who was living with her, had planned to set up a vegetable stand on the highway to sell the produce. However, her three-month-old son was taking up all her time.

At this point, Jane doubted she could pay people—let alone charge them—to take away the produce. Today, before the quilting circle began, she’d concentrate
on picking what was ripe and hope someone from the circle without a garden would take some of it home.

She began with the cucumbers, twisting one after another off the vines. As much as she worried about the garden, she had more pressing matters to be concerned about—Miriam and baby Owen, to start with. None of them had gotten a full night of sleep since the little one had been born. She didn’t regret having Miriam and Owen live with her, but she’d underestimated how much help Miriam would need. More so, she’d underestimated how much work a newborn was. She’d never married and never had children of her own, but she’d been active in the lives of her nieces and nephews—just not in the middle of the night.

She yawned as she transferred the cucumbers into a cardboard box on the grass. After swiping the back of her gloved hand across her forehead, she started in on the beans, dropping them into her basket. It was only seven in the morning and already growing warm. It would be another scorcher of a day.

She reached the end of the row of beans and then dumped the basketful into  another box. She stepped back into the garden, through the weeds. She had to find some help. Her great-niece whom she’d hired to weed at the beginning of the summer had taken a job as a mother’s helper last month. How could the weeds have grown so much since then?

Jane stepped over to the zucchinis and began pulling the medium-sized ones—perfect to be stuffed with meat and rice and then baked—from the vines. The large ones could be grated for zucchini bread. The smaller ones were better for stir-frying.
She paused for a moment and straightened her back, thinking again of a topic for her October column. She had a vague memory of her great-grandfather, Gross Dawdi Vyt, telling her a story. It had to do with a long drought. She yawned again.
If only she wasn’t so sleep deprived. She shook her head, as if she could clear the fog in her brain.

Gross Dawdi Vyt had been born in February 1865, right before the Civil War ended. He’d lived to be ninety-eight, dying when Jane was eleven. He’d been lucid until the end, frequently telling stories from his childhood. Jane had loved sitting at his feet, soaking up his every word. She attributed her love of history to him. By the time she was ten, she’d started writing down some of his stories.

He had two children, a son who’d died in 1918 and Jane’s grandmother, Katie. She and her husband inherited the Landis farm and then passed it down to Jane’s father. 

As Jane bent down to pick the next zucchini, the growing heat of the morning sun rippled up her back and the thought of a fire startled her. She inhaled sharply. Dawdi Vyt had told her about the Great Chicago Fire. Members of his family had
been in the city the day the fire broke out.

She stood up straight and tried to remember his story. But she couldn’t recall the details, not even what year the fire occurred. It was definitely in the 1800s. Maybe the 1880s? Had she written down what he’d told her about the Chicago Fire? Could she trust the notes of a child? Or was that story, like so many others, now lost forever?

A Patchwork Past • Leslie Gould
Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group © 2021 used by permission

 

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My review…

I love dual timeline novels, and I’ve read many of them. However, I’ve never read any Amish ones before this book.

While second in the series, this can be read as a standalone novel.

I haven’t read many books about the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, so I enjoyed that angle. The cast of characters is well-crafted and relatable. The pace keeps the reader engaged. As someone living with chronic illness, I really appreciated the incorporation of autoimmune diseases (Sophie). I don’t often see that in books, especially Amish ones. Perhaps it will bring about a greater understanding of these diseases. Immigration is a key component of the story, and, again, it’s one I don’t think I’ve ever seen in an Amish novel. Themes of friendship, family, and faith are woven throughout. There is a romance angle, and I liked the fact that it wasn’t overwhelming.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy, but I wasn’t required to leave a positive review.

 

 

About Leslie…

Leslie Gould is the best-selling and award-winning author of over thirty novels. She loves traveling, research, Shakespeare’s plays, and church history. She and her husband live in Portland, Oregon and are the parents of four children. http://www.lesliegould.com/

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