Book contains the story, a recipe and a study guide for those wanting to discuss it further.

Rose Schrock has lost a lot over the past couple of years. Her husband's previously successful, respectable investment business adopted riskier strategies to remain successful in an economic downturn, and ended by sinking into bankruptcy and ruin, with the SEC asking pointed and unpleasant questions. When they could no longer continue financially, her husband's mother takes in their whole family, in the farmhouse he grew up in--but with a condition. This Mennonite family must return to the Old Order Amish faith in which he and she were both raised. They do it, and have a level of security, but then he abruptly dies in circumstances that might or might not be suicide.

It's a shock for the five children, both their younger three together and his two from his first marriage, and Rose is left struggling to pay off her late husband's debts, care for her cranky mother-in-law, and support her family. On top of all this, the eldest son, Tobe, who had worked with his father, has disappeared.

Rose needs to turn things around, and a chance encounter with an "English" couple, i.e., not Amish, needing a place to stay in town for a night or two leads her to the idea of turning the old farmhouse into a bad & breakfast inn.

Rose's mother-in-law, Vera, is appalled. Older daughter Bethany thinks it's crazy, while younger daughter Miriam thinks it might work. The twin boys are too young to really have an opinion. Neighbor Galen King helps her do the conversion of the finished basement into guest quarters.

They're all in for a year of revelations and changes.

What's key in this book is the development of the characters. Rose, Vera, Bethany, and Miriam, along with Galen King and his apprentice horse trainer, all have a lot to learn about their own and each other's strengths and weaknesses. Those lessons don't come only from each other, or from other Amish. The Amish and the "English" who come to stay at the Inn at Eagle Hill have a lot to learn from each other. It's worthy of note that Fisher does this without either sappiness or disrespect for either basic viewpoint. It's a warm, enjoyable story that shows some faith in human nature as well as in God.

Recommended.

I received this audiobook as a gift, and am reviewing it voluntarily. ( )

When widow Rose turns her Amish farmhouse into a bed & breakfast she expects there might be problems.

Book I (The Inn at Eagle Hill series)

While this book isn't a novel that I would rank on my list of favorites, it still is a good read. Rose puts up with a lot! Her mother-in-law--OY! Wow. I'm not sure I'd have the stamina to put up with that character day in and day out. But towards the in, you do feel sympathy towards her.

Delia sounds like a woman I'd love to have as a friend. She had a lot on her plate and I think she handled it as well as any woman could, given the circumstances. Running off to Amish country sounds extreme, but when your husband is a jerk and you have a cancer diagnosis staring at you in the face, it's hard NOT to want to disappear!

All in all, a very good book. ( )

The Calling, the second in the Eagle Hill Inn series, carries the reader deeper into the lives of Stoney Ridge. The characters struggle with identity, finding their purpose, and place in a caring community that has its own twists and turns. Life isn't want it seems from the outside as the guest at Eagle Hill Inn, Geena soon discovers as she becomes intertwined in the dilemmas Bethany Schrock finds herself dealing with.
I found truths to apply in my own life throughout the book. Suzanne Woods Fisher writes with strength, insight, and depth. I look forward to the next book in this series! ( )