In the novel Going Home by Wanda E. Brunstetter, Faith Stutzman Andrews is blessed with the abilities to yodel and tell jokes. Her mother and father hold her to strict standards since they are members of the Amish community; her parents disapprove of her yodeling and joke telling. Faith becomes discontent at home feeding the farm animals, washing dishes, doing laundry, and behaving as a proper young lady. At eighteen, Faith escapes her Amish home life by venturing out into the English world to become an entertainer. While entertaining, Faith marries a man named Greg, and they have a daughter, Melinda. After Greg’s death, caused by an automobile accident, Faith and Melinda seek refuge at Faith’s parents’ home in the Amish community within Webster County, Missouri. While living with her parents, again, at age twenty-eight, Faith realizes she is still held to firm standards. After a lengthy time period, she plans to return to the English world after her daughter, Melinda, adjusts to the Amish culture; her plans dramatically change. Faith ends up marrying a childhood friend that is also a member of the Amish community; they have children and reside as an Amish family.
Going Home is not a difficult read by any means. The words on each page lure you into the story because of how Brunstetter uses them to display each unique situation. This is an enjoyable book because it is uplifting and encouraging. It illustrates kindness towards neighbors, such as when the Amish men and women of Webster County gather to help the Hertzler’s rebuild their barn that got struck by a bolt of lightning during a thunderstorm. It also provides anecdotes detailing how to cope when trudging through life.This book is a good read for all ages due to the morals expressed, such as do not strive to be rich and famous, obey your parents so that your life may prosper, treat others as you wish to be treated, and pray for those in need. Christians would love to read this heartwarming story of Amish culture. However, people that desire deep plots may have a difficult time enjoying this novel since it seems to be only a short weekend book. Overall, Going Home by Wanda E. Brunstetter is a pleasurable read. ( )

The first volume of 'Brides of Webster County' this novel tells the story of Faith, a young woman who left the Amish community to become an entertainer in the English world. After the death of her husband, Faith returns to her family in Webster County intending to leave her daughter for her parents to raise while she returns to the entertaining circuit. Meantime, Amishman Noah is falling in love with Faith but knows he cannot enter into a relationship with her unless she has a relationship with God. This is a beautifully told love story with enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing right until the end and I look forward to reading more from the series. ( )

At the start of the book, I really liked it. It was a nice story about a woman coming to learn what is important in her life and what she truly values. The plot moved somewhat slowly, but towards the end, I became irritated with so many coincidences happening to keep the protagonist from what she thinks she wants. After the first two coincidences, I was ready for the book to come to an end, but now we have seen 3 and it is just getting tiring. The book is very drawn out at the end. ( )