The Choice by Suzanne Woods Fisher


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
One moment Carrie Weaver was looking forward to running away with Lancaster Barnstormers pitcher Solomon Riehl—plans that included leaving the Amish community where they grew up. The next moment she was staring into a future as broken as her heart. Now, Carrie is faced with a choice. But will this opportunity be all she hoped? Or will this decision, this moment in time, change her life forever?
(back cover copy, “The Choice”)
For Carrie Weaver, it’s all about choices, tough ones. Deciding whether to follow the man she loves or follow the Amish faith is just the beginning. With a hemophiliac father and brother, life for Carrie is spent wondering when the next accident will return them to the emergency room. Will the next wound be the one that won’t stop bleeding? The one to take a precious life?
And what would happen if one of them was to die? How would it change life for her? What choices would she be forced to make then?
Solomon Riehl must also make a choice—pursue a dream career or the woman he loves. The complications? To choose the first, he’d have to renounce the Amish faith. For the second, his selfish nature.
And then there’s Mattie. Sweet Mattie who trusts God so implicitly she’s certain one day she’ll marry the only man she’s ever loved. When everyone else loses hope in him, Mattie’s still there, seeing beyond the flaws straight to his potential…if only he’d see it himself. But there’s another hurdle to jump. Her best friend, Carrie, loves him too.

True to form, author Suzanne W. Fisher has created an outstanding story. It took me several chapters to appreciate it, but once I did, I couldn’t put the book down.
The overriding theme in the novel is choices--little and big. What to do with the orchards this fall, how to meet the tax payment following tragedy. Love, marriage, and faith.
But there’s more.
The choice we all must make at different times in our lives is so subtly woven through the story, the reader isn’t aware of it until all the pieces fall into place. Each character in “The Choice” is struck by tragedy in some form. Each takes a different path in their attempt to cope. Some succeed in putting their lives back together. Others don’t. What’s the deciding factor between their victories and failures?
For those who’ve devotedly followed Ms. Fisher’s flourishing writing career, this latest work will confirm your loyalty. For everyone else, what are you waiting for?!
No matter your taste in fiction, this is a tale you shouldn’t miss.

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