Title: Minding Molly
By Leslie Gould
The Gist:
Molly Zook has always been an extremely dependable
daughter, so when her father passes away unexpectedly, she takes on running the
house and family flower farm.
Unfortunately, the flower farm is in danger of going under, and the only
option seems to be for Molly to merge farms by marrying the neighbor boy,
Mervin Mosier, who once courted her best friend Hannah. As Molly considers marrying due to
obligation, she is surprised to meet a newcomer from Montana, Leon Fisher, whom
she immediately feels an intense spark of love with.
In true Mid-Summer’s Night fashion, the young Amish
friends venture into the mountains for a camping trip, and chaos ensues. Jealousy runs rampant, friendships are
tested, and Molly must try to control her needs to control everyone around her.
Molly must learn to let go of the reigns, and put her
faith in God, and realize that bumps and obstacles are a natural part of
growing up.
What I thought:
This is the first book that I have read of Miss
Gould’s and I enjoyed it very much.
It was different compared to other Amish fiction that I have read, which
makes me wonder whether this author researched a more liberal ordnung, or
whether this is more true to how young Amish adults behave. Either way, it was an enjoyable read.
I found the concept of adapting Shakespearian plays
into a modern day Amish setting to be very clever and fun, and I did feel as
though this novel (which is part of a series) can easily be read as a stand-alone. The character of Molly was a bit hard
for me to handle, although the reasons made sense in the story. Upon reflection, Molly was just
over-compensating by trying to control everyone and everything since her life
was going through a lot of difficult changes that she couldn’t control.
I very much enjoyed the theme of obligation vs.
love, and thought that the timing of introducing Leon right as Molly seemed
about to agree to marry without love was perfect. Miss Gould writes with a beautiful lightness, and has the
wonderful ability to keep readers turning the page to see how life turns out
for her characters. I cannot wait
to check out the other books in the Courtships of Lancaster County series!
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