“The Tinderbox” is a new release from beloved and esteemed author Beverly Lewis.  This book is just the first installment of the stories we will be able to share about the Miller family and their Amish community.

The central item of this story called “The Tinderbox” is, not surprisingly, a tinderbox.  However, this particular family heirloom is much more like Pandora’s Box, and when it is opened, the chain of events that occur in consequence are shocking, life-changing, and hurtful for the entire Miller family.

I enjoyed revisiting the Amish ways, traditions, and beliefs.  While I do not agree with several of them, a glimpse into this lifestyle can be fascinating, and Beverly Lewis’s experience and research of this genre is clear in “The Tinderbox”.  In the Amish books I’ve read, I’ve noticed a trend common to most of them, which is a slow, meandering pace with much introspective content.  This is very true of “The Tinderbox”, and can perhaps inspire readers to slow their own pace at times, and get in touch with themselves, and with God.

I think this book could have made a fine novella.  I found much of it repetitious, and it could have perhaps been shortened a great deal and still had the same impact.  The characters were also less lifelike than I had hoped for, which would be understandable in a shorter-length novella, but is somewhat disappointing in a full-length novel.  I also found a few conversations that I feel should have been kept private.  Although they were very mild, which I greatly appreciated, they kept occurring over and over again throughout the entire story, hence the repetitious quality of this book.

As I was in the midst of this book, I must admit that I was not as entertained as I would have liked.  But, in the final pages of “The Tinderbox”, a plot twist occurred that I have to say I found very surprising.  Will I read the next installment?  I’m not sure.  If you’d asked me half way through, I’d have answered “no”, but I have to say that the surprise ending and many unresolved storylines have made me wonder what is next for Sylvia Miller and her family.

“Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.”