Amish schoolteacher Leah Beiler is content nurturing her young a oescholarsa and helping out on her large familya (TM)s Pennsylvania farm in Pleasant Valley. She has long since recovered from the defection of her former fiancA(c) Johnny Kile, who left the Amish community several years ago. But now Johnny has returned.
Working at a local medical clinic on research into inherited diseases common among the Amish, he asks for Leaha (TM)s help in circumventing his a oeshunneda status and reuniting him with his family, in particular with his twin, Rachel, who is also Leaha (TM)s best friend. Johnny also encourages Leah to help out at the clinic, working as a liaison with the Amish community. Is Johnny secretly hoping to convince Leah to leave the community and join him in an a oeEnglisha life together? Meanwhile, Leaha (TM)s new neighbor Daniel Glick, recently widowed, and his three children are struggling to adjust to their new home and circumstances. Daniel suffered great heartbreak when his wife abandoned him for an English life, taking their children with her for several years before dying in a tragic accident. Highly protective of his family, Daniel is suspicious of Leaha (TM)s a oeworldlya tendencies and reluctant to become emotionally attached to her, despite her obvious sensitivity toward his children and his own growing attraction to her. Leah herself, keenly aware of the choices before her, is also heartsick over her younger sister Annaa (TM)s increasingly rebellious behavior, which goes far beyond the typical a oerumspringera or running-around time traditionally allowed Amish teenagers. Is Anna being lured away from an Amish life, and if so, what can Leah do about it? How can she choose her own future when her sistera (TM)s seems so precarious?