A Plain & Fancy Christmas

October 17, 2011
Keller's latest begins with alternating chapters that depict two women living in completely different worlds. Rachel Yoder, a widowed young mother, lives on her family's farm in a Pennsylvania Amish community. Ellie Lawrence, a single career-woman, lives on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Though the two women have never heard of each other, their lives intersect when they receive letters from a nurse who was at the hospital when they were both born. After harboring this dreadful secret for three decades, the nurse reveals that Rachel and Ellie were switched at birth, and they must struggle with questions of identity and family. Unfortunately, Keller (An Amish Christmas) fails to write past Rachel and Ellie's superficial and predictable reactions, or the flat responses of their respective families. The only glimmer of thoughtful expression comes from Rachel: "It wasn't as if they were being asked to take over the other person's life and give up their own." Readers will be disappointed by the contrived moments of conflict that accompany these one-dimensional characters.

October 1, 2011

Manhattan businesswoman Ellie Lawrence and Amish widow Rachel Yoder learn that they were accidentally switched at birth. The tight Pennsylvania community where Ellie's Amish birth family lives introduces her to a stability and sense of belonging she has never known. An extended stay in New York to allow Rachel and her daughter to get to know their new family proves less rewarding. A pleasant addition to a growing subgenre from the author of An Amish Christmas.

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