Under the Tree

Rachel is 25 years old, and feels like she missed the boat for getting married. She entered Rumspringa with so much hope and optimism, sure she would meet a great Amish man. But that never happened. Her teen years, though filled with fun, flew by without a single courtship. Her best friend, Emma, was sympathetic. But she was getting married, and that would leave Rachel by herself, the only child still at home in her formerly large family. Matt plays professional baseball. By some standards it is close to the peak of human accomplishment, but by his own he is a drifter, not sure of where his life is taking him. The uncertainty of his career, the fact he can get released at any moment, is too much for him to handle, and he regularly has melt downs; he longs for a simpler life, for a real life, to settle down. These two cannot be more different, yet after a terrible pitching performance, when Matt needs to gather his thoughts, they meet. The effect that she has on him is immediately felt, and it is intoxicating. Do the Amish represent the "more" to life that Matt is searching for? Or maybe it is simply the beauty of a woman - of Rachel. Like all Hannah Weaver books, this is clean, with a Christian message.