Book Review: The Memory Jar

 

Memories. Most of us usually find a way to hold on to them. Do you blog, journal, or scrapbook? After reading The Memory Jar, a beautiful Amish love story, written by Tricia Goyer, you might just be inspired to carry your memories in a jelly jar. A memory jar is quite simply a place to store small items that will help you to remember. A lock of hair from your baby’s first haircut, a dried flower from the roses your husband gave you, or as, in Sarah’s case, a piece of quartz to help you remember the night a handsome Amish man rescued you when you were lost in the woods.

About The Memory Jar:

 

Book One in the Seven Brides for Seven Bachelors series

Every year, 30-40 young Amish men descend on the cozy little town of West Kootenai, Montana, arriving in the spring to live there for six months and receive ‘resident’ status for the hunting season in the fall. They arrive as bachelors, but go home with brides! Sarah Shelter has lived in West Kootenai for the last ten years and wonders if she will ever fall in love. Since the tragic death of her best friend, she carries her memories in a jar along with the small items connected to them. For just as long, she’s also been carrying around her emotions instead of allowing them to penetrate deep into her heart. Now she’s met a kind and gentle man who may be able to break down the wall. But can Sarah risk her heart to finally achieve her dreams?

My Review: Tricia Goyer is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. Both her novels of historical fiction and tales of Amish life stir emotion within me, unlike most other books I’ve read. The Memory Jar is no different. Getting to know Sarah and Patty through their memory jars, and Sarah’s flashbacks to their childhood, was a sweet and endearing way to develop these characters. Although Patty has been gone for 2 years, she is an integral part of the story because she was the first person to accept Sarah exactly as she was and to encourage her God-given creativity, a creativity viewed as “fancy” to most in the Amish community. The next person to truly understand Sarah would be Jathan, an Amish man from Ohio, who has landed in Montana, where Sarah lives, to escape the harsh reality that he’s a little different, too. 

I found myself  feeling as though I was peeking into something sacred — a God-ordained story of love and loss, dreams and reality, but most of all, the lives of two people, both carrying around pain in their hearts, as well as hopes for the future. Hopes that as an Amish man and woman, were not readily accepted by their communities, or even their families. It took finding each other to allow themselves to do that which would make these hopes and dreams come to life. But it was not easy. Releasing years of pain in order to accept love never is. Standing up for what you truly believe is not either.

I smiled.

I laughed.

I cried. 

A lot.