A Quilt for Jenna by Patrick E. Craig

This is an intriguing story about Jerusha, the best quilter in her community, who plans to win first prize at the Quilt Fair so she can leave behind her Amish way of life forever.  After her young daughter died a year ago, her husband left and she has been alone with her grief and her anger at God.  But on her way to the fair, she's trapped in her driver's car when the Blizzard of the Century hits and she must confront her painful memories.  When another little girl needs her, will she open her heart?

The story is told from multiple perspectives and over multiple years as we live through memories to understand how these characters ended up where they are today.  I especially found fascinating the sections about Jerusha's husband, Reuben, and his struggle over being an Amish man fighting in World War II.  The author places his story in a real town during a real storm and there was a lot of detail about which roads were being plowed and where they were looking for her, which felt a bit tedious to me.  While I don't usually think of men reading Amish books, I could see them liking this story because of these aspects.  This is a touching story of loss, forgiveness, and hope and I look forward to reading more by this author.

I received this book free from Harvest House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Patrick E. Craig is a lifelong writer and musician who left a successful songwriting and performance career in the music industry to follow Christ in 1984. He spent the next 26 years as a worship leader, seminar speaker, and pastor in churches, and at retreats, seminars and conferences all across the western United States. After ministering for a number of years in music and worship to a circuit of small churches, he is now concentrating on writing and publishing both fiction and non-fiction books. Patrick and his wife Judy make their home in northern California and are the parents of two adult children and have five grandchildren. for more than 30 years.