ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
He took on small construction projects at night to help make ends meet— "and to preserve the remainder of my sanity," he says. While building an office in the basement of a communications consultant, a debate over labor/management relations turned into an article on mutualism which found its way into an international business magazine. It was Dale's first published article, and he liked the feel of it. He bought books, studied technique, and began participating in an online writers' forum, writing during the boys' naps and after they went to bed at night. Before long he was publishing short stories in literary magazines and thinking about writing a book.
Three storylines vied for Dale's attention when he finally decided to write a novel. His first two choices were commercially viable secular stories, and a distant third appeared to be some kind of Christian saga about a broken-down biker. The process of determining which novel to write was settled by a remarkable encounter with his youngest son, a lost set of keys, and God. His sense of direction was suddenly clarified. In 1997, Dale began work on Sutter's Cross, which was eventually published in 2003.
His second novel, Bad Ground (July 2004), while it is not autobiographical, contains a great deal of material drawn from his own experience as a construction electrician.
He and his wife and two sons make their home in northern Georgia.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Searching for a place to relocate his family where no such laws apply, Caleb learns there's inexpensive land for sale in Mexico, a place called Paradise Valley. Despite rumors of instability in the wake of the Mexican revolution, the Amish community decides this is their answer. And since it was Caleb's idea, he and his family will be the pioneers. They will send for the others once he's established a foothold and assessed the situation.
Caleb's daughters are thrown into turmoil. Rachel doesn't want to leave Jake. Her sister, Emma, who has been courting Levi Mullet, fears her dreams of marriage will be dashed. Miriam has never had a beau and is acutely aware there will be no prospects in Mexico.
Once there, they meet Domingo, a young man and guide who takes a liking to Miriam, something her father would never approve. While Paradise Valley is everything they'd hoped it would be, it isn't long before the bandits start giving them trouble, threatening to upset the fledgling Amish settlement, even putting their lives in danger. Thankfully no one has been harmed so far, anyway.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Paradise Valley, go HERE.
My Review:
I have heard a lot about Dale Cramer’s book Levi’s Will but have never had the chance to read it or anything by him. I am a huge Amish fiction fan, so I was excited, yet a little skeptical, when given the opportunity to read a story about an Amish girl written by a man. I was extremely thrilled with the outcome though. From beginning to end Dale did a fabulous job. He is a very talented author and completely keeps your interest from beginning to end.
I love how he took the unfortunate events of the 1920 Ohio Amish community and turned it into such a great story. I really enjoyed how he weaved fact with fiction and told the story of one Amish family who chose to leave the US in search of freedom. I enjoyed the family adventure and the love that always blooms in spite of the situation.
I would recommend this book to anyone. It was an easy read and thoroughly enjoyable.
Thank you CFBA for the complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Happy Reading!!
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