Beverly Lewis' The Tinderbox Holds a Past That is too Hot to Handle

...from the publisher...

With her Amish parents' twentieth anniversary approaching, eighteen-year-old Sylvia Miller stumbles across a surprise--the old brass tinderbox her clockmaker father keeps in his Lancaster County shop has been left unlocked. Against her better judgment, Sylvia opens the cherished heirloom, not realizing that what she is about to discover will splinter apart her happy life.

Sylvia's bewilderment grows when her father confronts her about snooping in the box. To her amazement, the respected convert to the Old Order reacts as if he has something to hide.

Burdened by the weight of his deception, Earnest Miller decides he must reveal the details about his past to his beloved wife, Rhoda. The long-kept secret alters everything for the close-knit family, jeopardizing Earnest and Rhoda's relationship, as well as threatening Sylvia's recent engagement to the preacher's grandson.

Can the Millers find a way forward through the turmoil to a place of forgiveness and acceptance?

...my thoughts....

I liked The Tinderbox by Beverly Lewis very much and it hooked me right away.  The love shared between Earnest and Rhoda Miller spills over into the lives of their five children.  Sylvia, the oldest, has dreams of having a close relationship like her parents have with her new fiancee, Titus. It was her curiosity about the one heirloom her father kept locked on a shelf in his shop that niggled at her imagination and tempted her since childhood.  One day, by the merest chance, the box was left unlocked and because of that burning curiosity, she opened it and the ensuing can of worms had a ripple effect on her family and her relationship with Titus.

While the secrets in the box cuts deeply into the fabric of their lives, Sylvia begins to notice things about her own relationships along the way to healing her family.  Titus, whom she thinks the world of, may not be the man she believed him to be.  She is second guessing a lot of things that she took for granted yet she remains the kind, generous spirit her parents raised her to be.  As she grows, she begins to think much  more independently and I felt myself cheering her on.

At the heart of the matter is her father, and his sin of omission before joining the Amish community in Hickory Hollow.  The family may never be the same and yet in the midst of it all, they begin to look at their faith in new ways.  Beverly Lewis has created characters that have depth and appeal. They are alive with the tension and love that comes from facing serious challenges.   I recommend this book for its strong characters, good plot and the promise of hope for better things to come.