Hello! Do you like Amish romances? If you do, I have a treat for you! Sarah Price has a new book coming out that's an Amish retelling of Mansfield Park! Actually, this is the fifth book in her Amish Classics series - all retelling a Jane Austen story.
Today, Sarah Price stops by to tell us a little about her new book, Mount Hope.
Enjoy!
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A lot of readers who enjoy romances set in the Amish communities envision a quaint, pristine world where young men and women fall in love, often with very little pressure from their families to improve their social standing or lifestyles. Many readers imagine a life where days are spent happily on the farm, milking cows or weeding gardens while evenings are spent sitting around the kitchen table reading the Bible or working on a new quilt.
Unfortunately, the envisioned stereotype of constant tranquility and peace for those who live a Plain life is inaccurate. Like the rest of the world, the Amish are people and, with that, there are different personalities, dreams, expectations, and problems. They are not cookie-cutter people lacking the same range of emotions as the rest of us: happiness, joy, sadness, disappointment, despair.
Mount Hope is an adaptation of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park. The story follows Fanny Price who is born to an impoverished Amish family living in Westcliffe, Colorado. The community is small and the farming lacking in both fertility and futility. Her parents make a hard decision to send her back to Mount Hope, Ohio in order to live with extended family. But, upon arriving at the Bontragers' farm, Fanny quickly learns that she is an outsider. Her aunt Miriam is oppressed by both her husband, Thomas, and older sister, Naomi, while her two cousins, Miriam and Julia, make their feelings of superiority known immediately. The only friendship she receives is from Elijah, Thomas's son from a previous marriage.
Fanny grows up as part of the Bontrager household but not part of their family. She knows her place in the family hierarchy and has learned to not challenge it. Meanwhile, her feelings toward Elijah as her one friend, and only champion, begin to shift into a deeper emotion that she fears is not returned.
When I embarked on this journey of adapting Jane Austen's romances written in the early 1800s, I was looking forward to the challenge of recreating her six novels in the Amish setting. What I quickly learned was how Jane Austen's timeless classics transcend time and location. In any culture, love is often met with difficult decisions and tiring trials.
What I enjoyed most about writing Mount Hope was how, unlike her other heroines, Jane Austen created the original Fanny Price to be appear oppressed and meek. The journey that readers take with both Austen's and my Fanny Price is one of a personal evolution. Readers will fall in love with Fanny Price and experience the same emotions as she does: sorrow for her losses and gratitude for God's grace as she learns how to stand up for herself and live with countless disappointments.
Mount Hope releases on September 6th and readers are encouraged to alert their local bookstores to pre-order their copy.
About Mount Hope: An Amish Retelling of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park
When her father can no longer provide for his large family, Fanny Price is sent away from her small Amish community in Colorado to live with her aunt’s family in Mount Hope, Ohio. Fanny immediately feels out of place at the Bontrager farm but finds a friend in her aunt’s stepson, Elijah Bontrager.
As time passes, Fanny begins to long for their friendship to blossom into something more, but her hopes are dashed when Elijah starts to court someone else. With her uncle pressuring her to marry a man who can take her off his hands, Fanny must learn to rely on God for her future.
Buy: Amazon
About the Author
National bestselling author Sarah Price has always respected and honored her ancestors through the exploration and research about her family’s Anabaptist history and their religion. For over twenty-five years, she has been actively involved in an Amish community in Pennsylvania. The author of over thirty novels, Sarah is finally doing what she always wanted to do: write about the religion and culture that she loves so dearly.
Thank you, Sarah, for stopping by today! And thanks to Michelle Dawn of Destination Amish for arranging this stop!
Meredith of Austenesque Reviews gave Sense & Sensibility (The Amish Classics #4) by Sarah Price 4.5 stars! See her review here!
What do you think of mixing Austen and Amish Romances?
