The Rebel (27 page)

Dear Reader,

I'm so glad you joined me for the final story of my Keepers of the Promise series. I've been building up to telling Barbie's story for a long time, and I'm happy to see her on the page at last.

The three stories of the Lapp family, while fictional, are very similar to what actually happened to the Amish settlements in Pennsylvania. In
The Rebel
, I've taken on the period during which increasing pressures from the outside seemed to threaten the very existence of the Lancaster County Amish, leading to migration into other areas and the establishment of daughter communities to that original group. Over time, each of the daughter colonies has created its own identity as it responds to the area in which it settled, so that we now find variation in customs among each of the groups, even as they maintain their tradition of living simply and separately in accordance with God's will for their lives.

Interestingly enough, the settlement in Lancaster County didn't disappear, despite their fears. The Amish have adapted and strengthened, and even though groups still move out, both the mother and daughter settlements continue to thrive and grow.

I hope you'll let me know what you think of Barbie's story. You can find me online at martaperry.com and facebook.com/MartaPerryBooks, e-mail me at [email protected], or write to me in care of Berkley Publicity Department, Penguin Random House, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014. If you'd care to write to me, I'd be happy to reply with a signed bookmark or bookplate and my brochure of Pennsylvania Dutch recipes.

Blessings,
Marta

Photo by Lorie Johnson Photography

A lifetime spent in rural Pennsylvania and her own Pennsylvania Dutch roots led
Marta Perry
to write about the Plain People who add to the rich heritage of her home state. She is the author of more than fifty inspirational romance novels and lives with her husband in a century-old farmhouse.

Visit the author online at martaperry.com and facebook.com/
MartaPerryBooks.

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