Ebb Tide

by Beverly Lewis

Paperback, 2017

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Publication

Bethany House Publishers (2017), 336 pages

Description

When a well-to-do family asks Sallie Riehl to be their daughter's nanny for the summer at their Cape May, New Jersey, vacation home, she jumps at the chance to broaden her horizons beyond the Lancaster County Amish community where she grew up. Curious by nature, Sallie loves reading and learning, and she fears that her chances of making a good match with an Amish farmer will be hampered because of it. Though she loves taking care of nine-year-old Autumn Weaver during the week, Sallie has free time on the weekends to enjoy the shore. It is there that she meets Edward Kreider, a young marine biology student who talks freely about all he's learning and asks about her interests, unlike the guys she grew up with. Sallie wonders if this is the kind of relationship she's been longing for. Then again, Ed isn't from her community--and he's Mennonite, not Amish. Sallie is afraid of what her parents would think about her new friendship. But that's not all she's fearful of. When unexpected danger threatens Autumn, Sallie will have to put her fears aside. Will this be a summer to remember, or one to forget?… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member debristow
I received this book as part of the Member Giveaway program. The Ebb Tide is classic Beverly Lewis whom readers have grown to love. This is the story of Sallie who wants to travel. Effie she joins the church. When given the opportunity to nanny in Cale May for a summer, her life changes in such
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unexpected ways. Told in classic Beverly Lewis style, we are introduced to characters that quickly we fall in love with like so many times before. I am always amazed that Lewis after so many stories can write another one so well that grabs the readers. Great read- as always!
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LibraryThing member Reading25
I received this book as part of the Member Giveaway. I love Beverly Lewis books. Sallie wants to travel and she become a nanny in Cale May for the summer. You will fell in love with the characters and you keep reading to the end to see what happens.

I love this book.
LibraryThing member JennieHicks
I have enjoyed the slow read of this book as I have been ill. I remember my father specking a little German when I was younger so I now some of the phrases used before Sallie gives the definition to whomever it slips up she specks English but now and then her Amish culture slips into conversation
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and I have enjoyed remembering culture diferances. I live in Iowa we have many Amish communities. I am extreamly excited to learn more of there culture and this is just a lovely book about a young lady Sallie not yet baptized in the church and on her own near the ocean being a nany to Englishers. The young girls is learning to except being not an only child and Sallie is finding her way to what she wants most in life. She misses home but absolutly in love with the ocean. She meets a young polite Mennonite man who is furthering his carrier and education. Sallie has become invoved in learning about ocean live and living. will she stay near Cape May or will she return home to a potential beu? Love the book. very much enjoyed ever minute of it made me appreciate my life right now and thankful for my experiances by the ocean remembering to my teen years of Flordia liveing. Now in Iowa living a slower paced life I find myself able to understand Sallies journey. However not Amish. I have enjoyed learning the differances bettween the two styles of living a simplier life. thank you Beverly Lewis for the advanced copy for my honest opinion. I hope to read more of your books.
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LibraryThing member alekee
A very different Amish book as our main character has wanderlust, and was surprised her family was going to allow it, although she promises for sure she will join the Church next year.
While she does forgo one trip another seems to fall in her lap, and a life change is about to happen. She is going
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to Cape May NJ and becoming a nanny. Now that sounds like a fun job and time to me, and she sure does have a lot of adventures, which we are going to enjoy with her.
After all of this will she be able to come home and bend her knee, and maybe join the young man who seems to want to court her. Or will the adventure be the catalysis to leave her faith, one would hope not. We do meet her family and extended family, and she is mightily blessed to have so much support.
A fun read that is full of interesting information, it made me want to head to New Jersey. Enjoy your stay with Riehl family and friends.

I received this book through Net Galley and Bethany House Publishing and was not required to give a positive review.
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LibraryThing member Kris_Anderson
The Ebb Tide is a new Amish novel by author Beverly Lewis. Sallie Riehl is just shy of twenty years old and lives with her family in Paradise Township, Pennsylvania. Sallie has yet to join the Old Order Amish community, because she has dreamed of traveling for years. Her goal is a trip to
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Australia, and she has finally saved up enough money. Sallie purchases her trip and announces to her family that she will be leaving in two weeks. The Riehl family receives news that Aaron, Sallie’s four years old newphew, has a heart murmurer. He needs tests and possibly surgery. Vernon, Aaron’s father and Sallie’s brother, is worried about the costs. Sallie knows what she most due and cancels her trip. The money is put towards Aaron’s tests. But when God closes a door, he opens a window. Sallie is asked to be a nanny for the summer for young Autumn Logan in Cape May, New Jersey. This will be Sallie’s chance to travel. It would mean, though, putting off her baptism instruction classes for another year (much to her mother’s dismay). Sallie’s parents agree, and she is quickly off to the seashore. Sallie takes Autumn to visit the Cape May Whale Watch and Research Center and meets intern, Kevin Kreider. Kevin is studying to be a marine biologist and is a Mennonite. Kevin and Sallie start spending time together. Sallie knows she can only be friends with Kevin, but she greatly enjoys his company. At the end of the summer, Sallie returns home. But she is not content upon her return. Sallie needs to reflect and decide what she wants for her future.

The Ebb Tide is a well-written and engaging novel. I liked the characters and the setting. Cape May sounds just beautiful. I felt that the book had a good flow and was well-paced. The religious aspect of the novel is not as light as in other Amish novels, but it is not dominant or overwhelming. We are shown how prayer, love, faith and reflection can help (benefit) a person’s life and those around them. I appreciated that the author included an epilogue that nicely wrapped up the story. I give The Ebb Tide 4 out of 5 stars. I found The Ebb Tide to be a lovely novel. It is a nice break from what is going on in the world. I did feel that it was a little too long, but, otherwise, I liked it. I look forward to reading the next Beverly Lewis novel when it releases.
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LibraryThing member Mizroady
Beverly Lewis is a classic writer! Her books always give me spiritual and scriptural inspiration. I truly enjoy reading them.
Twenty year old Sallie Riehl is at that point in her life where she must choose to make a lifetime commitment to the Amish church by joining and being baptized. She even has
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a beau courting her, Perry, whom she has no attraction to. Sallie is invited by a wealthy family to spend the summer as their nanny at the beach in New Jersey. Her parents agree to let her go but with great reservations. Her strong desire to travel and see the world is a constant conflict with the Amish beliefs. Reasoning that this trip will get it out of her system she more than happily agrees to go.
What fun it was to experience the trip, the ocean and the beach through her eyes! Such a fresh view of so much we take for granted. As if all there was to see and do are not enough she gets a taste of freedom she never before had. Her weekends are open to do as she pleases. On her grand adventure she meets Kevin. He is fun, interesting, shares her dreams to travel and she finds herself having strong feelings toward him.
Upon her return home the trip has not only failed to extinguish her passion for travel, but Sallie finds herself desiring it even more. Her eyes being opened she realizes she is not happy with her Amish life. She must now make the decision to disappoint her family and leave or stay forever living in discontent.
The book’s title was so meaningful to the story. The way time and circumstances pulls us forward into the future and back into the past. The book presents a strong testimony of seeking God’s will in the face of tough decisions; pleasing Him or others. An excellent book!
I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. The opinions stated are my own.

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LibraryThing member scoutmomskf
Good story, a little different than most of Beverly Lewis's stories. Most of this book takes place away from Sallie's Lancaster County Amish community and visits Cape May, New Jersey instead. I did find the beginning of the book a little slow, but once she arrived in Cape May, it picked up quite
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nicely.

Sallie is an unusual Amish woman. From a very young age, she was interested in the wider world around her, not just her community. She was an avid reader, especially of books about faraway places, and she dreamed of having a chance to travel. Much to her parents' displeasure, she saved enough money to take her dream trip to Australia. She was just weeks from leaving when she gave up that trip to help someone else. But as the saying goes, "When God closes a door, sometimes he opens a window." One of the customers at the restaurant where she worked asked Sallie if she would be willing to be their daughter's nanny at the Jersey shore that summer. Naturally, she jumped at the chance.

There were several things that could have worked against her. First, her parents, especially her mother, were not very happy that she would have to put off her baptism into the church for another year. Also, her older sister was getting married, and Sallie's help was needed with the preparations. Others were worried that spending that much time around "Englischers" would tempt Sallie away from her faith. Then there's the disappointment of the young Amish man who wants to court her. Any one of those things could have put an end to her dream, but Sallie was a determined young woman and found a way to make it happen. I especially loved the part her father played in making her trip happen.

There was a lot going on during this summer at the beach. Sallie was there to watch over nine-year-old Autumn while Autumn's mother was recuperating from a difficult pregnancy and dealing with a fussy newborn. Autumn is a pistol of a kid, warm-hearted and friendly, and full of energy. I loved seeing how much fun she had showing Sallie around Cape May. She's not a perfect child, however, and had her moments of grumpiness. She also exhibited some jealousy of her baby brother, with frequent complaints about his crying and how much of their mother's time he takes. I loved Sallie's efforts to bring the two children closer together. I ached for Autumn and her unhappiness and worried that she would remain that way. It took a terrifying experience for Autumn to gain a different perspective on her relationship with her baby brother.

The time away from Lancaster brought some changes to Sallie's outlook. She began to look at her life and her faith and question some of the things she felt. There was guilt over her relief at avoiding joining church for another year. She felt the weight of her parents' expectations and wondered at her own reluctance. Her correspondence with Perry started well but became more of a chore the longer she was away. Even the longed-for visit by her sister Frannie had some tense moments as Frannie noted the changes in Sallie.

Early in the visit, Autumn and Sallie went on a boat tour, where they met marine biology intern Kevin Kreider. Kevin is friendly and knowledgeable and connected quickly with both Autumn and Sallie. Kevin is a Mennonite who also has Amish family that lives near Sallie's home. He and Sallie began spending a lot of time together. I loved their growing friendship and how they were able to talk together about so many different things. Sallie loved hearing about Kevin's travels and soaked up everything he would tell her. Kevin was very interested in learning about Sallie's life with the Amish, as his own family didn't talk about their old lives. Sallie knew that she and Kevin could only be friends, but she couldn't deny that there was more to it. It was pretty clear that Kevin had fallen hard for Sallie. I loved the sweet way he treated her, and his pleasure in making her happy. Their visit to Kevin's church was especially moving, and I loved the effect it had on Sallie. But when Sallie realized her feelings for Kevin had changed, she pulled back. I ached for both of them as she returned home at the end of the summer.

Her time in New Jersey had changed Sallie deeply though, and she spent a lot of time contemplating her future. She also missed Kevin desperately, even as she tried to renew her relationship with Perry. I ached for her as she wrestled with the decisions she had to make. I loved the unexpected visit from Kevin and the renewal of their friendship. It warmed my heart to see how he interacted with her family and their reactions to him. I especially liked that Sallie took her time and thought long and hard about what she wanted for her life. The support and encouragement of her family were unexpected and wonderful to see. I loved how everything worked out. The epilogue was fantastic.
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LibraryThing member judyg54
I enjoyed my time on the beach as I read this story. I also appreciated the way this author dealt with Sallie Riehl and her desire for something more in her life.

Sallie is a young Amish woman, who has always had the desire to travel and see more of the world. She is given an opportunity to be a
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nanny for a family and keep watch over their young girl while they spend the Summer at their beach home at Cape May. It is here that Sallie falls in love with the ocean. It is also here that she will meet a young Mennonite man, whose friendship she will cherish. When the Summer ends Sallie returns to her family in Paradise Township to hopefully enter into her baptism classes. But Sallie will never be the same after her trip to the ocean and her family will come to realize this. Can she follow her heart and step outside of her Amih community? Well, I am not giving anything away. But I sure did enjoy myself in "The Ebb Tide".
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LibraryThing member classyhomemaker
I've enjoyed every Beverly Lewis book I've read, to some extent, but some really touch me. The Ebb Tide was a beautiful story about the blessing that comes from patiently waiting for God's leading in one's life. I loved how Sallie recognized her heart's yearnings but desired to put God's will
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first. The patient and mature way she handled her questions was blessed in the end by family and friends who were able to see her for who God made her to be and were able to give their blessings on her choices.

I also loved the beautiful imagery of a not-so-Amish place, the seaside. I've got the travelin' bug, just like Sallie, and I understand how easy it is to get caught up in dreams of visiting far-off places. I also know how easy it is to visit far-off places and am so glad my family gives me the freedom to do so.
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Awards

Audie Award (Finalist — 2018)

Language

Original language

English

Physical description

8.5 inches

ISBN

0764212508 / 9780764212505
Page: 1.4884 seconds