I was given a review copy of A Simple Change by Judith Miller in exchange for my promise to write an honest review of it. I do enjoy Christian fiction, so I did enjoy the book. The setting is largely in one of the villages of the Amana Colonies in Iowa. A well-to-do family (the Rhoders) relocates from Kansas City to the colonies due to some serious health issues of the mother. The mother and father had been raised in the colonies, so the communal way of life there is not new to them and is how they want to live out their days. For their only child, Jancey, who is a teacher who loves her job and her students, it is a major change in lifestyle since women cannot be teachers in the colonies, but she handles it well. Pressure is put upon her by her suitor in Kansas City to leave the colonies and he goes to great extremes to accomplish his goal.
I enjoyed the book but believe that the amount of religion contained in the book might not be appreciated by some readers. In my opinion, I think the story could have done well with less of that. However, I am glad I read it and would recommend it as a nice story for anyone who enjoys clean plots and, especially, for anyone who is unfamiliar with the structure of the Amana Colonies in the late 1800's. I learned a lot about their ways from reading this book and, for that alone, it was worth the read.
