Visits with the Amish

Visits with the Amish: Impressions of the Plain Life | University of Iowa Press, 2010

Linda Egenes visited with her neighbors in Iowa’s Old Order Amish country for thirteen years while writing about this insular community for Cobblestone, Plain and the Plain Reader. This book is a collection of these charming stories, providing readers with a rare glimpse inside Amish life. Whether milking a cow, taking a ride in a buggy, or chatting with women at a quilting, Egenes captures the scene with all five senses and stirs the heart with the quiet sensibility of these peace-loving people. Her engaging account of her visits with the Amish, beautifully illustrated with woodcuts by Caldecott Medal winner Mary Azarian, reveals the serene ways of a plain people.

Praise for Visits with the Amish

“Linda Egenes’s detailed yet respectful observations of Amish life are a perfect match for the gentle people she portrays. No one has more faithfully captured the quiet tone of daily life among the Plain People.”

“Direct, respectful and informative. Visits with the Amish takes us into the very homes and businesses of the plain people. There we enter a culture so different from the American mainstream that we are forced to examine our own spiritual beliefs, identities and values. This slim, quiet book should assume a big place on the bookshelves of anyone interested in anthropology, religion, folklore or sustainable living.”

“Visits with the Amish invites the reader to experience glimpses into the daily life of the Old Order Amish and gives a full sense of what it means to be Amish. Conversations about milking, cooking in the summer kitchen, quilting, and more capture in their own words their heartfelt commitment to home, school, community, and customs in Amish country.”