A Simple and Elegant Christmas Written by Cynthia Keller

An excellent read about two girls who had been switched at birth. One was Amish and the other a typical American girl who learned from a letter from a nurse who was getting older and could no longer contain the truth about the change. An Amish family in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area had raised Rachel Yoder and Ellie Shore grew up in the New York City area and had a lucrative job. When the letters arrived, the girls didn’t know how to react or if the letters were true. They seemed believable, but how could such a thing happen? They each pondered for a while before telling her parents about the letters, wondering what her reaction would be after raising them her way their entire lives. They each decided to try living with their legitimate parents to see what life would be like since the difference was so great. An Amish girl who lives in New York City amidst the towering buildings that she has so much available to her that she never knew existed, so she never missed those fancy shops and crowded streets and sidewalks. And a New Yorker used to all the good and bad things she grew up with, used to going anywhere or getting almost anything she wanted to give up and work on a farm with no modern conveniences. This would be a real challenge, but Rachel and Ellie were willing to give it a try.

Rachel tried to live in Ellie’s apartment in New York while Ellie went to the Amish farm to see how it worked. Each girl’s new and legitimate families helped each of them try to adjust to her new and existing lifestyle. Ellie found it much easier to rent a small house not far from the farm because she was having a hard time adjusting while Rachel didn’t know what to do with herself now in this jungle of a city. The families met, which was another weird reunion, but they went out of their way to be friendly and make this a success. Rachel had been given some cash to pay for her expenses, while Ellie had money of her own for her living arrangements. The many cultural differences were challenging for both the girls and their families. After many adjustments in their lives, each one had settled in their new homes, but many times without knowing if they were happy or not.

I could go on and recount some of the many interesting plots and subplots that exist in the story, but they are what make this story such a great read. Buy the book and start reading. You will laugh, you will cry, you will try to put yourself in the same position, and in the end you will be surprised by not knowing if this is the life you would have chosen.