Emma Stolzfus has never been courted or kissed, despite a few dates during herRumspringeyears that never amounted to anything. Now 30 years old, it has become her place as the unmarried daughter to look after her elderly mother. In the dark hours when her mother is asleep, Emma writes letters and essays to Amish periodicals, short stories, and even a novel she's been working on for the last five years. When an editor at a New York publishing house, Tyler West, takes an interest in her work, Emma secretly goes to meet him. It is the first time a man has paid attention to her, and beyond that Tyler wants to publish her novel. Emma suddenly finds herself torn between her Amish faith and the lure of all the English world offers her.