From my blog...[return]Never Far From Home is the second book in The Miller Family Series by Mary Ellis, and is a rather charming novel about Amish families and life along with their joys and troubles. Emma Miller has recently turned 16 and she has informed her parents she fully intends to take her year of Rumschpringe, much to the dismay of Simon and Julia. Emma's aunt Hannah has noticed her young niece pining after a young sheep farmer, the problem is James Davis is an Englischer. Hannah barely has time to worry too much about her niece since she is having troubles in her own home. Her husband Seth took all of her savings and invested the money without discussing his plans with Hannah. Hannah is struggling to learn to give up her independence, independence she had to learn after her first husband passed away. While Hannah and Seth work on their relationship, Emma is learning to deal with her feelings, her new marriage and new daughter. Although the characters are plentiful, I did not particularly care for them, possibly because I did not read the first novel in the series, A Widow's Hope. While I was easily able to follow the story, it was almost too easy and I felt there lacked a certain depth, which I might have found had I read A Widow's Hope first, since characters usually grow with a series. The story is well written and the reader is quickly drawn into the various trials and tribulations of the individuals as well as the families. With an underlying theme of all things are possible with faith, Never Far From Home is an excellent novel to curl up with for a wholesome afternoon of reading.