The Dark Side Of Heaven

A Literary Novel

Editions:
Hardcover w/dustjacket  ISBN:1933523018
Bella Rosa Books - May 2006

Heaven is rolling hills clothed in the first flush of spring, bright summer skies, and black buggies silhouetted against a winter moon. Heaven is the scent of sun-splashed laundry, lilac bushes, and homemade apple butter. Heaven is the lowing of cows waiting to be milked, sparrows chittering in a hayloft, and hooves clattering on hot, shimmering asphalt. Heaven is the touch of a kitten's nose, the feel of grass between the toes, and a mother's gentle hand.

But there is a dark side of Heaven, one that child prodigy, Anna Hostetler, knows all to well. Born into a traditional Amish family in Heaven, Pennsylvania, the girl begins to inadvertently buck tradition at the tender age of six when she sketches an uncanny likeness of her mother for a tourist. The Amish forbid representational art on the grounds it could lead to idolatry, so Anna's mother is horrified.

The gift Anna possesses cannot be suppressed. The tourist who discovers Anna's exceptional ability is Bridgett Monroe, a gallery owner from Pittsburgh. She encourages Anna to draw, supplying her with the necessary materials, and soon young Anna begins to defy her mother by secretly sketching in the hayloft. By the time Anna turns eighteen she has progressed to painting, and has sold a number of pieces through Bridgett's gallery.

Now that she has reached the age of baptism, Anna must choose between her obedience to her church and self-fulfillment. It is a painful decision, one shared by more than ten percent of the Amish community upon coming of age. Anna chooses her God-given given talent and is subsequently banned-shunned, as the Amish call it-until she repents of her sin.

Put on a bus to Pittsburgh by her bishop, Anna must make her way alone in a world for which she is ill-prepared. She soon learns that not everyone can be trusted, and in fact, there are those who are more than happy to take advantage of a naïve country girl. But there is a bright side to Pittsburgh as well, and Anna discovers that love can come from unexpected places, and that staying the course is ultimately the only way to win.

Read the first chapter