The Outcast by Jolina Petersheim

Did you read The Scarlet Letter and think that could never happen today? First time novelist, Jolina Petersheim brilliantly brings Hawthorn’s classic novel into the present with The Outcast. Rachel, unwilling to repent and reveal the identity of the baby’s father, is forced to leave her Mennonite community. She finds refuge with a kind woman, Ida Mae, who offers her a job and a home. It seems she has left her old life behind until she discovers her child is sick and returns to the Mennonite community she left behind where she must face her family and her sin. 

Ahab's Wife: Or, The Star-Gazer by Sena Jeter Naslund

“Captain Ahab was neither my first husband nor my last.” The first sentence of Ahab’s Wife Or, The Star-Gazer sets the tone for the rest of the novel. In language reminiscent of the best of 19th-century literature, Una tells her story of growing up in a lighthouse, going to sea as a cabin boy, her marriage to Ahab, and her later experiences. As she weaves a story that brings together threads from many of the social and historical happenings of the time, she includes personalities of that era as well as characters from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Ahab’s Wife is as fitting a companion for Moby Dick as Una was for Ahab, but you may find her story much more enjoyable.  
 

Josiah for President by Martha Bolton

When Congressman Mark Stedman bows out of the Presidential race, he thinks his life in politics is over, until he meets Josiah Stoltzfus, an Amish farmer and America's best hope for an honest President. But will Josiah risk his standing in the Amish community (which will likely result in his shunning) and enter the political arena known for negative ads, slurs, and compromise? This is a delightful, light-hearted story sure to give readers hope for the next Presidential election.