In Plain View: Amish Women at a Glance

A fresh view into a life that is anything but simple.

What does the life of an Amish woman really look like? Over the course of a decade, author Judy Stavisky, a curious outsider, spent hundreds of hours getting to know the women of Pennsylvania's Lancaster County Amish community to find out the answer to this question. She joined mothers and grandmothers, unmarried women and teens, on their shopping excursions for household items, fabric, and groceries. They drove miles between undulating fields and shared hundreds of hours of conversation on everyday topics--laughing together about sneaking healthier entrees into their family's evening meals, sharing concerns about their children, and trading family remedies for persistent coughs. As relationships evolved into enduring friendships, she grew to understand firsthand how Amish women bind their families and communities together.

In Plain View draws the reader inside a community governed by faith and separated by time, taking a closer look at the roles Amish women assume within their families and community, their fierce work ethic, and their camaraderie. Hundreds of years of shared traditions comes to life through a personal connection with Amish women, their own soft voices gently opening their world to an outsider.