Ada Rupp is a young Amish woman who has learned, in the past year, that she is adopted--the mother who raised her is the sister of the mother who gave birth to her, her "aunt" who left Lancaster County, PA for Switzerland shortly after she was born. Ada also has a sister, Alexandra, two years older, who was adopted by another, English (that's those of us who are not Plain Folk) family in Oregon. That's a lot of upheaval for anyone, but in addition, Ada also learned during the visit of her sister Lexie, that the illness that has limited her all her life can be managed quite effectively. She now has the prospect of fulfilling her dreams, of becoming a teacher and in time marrying and being a wife and mother. Ada has interviewed for the post of teacher in one of the community's one-room schools, and has been told she can count on getting the position. With all this happiness, her always-protective mother gives her permission to travel to Oregon to attend her newly-discovered sister Lexie's wedding.


The only fly in the ointment is that is that the man Ada loves, the widower Will Gundy, is apparently courting pretty Leah Fisher instead. But disappointing as that is, she's got her teaching position to look forward to, and in the meantime the adventure of the trip to Oregon and her sister's wedding.

After the wedding, she comes home to confusion and upheaval.

Leah Fisher has been given the teaching position Ada had counted on--in part because Will Gundy urged it, believing it would be best for his oldest daughter, Christy, who is not recovering from the loss of her mother. And Will's grandmother, Alice, and Ada's grandmother, Frannie, apparently both still have an interest in a piece of property in Switzerland, where both families come from. There's a complicated legal dispute involving the property, and the two grandmothers would the property to remain in the hands of Herr Lauten, who will protect its historic significance, instead of being used to build a hydroelectric plant. To accomplish this, both families need to be represented in the proceedings in Switzerland--but Ada's grandmother is not strong enough to make the trip.

Ada finds herself traveling to Europe by cargo ship, acting as Christy's nanny, developing a friendship with a handsome young Mennonite scholar, meeting her birth mother, and learning more about her family's history than she ever imagined. It's an educational adventure--the rumspringa she never had because of her poor health.

This is a very warm and satisfying book, a fascinating look at a culture most of us know only as quaint pictures of men and women in plain dress from a past century, still traveling by horse and buggy. It's a loving portrait of a complex and interesting way of life, existing alongside ours, and the people who, in each generation, choose to commit to that way of life.

Highly recommended.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
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The story didn't unfold how I thought it would based on the title. It wasn't a nanny story as I would think of a nanny.

Ada Rupp is finally feeling normal after a lifetime of suffering with a blood disease. She plans to teach, especially as it seems the man she has her heart set on is courting someone else. Ada has only recently found out she was adopted and that she has a sister who was raised non-Amish. Lexie sends Ada a wedding invitation. Against all odds, Ada's family allows her to take the train to Oregon, along with 2 cousins, for the wedding.

On the train ride back, Ada realizes she never had a rumpschpringa and that now she is ready to do so (even though she is a bit older than the average to have one). An opportunity comes up to go to Switzerland to represent her family to help clear up a land dispute provides a unique rumpschpringa opportunity. As part of the trip, Ada is asked to help with Christy, the granddaughter of the representative of the other family involved in the land dispute. (The nanny part of the equation.)

While in Switzerland, Ada also hopes to visit her birth mother, Giselle.

On the cargo ship over, the group meets Morgan, who later joins them in Amielbach to help them solve the mystery of the missing papers.

By the end of the book, Ada has to decide between staying in Switzerland (with her birth mother) to see if she has a future with Daniel or to return home to an uncertain future. Her teaching job has fallen through, and the man she loves seems destined to be wed to another woman. But she can't imagine leaving her parents and friends without even saying goodbye to them as Daniel suggests.

I had a hard time with the discussion questions at the end of the book. They were decent questions, just not simple ones to answer. ( )

This book is about the story of Ada Rupp. When her sister found her story. Ada now she need to commit to the faith. She was raised Amish. Though she has love for the widower Will Gundy. She is restless and want to find her story. So she finds out that a few of her family members are traveling to Switzerland.

Her family and Grundy family need to work something out with the deed all the way back in the Switzerland. Alice and Christy go and Ada goes represent a member for her grandmother. Things her she start to want feeling for Daniel there travel companion though will she have found her true love and her story. She also is hoping to talk to her mother who is staying in Switzerland. Find out more by reading. You learn about Switzerland a bit as well. ( )

This book is about the story of Ada Rupp. When her sister found her story. Ada now she need to commit to the faith. She was raised Amish. Though she has love for the widower Will Gundy. She is restless and want to find her story. So she finds out that a few of her family members are traveling to Switzerland.

Her family and Grundy family need to work something out with the deed all the way back in the Switzerland. Alice and Christy go and Ada goes represent a member for her grandmother. Things her she start to want feeling for Daniel there travel companion though will she have found her true love and her story. She also is hoping to talk to her mother who is staying in Switzerland. Find out more by reading. You learn about Switzerland a bit as well. ( )

This book is about the story of Ada Rupp. When her sister found her story. Ada now she need to commit to the faith. She was raised Amish. Though she has love for the widower Will Gundy. She is restless and want to find her story. So she finds out that a few of her family members are traveling to Switzerland.

Her family and Grundy family need to work something out with the deed all the way back in the Switzerland. Alice and Christy go and Ada goes represent a member for her grandmother. Things her she start to want feeling for Daniel there travel companion though will she have found her true love and her story. She also is hoping to talk to her mother who is staying in Switzerland. Find out more by reading. You learn about Switzerland a bit as well. ( )