This is the true story of a young Amish woman, Saloma Miller, who left behind her Amish community and her family in November 1977, at the age of 20, and boarded a train to Vermont, where she knew no one. Just as she was getting settled into a new life, a vanload of people from her community, including 2 of her siblings, arrived to bring her back to the fold. That was the beginning of an almost 3 year struggle of feeling torn between two worlds; should she remain Amish and stay in the community that she was use to, or return to the newfound freedom she had a taste of in Vermont?

While struggling to make a decision, she also has to deal with a legacy of childhood abuse, an eating disorder, and trying to decide whether or not she had a future within the Amish community.

This was a very fascinating read, and it is the sequel to her first book, Why I Left the Amish, which covers her childhood and teenage years, and what led up to her decision to leave her community for the first time. Bonnet Strings can be read as a stand alone story, but I highly recommend reading the Why I Left the Amish first, to have a better understanding of how her past affected the decisions she made when she was older.

Saloma's story was also featured in two PBS American Experience documentaries; The Amish, and The Amish: Shunned. If you are interested in the Amish, I recommend that you watch these documentaries if you ever get the chance. ( )

When I read Bonnet Strings, I felt as if I’d been invited into the world of a young woman who was deeply conflicted about where she belonged. Saloma Miller was born into an Amish community in Ohio. As long as she could remember, she felt mismatched to the conservative, rigid practices of her community. She was labeled rebellious and stubborn.

The story begins when twenty-year-old Saloma prepares to find her place in the world. Her decision to leave her community is precipitated by her constant fear of her violent father. When her attempts to help her mother deal with an abusive situation and her mother refuses help and her community offers no support, Saloma makes a final decision to leave Ohio and start a new life in Burlington , Vermont.

As she journeys through her new life in a non-Amish world, she finds herself enjoying her hard-earned freedom and making new friends. She begins dating and meets a young man named David who becomes a trusted friend. But the pull to return to the Amish and her family eventually outweighs her desire to follow her heart and she ends up returning to the community on the condition that she not have to live with her parents.

Furlong’s writing is honest, engaging and refreshing. As a reader. I feel her inner turmoil as she grapples with her faith, her family, her friends and where she feels at home. I also admire her ability to persist in her efforts to know her own heart and follow her dreams.

Her decision to return to the community the second time ends up validating which direction she needs to take. She reaches a place of peace about who she is and where she belongs in the world.

I highly recommend Bonnet Strings as an enjoyable and enlightening read about a young woman’s struggle to find home. It is a heartwarming love story. ( )