A recent Amish romance novel is flying off the shelves — but its content is buggy-ing out the normal conservative church community.
Lifelong community member Linda Byler, 65, penned “Tapestry of Love” (literally — in a notebook) after starting her writing profession at an Amish newspaper.
The second novel in her “Latest Directions” romance series chronicles the romance between two traditional Amish children in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and has sold near 1,000,000 copies, the Every day Mail reported Saturday.
But Byler has gotten blowback from some community elders who claim the success of her tome is fueling sexual abuse, she told the outlet.
“They’re very tame books,” Byler said, dismissing comparisons to the sadomasochistic “Fifty Shades of Grey” novels, which shocked and titillated readers just over a decade ago.
“There’s nothing unclean in them. There may be some touching, my publisher said it could should be discreet, and a bit of little bit of a kiss,” she said, adding there was no sex within the book.
Byler began newspaper reporting when her husband went bankrupt and later transitioned to publishing books for youngsters before writing concerning the amorous side of Amish culture, where premarital sex — not to say divorce, cars, electricity and cellphones — are verboten.
Her books have increasingly change into popular within the conservative US Bible Belt and other Christian communities, and Byler said she has earned a lifetime of cash for her and her husband.
Nevertheless, she claims she is being unfairly blamed for recent publicized cases of sex abuse within the Amish community.
“Within the last 10 years or so, romance novels have change into unsuitable in the neighborhood,” Byler told the Every day Mail.
“Romance novels are looked down upon by a whole lot of the younger generation -— they give the impression of being at them negatively on account of a whole lot of molesting and troubled people in facilities where they go to get help.
“But there’s a little bit of it [Amish sex abuse] and , when this stuff come to light, they blame the romance novels.”
Byler said the 250,000 members of the Amish community have gotten much more conservative lately.
“Touching is looked down upon at the present time, nevertheless it wasn’t in my day. Sex before marriage is a no-no, in fact. But we have now pregnancies.
“We have now couples who “loved one another” before marriage. There are single moms, but they will not be shunned — they’re accepted in the neighborhood,” she explained.
Byler didn’t reveal exactly where she lives, but said she is from the “Old Order,” probably the most conservative style of settlement within the sect.
She has seven children, three of whom decided not to hitch the church or left after previously agreeing to hitch, and the mom admits the strict rules will not be for everyone.
“Individuals who will not be from the Amish community and join — we never say no, nevertheless it never works out. You almost should be born into the culture. Otherwise, it doesn’t work. It is just too restraining for outsiders.”
Despite her scandalous industrial success and family stuffed with defectors, Byler said she has avoided being “shunned” by the community.
“When Amish persons are shunned, in rare instances elders won’t break bread with them at the identical table, won’t work with them and won’t worship with them under the faith’s centuries-old practice of shunning,” she told the outlet.
“In stricter settlements, shunning can break apart families, cutting off all contact between parents and their children.
“I mean the shunning could be very different from the way it used to be-there’s no pride in it. You are feeling ashamed, something unsuitable, nevertheless it fades. You’re still a respected person inside your community,” she explained.
Byler’s inspiration doesn’t come just from chores, prayer and horse-and-buggy rides — the successful novelist even gets ideas from reality TV, but only when she visits her daughter in Florida, in fact.
“I watch TV every summer when I am going on vacation to the beach. I do enjoy the truth show ‘The Alaskan People’ — it’s about individuals who live within the frontier,” she said, referring to Discovery Channel’s “Alaskan Bush People.”
“I’m 65 years old, so I’m not a fan of the Kardashians. I don’t look down on them or judge them. They simply appear to be all about themselves. I’m not into that.”
