Book Pick Friday: COURTING CATE by Leslie Gould

Now that Thanksgiving is over and shoppers are trickling back from Black Friday sales, it’s time to kick back and enjoy the weekend. Go grab another slice of pie and crack open a good book. Right?

My Friday Book Pick for this week is Leslie Gould‘s newest Amish novel, Courting Cate, the first book in the Courtships of Lancaster County series.

I met Leslie Gould at the ACFW conference in Dallas and I remember sitting in a shuttle bus as she told me about the premise for this series–a retelling of William Shakespeare’s greatest stories peopled with Amish characters. My first instinct was to laugh, thinking “That’s a little crazy. Amish Shakespeare?” My second thought: “Is it crazy or daring?” Within a few minutes I was completely won over: “…No, it’s brilliant! I’ve GOT to read those!”

This week I finally had the opportunity to crack open Courting Cate, a retelling of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew.” I instantly fell in love with the sharp-tongued Cate Miller and the stubborn (or persistent) Pete Treger. The glimpses back to the original play made me smile and the story twists kept me reading late into the night. The Shakespearean element added a freshness to the Amish theme, critical in today’s Amish/Mennonite saturated market.

I’m willing to admit I was a fool to think the premise for novels was a little crazy. Maybe it’s like Shakespeare wrote,”A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.” Now I’m looking forward to reading more of Gould’s Shakespearean novels. Adoring Addie, a retelling of “Romeo and Juliet” releases in May 2013. A third novel, based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is also in the works. Can’t wait!

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