The longing

Nellie Mae Fisher has ended her courtship with Caleb, though she still keeps him in her prayers. What she wants most now is a deeper understanding of the Lord. Caleb, meanwhile, is stuck in Honeybrook: his plan to leave has fallen through, and he is needed to look after his father, who was left unable to walk after a winter accident. He still hopes Nellie Mae will return to the Old Order and to him.

Christian Yoder, a young Mennonite, wants to know Nellie Mae better and hopes to tell her about the final days of her sister Suzy. Rhoda, Nellie's older sister, is drawn to the outside world, with its fine clothes, her own car, and a new boyfriend from the English community. Their father, Rueben Fisher, hopes above all to see his family and the wider brethren united.

The novel follows these intersecting desires, asking which of them will be fulfilled and which will be left unanswered.