Sarah's Gift

Perry (Leah's Choice) offers another story set in the Amish country of Pleasant Valley, Pa. The widowed Sarah Mast is a midwife who moves to Pleasant Valley to join her Aunt Emma's midwife practice. Sarah invests money to expand the practice as signs of her aunt's declining health emerge. Carpenter Aaron Miller agrees reluctantly to do the work; his mother had died in childbirth 16 years earlier, attended by Emma. Just as reluctantly, he finds himself drawn to the even-tempered new midwife. The only one who isn't impressed by her is Englisch doctor Thomas Mitchell, who takes legal action against what he contends is the unlicensed practice of medicine. Perry's narrative keeps a nice pace as things develop credibly if somewhat repetitively between Aaron and Sarah; the legal challenge makes for more than merely romantic tension. Minor characters are also clearly sketched and differentiated. This is a competent addition to the booming genre. (Mar.)