The Icecutter's Daughter (Land of Shining Water #1) by Tracie Peterson

Set during the harsh times of a Minnesota winter in 1895, the reader is taken on the journey of a young man moving to a new home to help his ailing uncle with his furniture business.  Unknowingly, he brings along the baggage of a broken engagement.

Merril Krause is the icecutter's daughter.  Obviously, this is a time before refrigerators and such so in the winter icecutters were used to cut ice as their title suggests.  Her mother had passed away some time ago leaving Merril as the head female of the family taking care of her father and brothers.  It did not leave her with any time to become herself.  Granny and her cousin, Corabeth, feel they need to make a woman out of Merril now that she is an adult.  This isn't one of those Pygmalion transformation stories or anything like that. It's about Merril stepping out from the family business and finding herself.

I have read a lot of Amish novels and this felt very much in line with those.  None of the characters are Amish and they don't live like them or anything like that.  I think it's because this is a Christian story set in 1895.  The characters are from German and Swedish heritage which I guess could be similar to that of the Amish.  The Amish are considered Pennsylvania Dutch.  My point is if you like Amish novels you'll probably enjoy this one just as well.  It's historical fiction, but I think readers of Amish fiction will enjoy it more.  Or maybe I've not read enough historical Christian fiction set in the USA in the 1800s to understand that this is pure historical.  

I gave this story a rating of three stars as it was a good story, the characters felt a little flat and the story didn't feel deep enough.  Readers of Christian fiction will enjoy this novel, I do believe.

This story will be released March 1, 2013.

I read this as a review request from Netgalley.com using Adobe Digital on my laptop.  All opinions are my own.  I was not compensated for this review in any way.