Living in Ohio's Geauga County in 1918, Ella Hilty looks forward to her upcoming marriage to Amish widower Gideon Wittmer and becoming mother to his three children. But the collapse of a one-room schoolhouse attended by both Amish and "English "students brings about state school reforms that mandate the Amish children will be bused to larger schools in town and attend beyond eighth grade, the traditional end to Amish schooling. Gideon and other Amish parents are arrested for disobeying the law and children are removed from homes, and the Amish people struggle to understand submission to God's will versus submission to the law. When the state finally approves a separate Amish school and Ella is asked to teach, she must choose between her heart's dream of marriage and answering the call to do what is best for her community.
