Like the Amish lifestyle at the heart of the story, Perry’s fifth book in the Pleasant Valley series ambles along, letting readers savor nuances and appreciate subtleties as it wends its way down the path of love. Always with an eye to God’s master plan, Katie’s Way exudes compassion and warmth as it tackles gossip and life outside today’s mainstream.

After her lifelong fiance breaks their engagement and marries her best friend, Katie Miller leaves her hometown and travels to Pleasant Valley where, with financial help from her father, she leases half a store to set up a quilt shop.

Caleb Brand, a furniture maker whose shop is the other half of the store, is horrified to learn he will be sharing the space with Katie and the gaggle of women her shop will attract. He’d much rather have the hardware store that once shared the space back.

Adding to Katie’s anxiety about opening the shop is her teenage little sister who’s been foisted on her by their parents. The teen has already gotten herself into trouble with a group of English kids in her own community, and her parents, in the middle of planning another sister’s wedding to the son of a bishop, want to remove her from the community gossip.

So in the middle of her sister’s rebellion and Caleb’s disapproval, the upbeat Katie digs in to set up shop. Perry’s insight into color and patterns as well as quilts and quilting give this part of the book robust life. How Katie touches the quilts mirrors the descriptions of how Caleb’s finger plays along the wood grain of his creations.

The path to bringing Katie and Caleb together is a rocky one, starting with Katie’s adamant refusal to let her love for her former fiancé die. Caleb also has a past that threatens his acceptance of love. His former fiancé left him and the town, only to show up pregnant later. Even though he asked her to marry him, she refused, and the gossips had a field day accusing Caleb of abandoning her.

The long and twisting road to happiness, however, is well-worth the time and trouble to travel it. Katie is the woman we’d all like to meet and befriend. No matter what befalls her and even if she breaks down in sorrow or anger, she always picks herself up and resolutely begins again. She’s undaunted by pitfalls, yet doesn’t rely on God to pick up after her or smooth her way. She’s bright, kind, happy, and devotedly committed to the Amish lifestyle.

Caleb is my type of hero. He’s had a setback in his fiancé’s rejection, and in deference to her parents and siblings who still live in the region, he refuses to blame her or gossip about her. He could clear his name by telling the whole story, but that would just put her family under censure. Instead, he goes about his business, keeping to himself, and lets the people in the community make up their own minds about his guilt or innocence. He, like Katie, is honorable and committed to the Amish way of life. He doesn’t expect God to step in and save him, but relies on the community to judge him fairly.

My only complaint about the story is Katie’s parents’ attitude which seems a little cruel and uncaring when they send their teenage daughter away. True, teens are difficult to raise, but they guided three women through their teenage years before this girl came along.

While her disobedience was partly of her own making, she did handle the problem very maturely which should have counted for something with her parents, but seemingly didn’t. Given the close family ties, I just didn’t buy the parents’ attitude and thought it was merely an unsuccessful plot device.

Everything considered, this is a gentle story about gentle people, just the antidote we all need when the world around us gets so materialistic and so harsh that we find ourselves one step from the dark side. Perry adeptly reminds us how precious our humanity is.