A Hidden Hope

Woods Fisher (A Healing Touch) returns to small-town Stoney Ridge, Pa., for this immersive contemporary. Ruth “Dok” Stolzfus has devoted her life to serving the Amish community of Stoney Ridge as a physician and knows she needs help to keep her thriving practice running. Still, the three new employees she’s hired fresh out of school might be harder to manage than she’d bargained for: doctor Charlie King is amiable but barely passed his med school classes, nurse Evie Miller is a fast learner but preoccupied by her secret crush on Charlie, and smart but standoffish doctor Wren Baker wants little to do with the Amish community. Dok leans on Evie as she struggles to train the three without getting enmeshed in their lives. But when she discovers the real reason Wren’s come to Stoney Ridge, secrets surface that force the community to contend with its past and a troubling culture of silence around medical issues, especially those pertaining to mental health. Fisher probes these issues—and the complex ways Amish life clashes with broader society—with sensitivity and without losing the texture that lends the narrative its small-town charm. Series fans and newcomers alike will be hooked. (Oct.)