Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Ruth “Dok” Stoltzfus is the kind of doctor who still believes in house calls, addressing not just her patients’ physical needs but their emotional ones too. When newly widowed Bee faces a breast cancer diagnosis, Dok connects her with Fern Lapp for support. When her painfully shy assistant Annie finds herself drawn to a new calling, Dok goes to great lengths to help her achieve her dream. And when an abandoned newborn mysteriously appears at her office one frosty morning, Dok’s world takes an unexpected turn as ripples of change touch several lives.
A Healing Touch is a captivating tale of compassion, resilience, and the bonds that form in surprising places. Bestselling and award-winning author Suzanne Woods Fisher invites you into a new story that’s like medicine for the weary soul. Join Dok, Annie, and the tight-knit Stoney Ridge community as they navigate the twists of fate, discovering that sometimes the greatest healing comes from the heart.
Suzanne Woods Fisher has written extensively about the Amish. Her family’s link through her grandfather brought a great interest in this community, so her writing is more than conjecture. She has several books that follow a series, but A Healing Touch is a standalone novel, although some characters have appeared in past books.
A Healing Touch can introduce a reader to the Amish community or just serve as a good read about perseverance and looking out for your neighbors. The characters are a mix of Old Order Amish, characters who have strayed from Amish tradition, and other non-Amish in the town of Stoney Ridge.
Ruth “Dok” Stoltzfus left her Amish upbringing to become a doctor. Here she is back in that community serving Amish and non-Amish, married to a local police officer, Matt, and going above and beyond what she should (or at least by her husband’s standards). Ruth is in her late 50s, and after marrying late, she has not taken time away from her devotion to her patients to really make her marriage a priority. That is before she finds a baby on the doorstep! Will the baby pull her home more or make her take advantage of Matt’s good heart?
Dok is set apart from most physicians because she believes in house calls. For the Amish, these visits can mean life and death. As the reader, this adds a depth to each character’s development, and this novel is brimming with characters whose daily lives are quite different than the average American.
Annie is one such character. She is a young Amish woman who recently joined Dok as her assistant. Annie’s shyness is far outside the norm for most 20-year-olds, and Dok is determined to help her overcome this. The braver Annie becomes, the more she feels her worth to Dok and within the community. Then Annie hears a message from the Lord. Is it possible for an Amish girl to want and to become more than a mother and wife?
Not every character demonstrates an Amish way of life. Bee is rather new to the community, having arrived with her husband to create a hobby farm. She was an Olympic equestrian, which should have equipped her for this new endeavor. But then, her husband dies, she is diagnosed with cancer, and against all stubborn efforts, she must now rely on a former Olympic rival to help her see the path forward.
A Healing Touch is another story written by Suzanne Woods Fisher. It brings an Amish point of view to light with its colorful characters, helping the reader reflect on life’s struggles and surprises. 
Suzanne Woods Fisher is the award-winning, bestselling author of more than 30 books, including The Sweet Life, The Secret to Happiness, and Love on a Whim, as well as many beloved contemporary romance and Amish romance series. She is also the author of several nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace and Amish Proverbs. She lives in California.
