An Amish author is facing criticism over a romance novel she wrote, which features “some touching” and a little bit of kissing.
Linda Byler, 65, who has sold roughly one million books, described her romance novels as being “tame books.” Her most recent one, “Tapestry of Love” has been compared to the risque novel “Fifty Shades of Grey,” according to the Daily Mail. Byler, a member of the “Old Order” of the Amish, writes all of her novels by hand in her notebooks and then sends them to her publisher, Tony Lyons with Sky Horse Publishing in New York.
“They are very tame books,” Byler told the outlet. “There’s nothing unclean in them. There is some touching, my publisher said it would have to be discreet and a little bit of a kiss.”
Buggy-ing out: Tame Amish romance novel with ‘some touching’ and no sex too hot for church elders https://t.co/BQT88ub3oR pic.twitter.com/RM17LSfkTB
— New York Post (@nypost) September 3, 2023
A mother of seven, Byler began writing at an Amish newspaper years ago at a time when she and her husband were trying to make ends meet after going bankrupt. After trying her hand at children’s literature, she found her place in writing romance novels, she told the outlet. (RELATED: Amish Projected To Overtake The Current US Population In 215 Years, If Growth Rates Continue)
Her book, “Tapestry of Love” is the latest in her “New Directions” romance novel series. The book details the love story between two Amish teenagers in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, according to the Sky Horse Publishing website.
While Amish romance novels are becoming increasingly popular throughout the Bible Belt of America and within Christian communities, Byler alleges that she is being “unfairly” treated due to recent cases of sexual abuse within the Amish community.
“In the last 10 years or so, romance novels have become wrong in the community,” Byler told the outlet, adding that “touching is looked down upon in this day and age.” She noted that in her day it wasn’t.