Until the End of Time : a Novel

Kirkus Reviews: Steel's latest novel uses two love stories to pose and answer questions about the meaning of life and love. The first story, set in 1975, is a romance between the son of wealthy, class-conscious parents and a coal miner's daughter, who has become a successful design consultant for Vogue magazine in New York City. After marrying against his parents' wishes, Bill Sweet leaves the family law firm to study theology and pursue his dream of becoming an Episcopal minister. His wife continues the work she loves as a fashion consultant, but after surviving an ectopic pregnancy, Jenny decides to give up her career in New York so she and Bill can accept an offer from a church in Moose, Wyo. Reading about their warm welcome and the ease with which they blend into the culture of the Western town is heartwarming, and the significant good Jenny does for some of the women of the town is uplifting and inspiring. The second story is set in 2013. A young Amish woman in Lancaster County, Pa., who has always loved to read the classics, writes a book and secretly sends it to a publisher in New York. The publisher falls in love with the voice of the book and when, with much difficulty, they finally meet, they both feel that fate has brought them together. This story of romance through hardship and across decades has a spiritual appeal.