The day before her parents' twentieth wedding anniversary Sylvia Miller stumbles across the key to the old brass tinderbox her father, Earnest, keeps in his Lancaster County watch repair shop. Inside is a secret from his life as an Englisher; when she confronts him, Earnest admits that he is not fit to be a member of the Hickory Hollow Amish church. He confesses his secret to Rhoda, his wife, and Sylvia, but when word of Earnest's deceit reaches others in the community the truth pits Amish neighbors against one another, threatens to dry up Earnest's livelihood-- and to break up Sylvia's engagement to the preacher's grandson. -- adapted from back cover and perusal of book