Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
Loved reading this after enjoying "Amish Peace" by Suzanne Woods Fisher
I've been a fan of Beverly Lewis' Amish books for years and was happy to see this available at my local library as an ebook loan. The story began with the main character, Katie, an Amish young lady, stumbling upon a satin infant gown hidden in the attic with the name Katherine stitched on it. Who did it belong to? The story then unfolds with some major family drama, as Katherine learns the truth about the gown, the birth mother who gave her up, and the Amish family who loved her as one of their own and raised her according to their customs. Katie has some secrets of her own that she hides from nearly everyone. She has learned to play the guitar and sing hymms that are not in the Amish hymnbook, which is forbidden. The love of music was shared with her boyfriend, Dan, who tragically died at sea a few years prior. Unfortunately, the willful Katie refuses to give up the music and finds herself having to be disciplined by her stern but loving parents.
In an attempt to start a new life and rid herself of the memory of Dan and love of music, Katie accepts a marriage proposal from the town bishop, who is a young widower with five young children. Meanwhile, a rich "English" woman with auburn hair is spotted in town, in her limousine, looking for the girl she gave up so many years ago. It just so happens that Katie has auburn hair as well, which apparently makes Katie wonder why no one else in her family has the unique hair color.
Katie presses her mother for information about the mysterious baby gown and the secret is now out. Katie's mother, Rebecca, gave birth to a stillborn baby 22 years ago. That very day (what a coincidence!!), a young mother with auburn hair who had just given birth to a daughter decides to give up her baby to a young Amish couple who just suffered through the birth of their stillborn daughter. (Personal note: the whole auburn hair thing really got old after awhile. "Katie twirled her thick auburn hair." "Laura's auburn hair contrasted with her black fur coat." No need to beat us over the head with the genetic likeness references.)
As Katie's wedding to Bishop John nears, she becomes more convinced that she cannot go through with it and leaves him at the altar, shocking the entire town who has come to the wedding. Of course, this leads to her being shunned by the bishop for her disobedient behavior. This shunning, while certainly difficult for Katie and her family and friends, is almost a welcome relief for the girl who never "felt" Amish in the first place and uses it as an opportunity to find her long-lost birthmother, Laura Mayfield-Bennett, who just happens to be a wealthy heiress.
The story ends there and is continued in Book #2, The Confession.
In an attempt to start a new life and rid herself of the memory of Dan and love of music, Katie accepts a marriage proposal from the town bishop, who is a young widower with five young children. Meanwhile, a rich "English" woman with auburn hair is spotted in town, in her limousine, looking for the girl she gave up so many years ago. It just so happens that Katie has auburn hair as well, which apparently makes Katie wonder why no one else in her family has the unique hair color.
Katie presses her mother for information about the mysterious baby gown and the secret is now out. Katie's mother, Rebecca, gave birth to a stillborn baby 22 years ago. That very day (what a coincidence!!), a young mother with auburn hair who had just given birth to a daughter decides to give up her baby to a young Amish couple who just suffered through the birth of their stillborn daughter. (Personal note: the whole auburn hair thing really got old after awhile. "Katie twirled her thick auburn hair." "Laura's auburn hair contrasted with her black fur coat." No need to beat us over the head with the genetic likeness references.)
As Katie's wedding to Bishop John nears, she becomes more convinced that she cannot go through with it and leaves him at the altar, shocking the entire town who has come to the wedding. Of course, this leads to her being shunned by the bishop for her disobedient behavior. This shunning, while certainly difficult for Katie and her family and friends, is almost a welcome relief for the girl who never "felt" Amish in the first place and uses it as an opportunity to find her long-lost birthmother, Laura Mayfield-Bennett, who just happens to be a wealthy heiress.
The story ends there and is continued in Book #2, The Confession.
I am intrigued by the Amish and was excited to read this book, even though in general I do not exactly care for the simple and somewhat predictable style of "Christian Fiction." I had hoped this author would be different, but truthfully, this first book in a series of three was highly predicable, often slow, and the style was just a bit off in my opinion. She frequently changes points of view between the characters, which means we get the perspective of one character for a page or two, and then another character for a while, and so on. It's done so randomly that it seems like an accident or maybe just lack of concern for continuity of perspective? It made the story a bit jumpy and I didn't care for the effect on the pace or the character development. I wish there had been more mystery to the depth of the characters. Overall they are quite shallow and transparent. Last, the plot just seemed a bit unbelievable, as Katie Lapp is raised from birth with an Amish family, realizes as an adult that she's not truly Amish-born, and starts to easily disconnect from her family in a matter of hours. I didn't care for the overt Nature verses Nurture theme where Nature is the clear dominant, according to this novel. The book portrays her upbringing as having little to no effect on her morals and choices, which to me, is simply absurd.
I guessed the largest plot twist in the middle of chapter one. So that pretty much killed the book for me. However, I hate to not finish a series, so I press on with the sequel, The Confession.
I guessed the largest plot twist in the middle of chapter one. So that pretty much killed the book for me. However, I hate to not finish a series, so I press on with the sequel, The Confession.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this book. It was cute, sweet, and short. Will definitely be continuing the series.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Shunning is the first book in a trilogy by Beverly Lewis. Make sure that you are going to read the other two books if you plan on reading this one. It isn't really built to be a standalone novel.
Katie has a hard time fitting in to her Amish lifestyle. She loves music, and fancy things, and finds it hard to put these things away from her life as she should. And she needs to learn to do so quickly, because she is about to marry the Bishop of the church, and these sins have no place in his household. But as her marriage approaches Katie starts uncovering secrets that her mother and father has been hiding, and these secrets could change her life forever.
Katie is probably the best character in this book, which is good since she is the main character. She has a feisty way about her and you really can identify with what she's going through. She's genuine and her struggles seem very real. The other characters I wasn't as taken with. Especially the majority of the men in this book. I realize that the Old Order Amish stress the importance of obedience and that men are the head of the family, but the guys just seemed too over bearing in this book. Just a little bit of light in their personalities would have been nice.
I do think this book really does a great job of explaining the Amish way of life. Having known several Amish (but never having been one myself) it seems fairly accurate, and since different sects have different practices, it may exactly fit an Amish community that exists. Some of their ways seem harsh, like the Shunning the book takes its name after, but it's a different way of life. Because this is an Amish fiction book, religion plays heavily into the writing but it's not really preachy. Rather the religion that is described in this book is tough and unyielding and filled with scripture verses. The plot itself is fairly common, a young Amish woman not being content with her lot in life and wondering about the outside world. But at least with such a decent protagonist it doesn't get stale.
Definitely an interesting Amish read. And one with an ending that will make you have to pick up the next two books to see what happens.
The Shunning
Copyright 1997
282 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2012
More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com
Katie has a hard time fitting in to her Amish lifestyle. She loves music, and fancy things, and finds it hard to put these things away from her life as she should. And she needs to learn to do so quickly, because she is about to marry the Bishop of the church, and these sins have no place in his household. But as her marriage approaches Katie starts uncovering secrets that her mother and father has been hiding, and these secrets could change her life forever.
Katie is probably the best character in this book, which is good since she is the main character. She has a feisty way about her and you really can identify with what she's going through. She's genuine and her struggles seem very real. The other characters I wasn't as taken with. Especially the majority of the men in this book. I realize that the Old Order Amish stress the importance of obedience and that men are the head of the family, but the guys just seemed too over bearing in this book. Just a little bit of light in their personalities would have been nice.
I do think this book really does a great job of explaining the Amish way of life. Having known several Amish (but never having been one myself) it seems fairly accurate, and since different sects have different practices, it may exactly fit an Amish community that exists. Some of their ways seem harsh, like the Shunning the book takes its name after, but it's a different way of life. Because this is an Amish fiction book, religion plays heavily into the writing but it's not really preachy. Rather the religion that is described in this book is tough and unyielding and filled with scripture verses. The plot itself is fairly common, a young Amish woman not being content with her lot in life and wondering about the outside world. But at least with such a decent protagonist it doesn't get stale.
Definitely an interesting Amish read. And one with an ending that will make you have to pick up the next two books to see what happens.
The Shunning
Copyright 1997
282 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2012
More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com
Even though the ending was ambiguous, it left me with a positive feeling. I liked how gentle and easy the book was.
I really enjoyed this book, even though it was very predictable, it was a great, quick read. I felt all the emotions of all the characters & cant wait to read the next book to find out what happens to Katie on her journey to discover her “true” self.
I must admit I started this thinking I'd be abandoning it, the book having failed my "50 page rule". Instead I ended up really quite liking it. It's a nice gentle story about a girl in the Amish community who makes a discovery that rocks her world. The book is contrived, and none of the twists or turns were particularly surprising, but all the same it was a good read. I didn't like the letter at the end (there's no more I can say without giving away the plot) and even I could have thought of a better way of doing this. But overall I liked it.