The Shunning, The Confession, The Reckoning

By Beverly Lewis

I thought I'd review these all together, because it really is one flowing story. You could probably get away with reading the first one and stopping, but you'd still wonder what happened. But all three books could have easily been published as one story, with maybe a little more detail. In fact, that's exactly what I wish would have happened with these books.

At the beginning we meet Katie Lapp, a young Amish woman who is looking forward to her upcoming marriage to a widower. We find her and her family busy planning and getting ready for the wedding, and as most young brides experience, Katie finds herself full of nerves. She has always felt like a free spirit, and is hiding a love for music and the guitar (forbidden in their Amish Ordnung). And one day, while looking at her mother's wedding dress, she finds a satin pink baby dress with the name Katherine Mayfield on it. The discovery of the dress takes the entire Lapp family on a long and winding road full of discovery and love for each other.

Overall, I really enjoyed these books. In fact, I read two of them in one day, they were gripping and very easy to read. I enjoyed learning a little more about the difference between Amish and Mennonite communities, and once again I found myself drawn to these people and their way of life. These are most definitely Christian novels, and there is no getting around the strong message of forgiveness among the pages. My only problem with this book was that it was really easy to figure out what was going to happen. The foreshadowing was pretty blatant, and while I was satisfied with the conclusion, I knew most of what was going to happen well ahead of time. I also found that there were several loose ends that just seemed to be dropped, and I would have liked a little more closure there. But overall, an excellent was to spend a few afternoons. I would read more from Beverly Lewis, and in fact, plan to do so, as she has several series of books set in Pennsylvania Dutch country.