The Shunning (Heritage of Lancaster County Series #1)
4.4
105
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780764204630 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Baker Publishing Group |
| Publication date: | 02/01/2008 |
| Series: | Heritage of Lancaster County Series , #1 |
| Edition description: | Repackaged Edition |
| Pages: | 288 |
| Sales rank: | 221,643 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.80(d) |
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
The Shunning (Heritage of Lancaster County Series #1)
4.4 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
105 reviews.
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I couldn't put this book down once I started reading it. We live in a community with many Amish families, and it no doubt sheds light on their plain style of living---which I admire very much! This book no doubt tells some details about what happens when one of the Amish community breaks the vows they have taken. It's nice to read a book with no violence, profanity, or sex! I highly recommend this book!
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The author again did her homework on the historical aspects of the book. The charcters are all solid. The families are interesting to get to know. I enjoyed learning about the culural aspects as much as I did about the characters themselves.
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I enjoyed the book from the moment I picked it up. I generally read Christian Mystery books, but had never read a book by Beverly Lewis before. I was pleasantly surprised to find The Shunning kept my attention through the entire book, I could hardly wait to get back to it and even took it to work to read on my lunch breaks. I enjoyed the characters and the Amish history that I learned. I read the book in just a few days, and am glad that there are two more in the series and I am almost finished with the second book.
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The Shunning is the story of a young Amish girl and her struggle between her faith in the established rules of her people versus the desires of her heart. I chose this book because I was interested in learning about Amish customs and the strain they put on developing Amish children. The story, written in third person, tells the story of Katie Lapp, a girl who is not satisfied with her Amish life. She feels like there is something missing. At first Katie believes that she is not satisfied because being Amish does not allow her to experience the technology and the beauty of a normal life. She longs for pretty dresses and a life where she is free to sing all kinds of music. As the story progresses, questions arise when Katie finds a satin, infant gown in her attic with the name Katherine Mayfield sown on it. As Katie begins her quest to find out who she really is she discovers that what is missing in her heart is not an easier or a prettier way of life, it is Jesus Christ. On the day of Katie¿s wedding to Bishop John, Katie has mixed emotions. Unable to go through with it, she runs away leaving the Bishop at the altar. Furious, the Bishop rules that Katie must confess her sins in front of the community or be shunned from it. Unable to bring herself to apologize for something she does not feel sorry for, Katie is shunned. The first 6 weeks of the shunning entail a period where she is to have no communication with anyone in the village. The period is supposed to initiate a confession from her or she would face being banned and sent away from Hickory Hollow forever. The six weeks prove to be a trying time for Katie Lapp. Without her friends and family she feels completely alone. She often finds herself thinking about the boy she loved who drowned in a storm, while on his boat. Daniel Fisher had shown her a different way, a better way. She remembers the days they used to spend their afternoons together making music on his guitar. Though she had never truly understood what Dan was talking about, his words become clearer and clearer to her each day. She comes to realize that being Christian is not about following man made rules it is about accepting Jesus as your savior. The climax of the story comes when Katie must decide between the outside world and the world she¿s always called home. The plot of this story takes place in a small community called Hickory Hollow in Pennsylvania. The writer uses a rural dialect, which is very simplistic in order to mirror the Amish lifestyle. The book is a simple, but sweet targeting primarily a female audience. Though the story turned out to be quite predictable, I enjoyed it because it not only showed me a life different from my own, it showed me that sometimes you have to question your belief system in order to change it.
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great books.that explains it all.
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The Shunning tells the story of Katie, a young Amish girl about to be married. But shortly before she makes a discovery that changes everything. The story seems to take a look at nature vs. nurture as the truth about Katie's birth is revealed. Not sure I agree 100% with what Beverly Lewis seems to be portraying in the debate, Katie's actions don't necessarily sit well with me. But it is an interesting read nonetheless.
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UGGGHHHH!!! Getting through this was torture! But it was the only audio book that I had at work so....A little science first...there are 2 types of traits; inherited & learned or nature vs nuture. Those we inherite through the genes from our parents (hair color, eye color) & those we learn from the people around us (manners, ethics, skills). Dear Mrs. Lewis...Religion is not inherited. If a Ukranian born baby is adopted & raised in the United States, they will not automatically speak with the accent of their motherland. A Jewish baby adopted by Aborigines will not automatically know that it was supposed to be Jewish. The same goes for Amish people. A child adopted into the Plain way of life cannot blame the fascination that she has for fancy things & music on the fact that she was born to an Englisher. If she has those yearnings it has nothing to do with her birth parents but rather a general liking for these things & being unsure about the relgion that she was raised in.Sorry, but I didn't buy into anything this author was selling in this story. It was a shame too. There's a whole series & as I love reading about other cultures (& know some Amish & Dunkard families) I was very much looking forward to reading them all.Funny thing though...I saw 4 books in another series by the same author today at a garage sale. The lady said she read the first one & was so dissappointed never read the others. She too had wanted to read the whole series.I'll give you 1/2 star for writing it & finding someone to publish it & another 1/2 star for finding another publisher to put it on audio.
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This was a good book, and I'm glad I read it. I find Amish culture fascinating, so this book offered insight into a topic I've always wanted to read and learn about. Was this the best work of literature I've ever read? No. Frankly, I thought this book was pretty predictable. I saw the *surprise* ending coming from a mile away. However, I thought this was a nice, leisurely read, and I enjoyed the emphasis on the simple pleasures of the lives of the Plain people. At first, I was a little frustrated with the fact that it's not very fast-paced, which I've come to expect from books I enjoy. After some thought, I realized that the story of an Amish community shouldn't be fast-paced because, in all reality, the lives of Amish people aren't fast-paced. I think the amount of time and care Beverly Lewis has put into this story and its research is very evident, which makes the story all the more charming. I loved that she created characters that I ended up caring about. I was pulling for Katie the entire time. Although I wasn't sure at first, I can definitely say that I'm going to read the other two books in the trilogy.
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Amish teenager Katie is one of the more headstrong, passionate women of her family. She lives a normal female Amish life with her loving, close-knit parents and brothers in Hickory Hollow, taking care of her people, the house and preparing for the next great step in her life - marrying Bishop John, a 40-year-old widower with ready-made children of his own to be cared for. Katie knows she should be grateful. But she can't help but dream of her first love and loss, Dan Fisher, who taught her to play the guitar and sing songs she would never hear in church (gasp!). Katie struggles with the constant longing for something else in life - and that something else includes music, guitars, boys ... and a family secret she discovers in the attic one day, in search of her mother's wedding dress. What is this secret, and will it bring Katie closer to the life she has always dreamed of? Will it tear her family apart and destoy every semblance of peace in the community of Hickory Hollow?This book was alright. I really kept reading because of the author's firsthand knowledge of Amish life. Lewis describes the daily lives of typical "Plain" families, except not all Plain families can be described as "typical' - and this is where my problem comes in. Katie has been depressed ever since she lost her boyfriend who drowned, on a fishing trip I believe, and she still longs for the English ways he taught her to appreciate - catchy music, bible discussion (as if the bible were up for discussion on the Plain!) and the fancy things that she will never get to experience herself. How Dan Fisher ever came to these realizations himself is never explained. So I wonder how Katie can yearn so deeply for something that neither she nor Dan as Plain people should be familiar with. That and the fact that Dan's past was never really discussed in detail took away from the novel, in my opinion. He is such a part of Katie's life, although absent, that I wish we had at least an inkling of who he was in order to understand his impact on Katie's life - and also to understand how the Plain people dealt with Dan and his bible-questioning ways. Unfortunately, this becomes the whole novel and I'm sorry to say I won't be reading further in this series, although I hear Lewis' Abraham's daughters series is very good so I may pick the first one up at some point.readerswell.blogspot.com
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If you are planning to visit Lancaster or anywhere the Amish live, I highly recommned you read a Beverly Lewis book and this is a great place to start. She has many series and this first book in the Heritage of Lancaster County series is a sweet wholesome romance as well as a coming of age story. The shunning refers to what happens when someone in the Amish community doesn't abide by the "rules"of the communit and refuses to confess. A young Amish woman must try to decide if following the rules and expectations of her family and everyone she knows and values is worth giving up her dreams (music) and marrying a man she respects but does not love.
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You know Amish novels are my guilty pleasure and this was one of the best Beverly Lewis novels I've read. I wanted to read it soon because Hallmark made a movie from the novel that's premiering on April 16th and I wanted to have read the book before seeing the movie.Katie Lapp has struggled with her Amish heritage for as long as she can remember, often wanting to just indulge in a simple song. After her beau dies tragically, she struggles even more despite the fact that she's engaged to the bishop in her town. The bishop! It's a big deal. Life gets even more complicated when she finds a fancy baby gown in her parents' attic, too fancy to be from an Amish child. Soon she must come to terms with her past and figure out what to do with her future.The novel was a very good and quick read, I read it in an afternoon. Things really got interesting about halfway through and I just plowed through the end. I can't wait to see what Hallmark does with the story in their movie.Of course, the whole thing ended with a cliffhanger and thus the potential for Katie, who suffered with herself so much in this novel, to find happiness. I was hoping just this once I could get away with reading just the first book in a series, but no, now I have to get the second book, The Confession.
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I love how Beverly Lewis writes. She puts you in her books as if you are part of the family
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Anybody else watch the movie
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This book does a great job emersing people into the Amish community. I read another one of Lewis' books and didn't really enjoy it, but this was a fabulous book and an easy read for all ages.
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I give this book 5 stars. Enjoyed readind it. Now i am reading the book called confession have way through it an enjoying it. Cannot wait to read the last book in the series. What a great writer Beverly Lewis is!
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Really i dont read Be verly Lewis books but on my nook i want to read! I love the shunning its like i live with them!;) ; )
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This was recommended to me and it was a story that moved quickly and kept my interest. I hope someone can suggest some other good books for my NOOK. I like to read books that move along without the foul language. I would read another of her books if it was as good as this one. With the Amish being in the news media it would probably qualify for a book club discussion.
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I absolutely fell in love with this book! I thought it to be a bit predictable, however, I could not put it down! So it wasn't so obvious that I knew exactly how it was going to happen. Beverly Lewis knows her stuff, she definitely does her research. Thank you for a wonderful read.
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I would never deny Beverly Lewis' personal knowledge of the Amish and Mennonites of Lancaster County, however readers of this series
should be aware that both are presented very two-dimensionally here. The Amish are portrayed as rule-bound while the Mennonites are
depicted as free to glory in God's love. This is offensive and simplistic. These books are good for entertainment but not for knowing the heart of
the Amish or the Mennonites. The faiths (and there are many more than one type of Amish or one type of Mennonite) are complex and highly individual.
Read these for fun but don't think you've learned anything of depth about the Amish, other than the factual information such as not using buttons, or the
Mennonites. Any reader who wishes to learn about either should look into any reputable non-fiction book on the subject.
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This is s good story. Not a book I would usually read but it was a selection from my book group. Our discussion of the act of shunning led to a great conversation about the impact and fear of rejection in close knit communities and cultures of all kinds. I plan to read the follow books in the series
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I couldn't put this book down! Best book I've read in a while. Highly recommend it!
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