Customer Reviews

Levi's Will

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Focusing on the stone-chiseled men of a previous generation, Cramer somehow pens novels of beauty and grace. He introduces us to sympathetic characters, then leads us through their dark valleys to reach the glow of redemption. With his last novel, "Bad Ground," he gained respect and high praise from such notable publications as Publishers Weekly--and rightly so. I counted it as one of my favorite novels of the year.

"Levi's Will" is equally engaging. I was caught up in the story of young Will Mullet, an Amish kid, who runs away from home to avoid the wrath of his father. This decision leads him on a path of deception which will cause a decades-long divide between Will and his Amish kin. Along the way, he sees the evil of WWII and discovers love. His lies catch up with him, though, resulting in a masterful--and humorous--scene between Will and his wife, a southern woman with a backbone to match his own.

The last half of the book feels somewhat inevitable, yet Cramer draws us deeper into the nuances of his characters and the Amish lifestyle, and to his credit he still manages to generate emotional response. Lessons of love and forgiveness are learned, bridging the hurt of three generations; the hearts of fathers and sons are moved toward eachother; and the hypocrisy of religion is revealed, while the possibility of knowing a personal God is presented as an honor.

Once again, Cramer shows us how the lessons of the past still apply today. His ability to do so through works of fiction is nothing short of miraculous.

While much of Christian fiction tends to be overly optimistic, unrealistically wholesome, and often just plain sappy, Cramer injects much more realism and intellect into his prose, a writing style that is much more comparable to good mainstream fiction authors.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Levi's Will." Spanning over 40 years, this book tells the story of Will, a teenage boy who runs away from his Amish home and leaves behind a pregnant Amish girl. He subsequently enters WWII as a soldier, marries a strong-willed young woman from Georgia, and has a family of his own, but over the years his soul longs for his father's forgiveness and acceptance. He also wonders about the fate of the Amish girl and unborn child that he left behind--details that he kept hidden from his wife. However, Will's father, Levi, is a hard man dedicated to the strict Old Order Amish who refuses to forgive his "wayward" son. It's a beautiful story of bitterness and forgiveness, and one I highly recommend.

While this story has its melancholy moments, Cramer includes enough hope to encourage the reader. One thing especially profound about this novel is its treatment of time. For over 30 years, Will seeks his father's forgiveness. That requires substantial patience and wisdom, something we all need more of. Will is a flawed character, which I like because he's very human, but Cramer shows that God doesn't always tie a neat bow on our lives and answer our prayers like we think He should. Sometimes things go wrong. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Sometimes we just don't understand life. Cramer's writing is extremely honest--something I'm very glad to see in the Christian fiction market. I'm eager to see what Cramer writes next.

Follow Dale Cramer's literary progress and you'll witness the evolution of a writer. Those with literary aspirations are well advised to begin anywhere-you can't go wrong with his novels, no matter how hard you try-and savor the tangible journey of a born storyteller. Rivetingly good when he started-even his first novel received remarkable critical praise-he just gets better with time. Learn from him if you can, but be warned: You'll be hard-pressed to analyze technique that all but vanishes in the presence of pure, can't-put-it-down-even-at-3-a.m. tale-telling.

Cramer is a rare find among contemporary authors-a writer of depth and excellence who has something worthwhile to say. His books have dimension because he approaches them from a myriad of angles, burrowing under the skin of an impressive roster of original characters, polishing off with exquisite craft stories that burbled to the surface from deep inside. Steinbeck's honest appreciation of the common man, Wendell Berry's poetic vision of the binding relationship between man and the earth, Hugo's understanding of the heart-rending war between justice and mercy, and Tolstoy's timeless rendition of the human condition all find their way into his work. Superb craftsmanship, simple but eloquent language, and an extraordinary sense of timing make his fairly complex novels easy to fall into and impossible to leave behind. You will always take some of a Dale Cramer novel away with you.

Levi's Will is no exception. It's a quiet but irresistibly compelling story rich with the complex layers and well-developed characters Cramer is known for. He combines the intimate history of a family with the sweep of social and political history in the 20th century and never seems to break a sweat. Yet you'll read it over and over, each time discovering some new connection, some intricate detail, some new layer you hadn't seen before, and you'll wonder, how did he do that? Then you'll go back and read it again.

Ultimately, what makes Cramer's work more magnetic than many mainstream literary novels is simple, but it's everything: Heart. His books pulse with it; his stories reverberate with it. His characters live. In the 21st century, a living, breathing author brimming with talent and integrity puts his heart on the page and we remember what novels were meant to be.

Levi's Will by W. Dale Cramer is an amazingly powerful book about the relationships between fathers and sons and Father and Son. Cramer's previous books (Sutter's Cross and Bad Ground) were so deeply moving, it always felt as though he were writing from his own history. According to the acknowledgements in this book, there is some truth to this story and it shows, or should I say, it shines. Will Mullet runs away from his Amish background and authoritarian father Levi into the World. He spends the rest of his life trying to gain his father's approval while denying that same approval to his own son Riley. This book is so elegantly written; it moves along quietly with no huge climactic scenes or melodrama. It's a simple story of quiet people living their lives the best way they know how. I've read some of Beverly Lewis' Amish books, and the characters seem to be idealized or romanticized. While Cramer's Amish didn't make me want to run out and buy a buggy, they were portrayed as real, true human beings with quirks and flaws. Their plain faith shines through the book like a beacon, not just to Will, but to the reader as well. Cramer's descriptions of Amish life and countryside are profound. The book doesn't end, it simply slips away, leaving the reader, Will, and Riley with hope.

On his journey to manhood on an Amish farm in Ohio, Will Mullet makes a life-altering error - and it's one that he can't take back no matter how much he wishes it so. He leaves his home and all that he knows to head out to the "World," while his father, Levi, is left to contend with his son's mistake.

During the course of his "Englisher" lifestyle, Will changes his name, renounces his Amish roots and joins the army to fight in a war that his people will have no part of. He meets a good woman, and painstakingly, through Amish-bred hard work and perseverance, builds a family and home.

Always, for Will, there is something missing. It isn't until he decides to confront his father and face up to his strained relationship with his own eldest son; that Will discovers the answer and salvation he is looking for has been there all along.

Cramer illustrates elegantly the fabric of the Amish lifestyle and what it means to turn away from that life. He also tells a touching story of a man's quest for faith, acceptance and forgiveness.

Will Mullet illustrates for readers the true power of seeing through another's eyes and the forgiveness that God can grant...if we only listen for His still, small voice.

Levi's Will sets out to show that you can go home again, but that it might take a lot longer than you ever dreamed it would and there's no guarantee that the welcome mat will be out, ever again, when you do get there.
A father-son saga, this novel spans 42 years and three generations, and movingly relates countless incidents that readers young and old will recognize as identical to the conflicts and heartaches of their own mortal struggles, especially with their loved ones.
Born in an Amish community in Ohio, teenager Will Mullet runs away from home in 1943, changes his surname to McGruder, and over the years fashions a new life for himself, including military service in World War II, and settling in Atlanta with a wife and children of his own.
Throughout, however, he feels like a displaced person, and well he should. Spending one's formative years in an old order Amish community is poor preparation for life in the outside world, and covering one's trail with lies is poor preparation for life in any world. Not even Will's wife Helen knows that her husband is not who he said he was, meaning that she and their children are not quite who she thinks they were, and that the man she has been sleeping with for years will turn out to be worse than a stranger; to her he's a cipher.
Will begins to come clean with Helen and his own children when the urge to go home again brings him hope that he can heal the breach with a father who long ago disowned him-and who will prove slow, very slow, to forgive. There's also the little matter of still another secret in Will's past: He is the father of an illegitimate child he left behind who is now being raised by his sister as her own daughter.
Underneath this main storyline for most of the book's pages is the minor theme of Will's troubles with his own sons, Welch and Riley, particularly Riley, who is every bit the rebel, and then some, that his father was in more innocent times. Will came of age in the 1940s; Riley is the 1960s version of the rebel son: draft-dodging, drugs, anti-war slogans, and up-yours attitudes from the Youth Rebellion, Sexual Revolution, and various other socio-political movements that disdained anyone over 30, proclaimed the me-first philosophy of life, employed the in-your-face approach to discussion, and embraced the certitude that nobody born before 1950 could possibly know his elbow from third base. Riley is, of course, wrong on virtually all counts, but how he begins to get a clue is an affecting story that surfaces at just the right time as part of the book's major theme: in part, how the sins of the father are visited upon the son, but mostly how the generation gap challenges the bridge-building skills between parents and children alike. It is no coincidence here that Will, a blue-collar worker, builds bridges for a living.
Levi's Will is a solid follow-up to Bad Ground, Cramer's 2004 offering that was selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the best books of the year. It also finds Cramer demonstrating again that the Christian-fiction genre, his métier, can easily cross over into mainstream fiction. The latest novel might not be the writing tour de force that Bad Ground was, but its command of story is much surer, and in fiction ultimately the story is of paramount importance.
Speaking of "paramount," this novel would make a very good movie. You listening, Hollywood?

W. Dale Cramer, author of Levi's Will, proves himself a master storyteller with an obvious passion for "getting it right." His prose is beautiful and his characters are drawn so realistically that you will believe you've known them forever. And when the story concludes, you'll realize you've grown to love them all, even the difficult ones, and you won't want to say good-bye.

Will Mullet is 19 when he flees Ohio, his Amish family and the girl he got pregnant. He enlists in the military, meets Helen and marries her, has two sons and settles down to live as if he had no past. But his Amish life catches up with him and he's forced to tell his wife the truth, which includes his father's unrelenting judgment of him, the Amish ban and the child he left behind.

Will's father is rigid, extremely harsh and slow to allow the prodigal son back into the fold. Only when Will "let's go" and forgives his father, does his father begin his own acceptance of Will and allow him to come home again.

The tragedy of pride, which kept a family separated and seeped into the next generation, broke my heart. The process of forgiveness and healing lifted me up and gave me hope. And love... the proof of God made my heart sing.

Cramer deftly weave's Will story between their Amish world and our world and travels between time periods with ease. And he introduces the reader to a world we are curious about but that as outsiders, we rarely are allowed to visit.

Levi's Will has joined my 2005 top ten list of favorite novels.

Levi's Will by W. Dale Cramer


Levi's Will is touching historical fiction based on many real life experiences. W. Dale Cramer puts a new spin on my favorite community that kept me wondering how it would end.

A new twist for the Amish community - son leaves under shady circumstances and joins military. What will his father say? This was a relief and joy to read since it is not your typical Amish family story. Will's Ivey's journey through life was a challenge -a decorated war hero to all but the one that means the most to him. How will all the lies he's told catch up with him. Will he ever accept responsibility for the ones he left behind?

This book was creative and enjoyable. I personally dislike books that flip from past to present in each chapter and this one didn't change my opinion even with its great story line.

I did enjoy reading a book written in a man's perspective especially since there aren't too many out there in this specific genre. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Amish community. I felt like it gave a bit more realistic view into their customs than some other books out there.

Enjoy!
Publisher - Bethany House
2009
390 pages

I find myself once again amazed by W. Dale Cramer. I was simply floored by "Bad Ground", had a good time with "Sutter's Cross", and now am practically speechless after "Levi's Will". While this wasn't the story that "Bad Ground" was, it is still a 5 star read. It paints a picture, and you can see everything as Cramer unfolds his story. Can you say, "raw emotion"? Yeah! Hurt, humility, love, anger, lots of conflicting emotions go into this, and it almost made me cry in the end.

With the story of Will and Levi, eventually leading to Riley, you see the story of a dad, from generation to generation. The hurt of some, the pride of others. This is a painting of forgiveness, yet also of understanding. It also underlines the utmost importance for a dad to have a relationship with his kids, sons or daughters. My dad probably did the best thing he could have ever done for me the day before I finally moved out. He took me shopping for a few essentials (that wasn't the most important thing, mind you) and on the way home he asked me a question. He asked me if he needed to ask my forgiveness for anything before I left. That meant a lot to me as a son, and now it means something to me as a dad myself. It isn't a sign of weakness to ask your children to forgive you, no matter how old you or they are. THAT is also the lesson in "Levi's Will" that everybody needs to not just know, but learn.

I've always enjoyed the band, "Crosy Stills and Nash" and one of my favorite songs they wrote happened to be "Teach Your Children". Check out the 2 choruses, and see if they don't ring fresh. It's more than appropriate.

Teach your children well,
Their father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picks, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

Teach your parents well,
Their children's hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picks, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

That song can ring true to every parent, like it or not. Go with God, raise your kids right, and tell them you love them! Teach them about our awesome Christ! Thank you, Mr. Cramer! This was so beautiful!

"We thought you were dead."

It wasn't exactly the welcome Will expected when he returned home eight years after running away. Didn't the prodigal son get a fatted calf? Wasn't there supposed to be a party thrown in his honor?

Instead, his father turns his back on him, walks away, and says, "Don't bring that in my house."

Will's life has fallen apart. Eight years of lies have finally caught up with him, and threaten to destroy everything he has worked for. Now he must face the mistakes of the past and seek forgiveness.

Set amongst the Old Order Amish, LEVI'S WILL is a superbly told story of generational sin, and the forgiveness and love one can only find through God.

In a recent interview with Focus on Fiction, W. Dale Cramer reveals that this was a fictionalized story of his father's life.

Cramer opens the book in 1985, before taking us back in time to 1943 when Will makes his break from the Old Amish community. Throughout the story, we are transported between present and past; following Will as he makes his way in life, struggling to overcome the judgmentalism he grew up under. Will leans on the one thing he understands, hard work, but fails to notice that he makes similar mistakes to those of his father.

Cramer drew me into Will's story, capturing my attention from start to finish. It's not often you find a book that has you genuinely caring for the characters, silently screaming at the unjustness of actions, and praying that God's love will soften hearts. LEVI'S WILL is one of those rare finds.

Grab yourself a copy, settle into a comfy chair, and be transported into another world that will touch your heart and stay with you long after you turn the last page.