Customer Reviews

The Reckoning (The Heritage of Lancaster County 3)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you've read The Shunning and The Confession, you've got to follow up with this new title! As with the first two books in the series, this was a page-turner. While the previous titles left me with a negative feeling toward the Amish (in relation to their beliefs and practices), Lewis digs a little deeper into the hearts of the Amish characters in The Reckoning. In it, she shows that, though under the hand of the order, the men and women are truly individuals who can see the imperfections in the Amish beliefs but still revere the traditions. Also, it's good to see Katherine mature in The Reckoning. She opens her eyes to the world and to the Lord. Just as with the last two, I can't wait to see where Lewis takes Katherine/Katie in the next title in the series.

The story itself wasn't that bad, but pretty much a typical romance formula. Young lovers run into problems, part, reunite... Of course this one had an Amish flavor, and I enjoyed reading the speech patterns. My main gripe with the series wasn't the story or it's predicatbility. It is that the story could have been told in a single book, or maybe 2, if the author had fleshed it out some.

(Here's the 'spoiler' part; for those who don't want to know the end...quit reading NOW!) Katie and Daniel do, of course, reunite, but it seemed the story dragged out forever before they got there! It seemed totally out of character for Katie to not see what was up with the stranger the first time the butler turned Daniel away. And for NO ONE to realize he was speaking of the REAL Katie Lapp, and not the imposter, was totally unbelievable! Then, when Katie finally DID meet Daniel, her reaction was NOT what I would expect from someone who'd been in love with his memory all those years. I'm not Amish, but Katie was, and I would think that at least some of the 'confession and forgiveness' thing would have rubbed off to the point that she could have accepted him as a friend, if not her mate.

Getting past that, for a 3 book series, the author left way too many things unanswered. Forget that the stepfather and imposter daughter were not prosecuted in the 2nd book. But what about Justin Wirth. Many times the author hinted at the idea that he may have been more interested in Katherine's money than Katherine. We never find out if he really loved her, or if he wanted to marry into her wealth as her 'step'father had marreid her biological mother. How does Katherine turn down his proposal and how does he react? Katie's mother attended her wedding, but what about her 'dat' and her brothers? Is she able to maintain a friendship with Mary, and how does the Bishop react?

As I said, the story itself wasn't really a BAD story...just incomplete, and way too long for the material covered.

The Lancaster county series enticed me into the amish way of life. Beverly Lewis truly did her homework before writing these books. I love when an author can truly captivate the Lord's love and grace. Mrs. Lewis certainly did this. It was very interesting to see how the amish live and the bondage that they lived in. Also, it's good to see that the bondage and the feeling of capitivity can be transformed through Jesus Christ. A heart warming series that will stay in my heart.

I read all three in the series and I couldn't wait to finish. This one made a great ending to the whole story of Katie. Allthough I wish it would have told more about Katie and Daniel's life together, it gave me some pondering of what happened to them!

After quickly digesting The Shunning and The Confession, I was a bit letdown with The Reckoning.

Her mother, Rebecca, never told her people that she had withheld an important truth from them. I would have found it to be more believable that she would admit this truth, since rumor had gotten out about Katie's adoption. Surely the honesty and goodness of her adoptive mother was as important as the sterling qualities of her birth mother.

I was rooting for Katherine and Dan to get back together, but there was not enough of an explanation about why she returns to Dan. What happens to the kind, loving man named Justin? Certainly his character was shown as a strong, caring man who was always good to Katherine. Why isn't there at least a conversation explaining how she turns her back on Justin and runs to Dan? Again, we see no real compelling reason for her to do this at the end.

A glimpse into Katherine's soul or at least her emotional viewpoint before the important climax would have made it more interesting.

I thought that this book seemed a little rushed at the end. By about 1/2 way through, I knew what was going to happen at the end (if not earlier). I thought that it was well written, but some story lines were just dropped--for instance, we never know what Justin's reaction is to Katie's decision, and we never find out more about Katie's life change at the end.

I did like how the Amish quilters were brought into the story. Also, I liked how Daniel was written in. However, I think that it is a little strange how, by the end of the book, a bunch of the Plain people are being "saved". As I said in one of my other reviews, I think there could be a little less preaching going on in the story, but it's ok.

There were emotional sections of the book, but I think that there could possibly be one more book coming in the series. The book ended well, but there were still questions, in my mind...

I enjoyed "The Shunning" immensely. I couldn't wait to read the sequels and find out what happened to Katie. The sequels provided closure to the events in the first story but failed to develop the characters further. Even more disturbing was the intimation that the Amish are not Christians; that they have need of being "saved". If the author meant to insinuate that she needed to find a way to back up her theology. The 3rd book is consumed with this idea and thus confuses the message. The Amish ways may be rigid, tradition driven, and unyielding. It could be argued that they are wrong on certain theological points--but not Christians? I wouldn't want to be the one to judge.

I bought this book assuming that it would be a conclusion to "The Shunning" and The Confession." While Katie Lapp (aka Catherine Mayfield) is reunited with her childhood sweetheart at the end, there seem to be alot of hoops for the poor young man to jump through - for one thing, why weren't Catherine's servants told that her real name was Katie Lapp, so they wouldn't assume Dan was looking for the imposter who called herself by the same name? It would have left more room in the book to better explain the events that seemed a bit rushed at the end!

As a former resident of Lancaster County and a friend of many Amish, I was thrilled to read this blessed series from Ms. Lewis. A friend here gave me the first on and I just knew I had to read all three. I hope she writes something new very soon.

The Reckoning is the third book in Beverly Lewis' Heritage of Lancaster County series. While I loved the first book, and abhorred the second, I have mixed feelings about the third.

The story starts with Katherine becoming accustomed to life at the mansion after her biological mother's death. Just as she is settling in and getting used to things, Daniel, an old boyfriend whom she thought dead shows up on her doorstep begging forgiveness. Its a little more than Katherine can handle and she send him away.

Meanwhile, to fill her time she dates the charming painter Justin and volunteers at a hospice where she makes friends with a young boy dying from terminal cancer. She also hosts a quilting class in her home with several friends and also some newer friends, local amish people.

Something is missing from her life though and as the ban on her shunning is partially lifted she returns home to talk with her family and friends and somewhat misses the Amish even though she has found a new religious relationship.

The ending came as quite a surprise for me. While I had a suspicion that it might end up the way it did, I never imagined the destination to be what it was. It was as if Lewis changed her mind literally between paragraphs to a different ending and followed through with it.

While I was pleased to see the development of characters improve in this novel over the second, I have some reservations about the novel. There seemed to be a quite open agenda throughout the entire novel, a theme if you will. While I realize Beverly Lewis' writings are technically classified as Christian fiction, this book was so blatant about its proselytizing it was almost off-putting. While I love reading about the Amish and their culture, the constant references to being saved by Jesus in the Mennonite and regular Christian churches Catherine attends was heavy handed.

Lewis still offers a lot of detail in her writing and a nice history of the Amish. While most of it is written in the 3rd person, the prologue and epilogue are written through Katherine's eyes. It brings a nice change and divide in the novel.

The Reckoning
Published in 1998
281 pages