Customer Reviews

The Shunning (The Heritage of Lancaster County #1)

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

The Shunning is a very interesting story all the way through, and it taught me quite a bit about the Amish way of life. It seems like a book that teaches one so much would have to be quite boring, but it's really just the opposite. At one point, I actually had to stop reading for a few minutes just because I couldn't stand all of the suspense!
Katie Lapp is a very real, believable heroine, something that can be hard to find (especially, I'm afraid, in Christian fiction). I felt, at the end of the book, that I really understood her.
One piece of advice, though: Don't read the rest of the trilogy. This is hard to do, as the book ends on something of a cliffhanger, but force yourself to do it. The Shunning is an excellent book, but the next two are quite disappointing and sort of ruined the series for me. I suggest you just make up your own ending for Katie.

Obviously I am in the minority here, and this book has satisfied many a reader. Since my experience differs, I've been trying very hard to figure out exactly why this novel disappointed me. I think it comes down to the following:

The biggest problem I had with this novel is that the character felt plot-driven rather than the plot character-driven. A young Pennsylvania Amish woman struggles with a longing for a Fancy life. Plausible enough. But the way events unfold in her engagement to a widowed bishop and in her discovery of her own mother's Deep Dark Secret all felt organized to suit the author's end goal (to sell a sequel?). It's hard to say too much without risking spoiling the story. But as I read, I found myself questioning repeatedly what kind of person would do the things that Katie did. Certainly, we all want to be true to ourselves. But how many of us have as spectacularly a poor sense of timing (either that or disregard for the feelings of others) as Katie does? How many of us have that kind of knack for uncovering hidden objects at just the right time to move along the plot--not once, but twice? While, remarkably, at the same time Outside Forces Are Converging in a mysterious black limousine? In terms of the action, the story read like a soap opera, requiring a pretty high suspension of disbelief. But character presentation did not match the soap opera pacing. Emotionally flighty when required to be so by the plot, Katie was otherwise pretty stoic and rational. If only her story had been. The only things that kept me reading this novel to the end was an interest in the setting and a certain inoffensiveness in prose style.

It didn't repel me, but it didn't draw me in, either. I have absolutely no interest in finding out what happens to Katie next.

I really like the Lancaster County series. It's such a unique story since it has the Amish setting. I read this book several years ago with the intent to finish the series but didn't get around to it. I just recently read the second book, and now I am anxious to get my hands on the third! It is a charming story and definitely worth anyone's time, especialyl if they are looking for a different story.

I hesitate to make negative comments about this and the other books in this series since they have been rated so highly by others. However, I feel obligated to my many Amish friends to set the record straight. I read the Shunning, The Confession and The Reckoning, and was very much disturbed by the way the Amish were treated. In some ways it is evident that the author did a great deal of book research because she has many facts quite right; such as the given and family names of the characters. In other ways it would appear that she has had very little actual contact with real Amish people. My suspicion is that the Amish friends she claims to have are actually X Amish who have a lot of criticism and bitterness toward their people. Lewis judges the Amish by modern Evangelical standards and makes them look like heathens with bones through their noses in need of the Gospel. The Amish do have a different understanding of salvation than do Evangelicals and Fundamentalists, but to say they are not Christian is carrying it too far. Lewis would no doubt also have serious disagreements on theological matters with Catholics, most Lutherans and Pentecostals. There are many factual errors in the Shunning and the other two books in the series. The greatest error in The Shunning is the portrayal of the Amish not being allowed to talk to those who are excommunicated. My Amish friends tell me that they are expected to talk to those in the ban in order to win them back to the church. Lewis somewhat corrects this in the other books to make it look like the silent treatment was the individual pronoucement of one particular bishop. Lewis does not mention the Biblical basis for shunning which she apparently does not understand. Really, I think Katie, the main character, would have been shunned by atheists for the trick she pulled at her wedding! Some other errors include the forbiddance to sing any songs other than those in the Amish hymnal. It is true that the Amish only sing the traditional, ancient hymns at their church services, but on other occasions I have heard the Amish sing many kinds of songs, and "Jesus Loves Me" would not at all be out of order. Also the impression is given that one has to be born Amish in order to be a member of the Amish church. I know of a number of people who have joined the Amish were not raised in the church. It is difficult for an "outsider" to join the Amish, because a lot of commitment is required, but quite possible. I could mention many other things in the books that are not true to Amish life, but I don't want this to get too long. The books are well written and hold the reader's attention, but they are more for entertainment than enlightenment. If you want to know what the Amish are really like, these books are not for you.

This book was enjoyable for a light read, the descriptions of the "Plain People's" lifestyle were interesting, but I'm giving it only one star since the book ends abruptly, with no resolution to the plot lines. I'm assuming that this is a way of enticing readers to buy the next two books, much in the style of the old cliffhanger movie series, but I found it very duplicitous.

I selected this book because it focused on the Amish. The author, Beverly Lewis, did a good job of introducing the customs of these prayerful people. She developed the characters quite well but, when it came to finishing the story, I was disappointed. There were too many loose ends. This may be Lewis' technique for making you want to read her next book but I, for one, wanted to hear what happened to these characters. I did not want to be launched off into the nether world trying to guess what happened. Great way to sell the next book but disappointing when the book you have on hand doesn't finish.

This book was so good that I couldn't put it down! Beverly Lewis has an amazing writing style and I definately endorse this book! The story is about a young girl coming of age in a small Amish community! It details her struggles to find where in the world she truly belongs. It also highlights her choice between the plain Amish lifestyle that she is accustomed to and the rich elegant lifestyle that she so longs for!

I am an avid reader and lover of Amish history. These 2 passions drew me to a display containing "The Shunning" when we were traveling and stopped to eat at a little restaurant-gift shop. I just had to get up from my meal and take a look at the book. I was so interested I had to read it. The characters were exciting people, individual in spite of being identical! Katie especially intrigued me! She was so fiesty, so different, opinionated, yet family oriented. How could she expect to be happy at any one place when the whole world called to her? I felt empathy for Katie's Amish parents because having a daughter like her surely was a test in their community! Yet, I felt Katie's pain...her uncertainty...her desires...what part in her longterm future would Mary play? How could Katie endure without Dan, her soul mate? How could she marry a man she did not love? Why must she be forced to live without the beautiful, soothing music she adored? Was it sin, or simply protocol? It was easy to keep switching my loyalty from one group to the other...they all had some good ideas. I thought I understood Katie and her inquisitive nature, yet I wanted to scold her for being ungrateful and even spiteful to her parents at times. I seemed to have love-hate for one person, then another! I think this author, Bev Lewis, surely must have an interesting life....how else could she think of so many wonderfully surprising events? For a book that led one to think it was going to be about a fairly dull family, living in a fairly dull town, with fairly dull ideals, there certainly was a trememdous amount of excitement nontheless! People DID have feelings, they DID experience emotions, and Katie Lapp was determined to live them in addition to just feeling them! There are issues here that are presented so well, love and marriage, family life, faith, obedience to parents, loyalty, adoption, trust, life and death, grief and mourning, traditions, ways of life...and all of these are wrapped around one tiny, pink satin baby gown! When I saw I was on the last page, I was stricken....NO, THIS CANNOT BE ENDING...there is so much I do not know yet! What will happen to..what if...when will...why didn't....maybe they...if only.... I did not rest a moment until book number 2 was in my hands! I so fully appreciate the author's portrayal of the love of God, His plan of salvation and especially the individuality of each person in spite of their surroundings! Thanks, Bev!

I rarely read fiction, especially Christian fiction. This is different. I was transported to Lancaster County, and could smell the woodburning stove. I ached for Kate, and her family. Could not put it down, and loved reading the rest of the trilogy.

One star for the background material on Amish life, the reason I wanted to read this book, although some of the reviewers have said the material wasn't accurate. Still, you got the flavor of what Amish life might be like.
As for the plot itself, it was pretty transparent from the start. I don't even need to read book 2 or 3 of the trilogy to predict how it will turn out. Bad, especially for a Y. A. audience. Lewis should have more respect for her readers. I wouldn't let my students read this stuff without a strong warning. Even for free, this wasn't worth the time.