The Brethren

The Brethren by Beverly Lewis

Louisa has stayed in Denver and has started teaching art classes again. Michael wants to get back together. Louisa still talks with Julia, Annie's Mennonite cousin. Because of this Lou is beginning to believe in Christ. Her Amish love, Sam, has decided to leave the order. Nothing with Lou is ever resolved.

Ben comes back from Kentucky after finding out that he was adopted. He was found when he was four and no one ever claimed him. He only spoke Dutch and his family suspects that he came from an Amish community. Ben and Annie discover together that he is Isaac, Zeke's brother and the little boy that disappeared from their community years ago. The bones that were found by the preacher were not Isaac's. They were a little girl. Ben and Annie have a hard time convincing the community that Ben is Isaac.

Zeke is taken to a mental hospital. He is treated for depression and anxiety. He finds out that Esther is pregnant again. The Mennonites pray with him and he is convinced of a Savior. He returns home a better man. He will be banned or shunned for disobeying the laws of shunning and sleeping with his wife.

Annie decides that she will leave the Amish community and become fancy so that she can be with Ben. She cuts off her hair and buys fancy clothes.

As Annie makes this choice, Ben decides that he will be baptized and join the Amish community. His birth father returns and begs forgiveness of the community and is embraced by them. He identifies Ben as Isaac. He sees Zeke and Esther even though they are shunned.

Annie decides to also be baptized and give up her art so that she can marry Ben. After a year of marriage her father talks to the other brethren and Annie is allowed to paint and draw as long as she doesn't paint people.

Although I liked this book because it finally came out that Ben was Isaac.........which I already knew, I still think things never seemed to come full circle. Louisa just sort of left the picture and never came to any conclusions in her life. Esther and Zeke have Mennonite beliefs and are shunned from the Amish community, but instead of becoming Mennonites they just stay shunned Amish.

Rating 3
Rating G

The Englisher

The Englisher by Beverly Lewis

This is the second book in the Annie's People series. The Englisher picks up where The Preacher's Daughter left off. Lou is still living with the Plain people. Annie has just promised her father to stop painting. Esther is still living with the Mennonites. Zeke is just finding out about the murder of his little brother.
Lou has a fancy friend, Courtney visit. We soon find she was sent there by Lou's ex fiance to get Lou to come home to Denver. The visit doesn't go well, but it does make Lou think about when she should return to her old life.
Annie finally agrees to see Ben. They begin 'dating'. Annie even borrows some of Lou's clothes to go out with Ben to a theater performance. All the while she struggles with the knowledge that she and Ben shouldn't be dating.
Lou hooks up with Sam, an Amish boy. They begin to totally fall for each other. Lou doesn't think she could ever be Amish and doesn't know what to do about her feelings for Sam.
Esther is forced to return to Zeke. She is put under the ban. No one can speak to her. She can't eat at the same table as her family. She cannot sleep in the same bed as Zeke. But Zeke being Zeke sneaks into her bed........but still makes her eat at a separate table. He wants her to bow to his will.
Zeke befriends Ben and tries to get Ben to go to the police about the buried bones of Isaac. Ben refuses to bring the outside world into the Amish one. (Ben is not Amish.) Zeke calls the police himself. They take him to jail. We don't really find out why.
Lou up and leaves in the middle of the night and returns to Denver. I didn't see that one coming. It wasn't explained very well.
Annie's father catches her with Ben. He tells her they can never see each other again. Annie writes Ben a letter. He is heartbroken and decides to return to Kentucky. Annie leaves her family home and moves in with Esther to help her. This will be like Annie is shunned by the Amish also.
I was surprised to find out that the Amish, although Christian, don't seem to buy into the atonement or savior part of Christ. At least that is the picture painted by Lewis. Most of their preaching is in High German and is not understood by everyone listening. To think you are saved by Christ is prideful and that is why Esther is banned.....because she has accepted the Savior as her savior. Also having talents is prideful which is one reason Annie is in trouble with the people and her father. Her talent for art and beauty is frowned on. Also this society is very patriarchal, but not in a good way. The women seem like servants to their husbands and are expected to do the exact will of the husband. The Mennonites on the other hand are Christians that believe in being saved and having a relationship with Christ. Their marriages also seem more of partner marriages instead of a leader and followers.
I know Lewis has a big following and this book has received good ratings on other sites. I liked it because it was clean and I learned things I didn't know. On the other hand this particular book didn't seem to flow very well. I felt like better explanations about events were needed. Maybe she is trying to create mystery, but it felt like confusion instead.
Rating 3
Rating G

The Preacher's Daughter

The Preacher's Daughter by Beverly Lewis

I picked this book up after a good tongue lashing for enjoying Twilight. This was recommended as a cleaner read. Truth be told..........it was, but I didn't like it as much so it doesn't really matter.

This takes place in Paradise Pennsylvania in an Amish community. I really like reading about the Amish or Plain. I like the sense of community I get.
Annie is at the end of her oat sowing time and will soon have to make the decision to join the church or leave the Plain life. The one thing stopping her from joining the church, which her father is a preacher in, is her love of art. She is a budding artist and doing quite well, having just won an art contest. Sadly she must hide her love for art from her family and community. It is disgraceful for her to do something so prideful when she should be more humble.
Annie has already given up her beau Rudy because she was unable to commit to the Plain way of life.
Louisa is Annie's pen pal. They have written to each other since Annie was eleven. Louisa comes from a rich family in Colorado. They are pressing her to marry a lawyer that will fit their idea of the ritzy way of life. Tired of the material life, Louisa calls off the wedding and flees Denver to stay with Annie.
Annie's long time friend Esther is married with three children and one more on the way. Her husband Zeke is a mean control freak. I suspect he beats her. Esther runs into a Mennonite family. (This family is related to Annie but they are not Amish. Annie helps clean their house and in turn they have an art studio for her in their attic.) Esther finds she likes their belief in Jesus and becomes saved. Zeke finds out and gets her in to trouble with the Amish elders. She is banned from sleeping in the same bed with Zeke. She runs away and stays with the Mennonite family just as she goes into labor and delivers her last child.
Ben is a 'fancy' person.......not of the Amish or Mennonite faith. He sees Annie and is taken with her.
Long ago when Annie was younger, a small child disappeared from the Amish community. The Amish do not like outsiders in their lives, so the kidnapping was never reported to the police. Recently Annie's father Jesse uncovered what he thinks were the child's bones in a nearby field.

Honestly the only parts of this that really drew me in were Ben and the thought that Annie could leave her community for love and still be able to pain, and the abuse of Esther. At first I wanted to bash Esther myself because I thought she was going to submit to Zeke's abuse and let her children get hurt. Luckily she didn't or I wouldn't even be able to say this book was worth reading. Also I liked their manner of speech and the sprinkling of German and Old Dutch. The characters were okay I didn't really fall in love with them. I will probably read the next book in the series to find out what happens between Ben and Annie, Annie and the church, and if Lou will go back to her old life.
Rating 3
Rating G