Reading Recommendations: Heritage of Lancaster County 3 Best selling Novels in One volume; Beverly Lewis

The Shunning

In the quiet Amish community of Hickory Hollow, Pennsylvania, time has stood still while cherished traditions and heartfelt beliefs have flourished. But in one family, a secret lies buried, a secret that could shatter the town's tranquility. When Katie Lapp stumbles upon a satin infant gown in the dusty leather trunk of her parents attic, she sets out to find answers-why would her Amish mother, a plain and simple woman, hide this beautiful baby dress?

The Confession

Shunned from her home and alone in a world of strangers, Katie Lapp sets out to find the birth mother she has never known. Her journey takes her to an "English" house with electric lights and telephones and many other conveniences new to her. But behind all the "fancy" things lies a world of compassion and greed, mercy, and betrayal, a place where the plain garb of the Amish is used to disguise a dangerous conspiracy.

The Reckoning

Katie Lapp, now called Katherine Mayfield, delights in the modern world she has discovered, even as her long lost love searches desperately for her. She enjoys her work with hospice patients, but as the seasons pass, she grieves the loss of her Amish family and her dear friends. Katherine longs for peace yet wonders if she can come to terms with heritage of her past. 726 pages in all. And worth every "reading" moment.

-From the older Bookshelves

And, Balsamroot, a memoir, Mary Clearman Blew

Mary Clearman Blew's first memoir, All But The Waltz, sealed her renown as a "brave, bone-honest" writer of "prose with a shining edge". (The New York Times Book Review) Now she focuses on some of the women she so memorably introduced in that book, above all, on her favorite aunt, Imogene, whose early struggle for independence and new struggle with age and dementia focus Blew's own feeling, about living, about making choices, and about growing older.

Melding past and present into a moving narrative, Mary Clearman Blew imaginatively recreates the dry, dusty, sparsely populated Montana of the early homesteaders and of her aunt's young womanhood, and tries to understand why her aunt chose a life alone, away from the ranch where she grew up. At the same time she evokes the rigors of her own growing up years; her yearnings for independence and escape, her own choices regarding marriage, divorce, and single parenthood; and the poignant reconnection with her daughter. A rich and unforgettable blend of intimate reflection, diaries, history, and local legend.

Thank you, Lynn Blankenship, for suggesting this beautifully written book to me. I found my check out number, (Nov. 1994), on the card in back. It all sounded familiar after the years-And I must say, I'm glad to read it again after so many years.

-From the FOR SALE bookcase. Readers do check there's so much good reading available at just a few cents, and a great way to build your own home library.

And, The Englisher, Beverly Lewis

It's odd, but nearly the minute I promised my preacher father I would turn my back on my artistic passions for a full six months, right then, all kinds of new temptations popped into my head like never before. I find myself tracing a design with my finger on my dress, or squinting and eyeing the shape of the cast iron bell Mamm rings for supper. It's as if the drive to create cannot be squelched, neither from within nor without. But I hope for the good of my word and for the good of my family, I can suppress it long enough to join church. But then surely I will have learned to obey. Without Lou's loving support, though, I can't imagine succeeding.

Nearly as strong as the tug to express myself on paper or canvas is my eagerness to see Ben Martin again. This befuddles me. An Englisher? Just as I am free of Rudy Esh, in every way, I am determined to forget about this boy who can be nothing but trouble to my goal of joining church-

See you at Rylander!