Book Review ~ The Blessed by Ann H. Gabhart
Lacey has had a difficult life. Given away when a young teen to a Reverend's family she worked for her keep by taking care of the ailing wife, Mona. She found love from Mona who taught her scripture. Then one day they find a baby left on their doorstep. Mona takes the child in and raises it as her own though the Reverend won't have anything to do with the baby. Lacey especially feels close to the child and the bond they share is unbreakable as the child grows. Then when the child is four, Mona passes away, and the church people begin to gossip and judge when Lacey continues to live at the Reverend's home. When he gives her the choice to marry him or else to leave the house and never see the child again, she does what she has to do to continue to be with the little girl. But Lacey cannot give herself completely as a wife to the Reverend and when the Shakers come knocking on their door the man eventually gets pulled into doctrines of living where marriage is considered a sin. Soon Lacey finds herself moved out to Harmony Hill, the Shaker village, and separated from the child anyway. How could everything she tried to do be brought to this?
I had read another of the author's books, the Seeker, that featured the Shakers and really enjoyed it. In this installment of her Shaker stories, the author really goes into a lot of their beliefs and odd rituals and the demands and rules placed upon the people of their community. The themes of accepting forgiveness, and trying to fix things in our own strength is delved into. I did find this story got bogged down for me. The constant oddness with angels got to be too much at times. There seemed nothing of joy within the Shaker community for Lacey and her inner struggles just seemed to continue to grow with no end in sight. Though she knew what the Shakers believed didn't line up with what Mona had taught her of the bible, she continued to struggle with staying due to the circumstances. Her feelings of entrapment made it a heavy read for me. I just wanted her to get out of there. So all that to say I wanted to love this one but it just an okay read for me. I much preferred "The Seeker" by the same author but because there was a lot of historical information about the Shaker's beliefs in this one, that for me, made it worth the read.
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4 comments:
Susanne, thanks for the review. Growing up, we used to visit an historical Shaker village in Lexington, Ky. They were certainly an interesting people steeped in religious legality. I think I'll pass on this particular book, but I may read The Seeker on your recommendation. Thanks so much!
Blessings to you ~ Mary
Sounds like a rather strange book. I do remember hearing that they had some weird beliefs.
The Shaker community did die out for one main reason! LOL....seriously, though we live where the Shakers were first established in this country. In fact, the name of my daughters' high school is Shaker High and Everything is Shaker named around here it seems like LOL. I probably won't read this book but I might check out The Seeker. I do like the Shaker style furniture I have throughout my home. Yes, they were a very legalistic bunch but so are many of the "Christians" I know today...some of my own relatives are too legalistic for me! LOL Thanks for the review.
It's interesting that the title is "The Blessed". I wonder if it means she received blessing or that she was 'bless-ed' referring more to her as a giver of blessing (which she obviously did, to Mona and the baby...)
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