Loved this book. One of those books where it is sad but funny, makes you think a little bit. When I was done, I put it down and immediately hugged my family!!!
It follows a 16 year old girl, Nomi, living in a Mennonite community. The book goes back and forth a bit and in the end you learn is actually a memoir to her highschool teacher. It is not in a chronological order but still very well done. There is no real plot so if you want a beginning, a middle and an end, this book does not have it. It is more of what is going on in the mind of a 16 year old who's sister and then mother have been excommunicated. The sister is the first to leave town and then the mother. Nomi's father, Ray, is quiet and reserved and completely lost and Nomi finds herself trying to look after him...cooking meals, doing laundry etc. He could not decide between the church and his family so the sister and Mom just left.
Nomi quits school and church and eventually is excommunicated as well.
That culture is very, very odd. Imagine living in a town where people are literally...ignored! Because they did not do what the church thought they should be doing! Imagine being a mother and being told to leave your family!! Never to see them again. All because the church said so. A very good read and insight into the Mennonite heritage. As odd as it is!!
Monday, April 5, 2010
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