Contemporary Authors

• The Outcast Tyndale House (Carol Stream, IL), 2013
• The Midwife Tyndale House (Carol Stream, IL), 2014
• The Alliance Tyndale House (Carol Stream, IL), 2016
• The Divide Tyndale House (Carol Stream, IL), 2017

1. The divide LCCN 2016057081 Type of material Book Personal name Petersheim, Jolina, author. Main title The divide / Jolina Petersheim. Published/Produced Carol Stream, Illinois : Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., [2017] Projected pub date 1706 Description pages ; cm ISBN 9781496421449 (hardcover) 9781496402226 (softcover) Library of Congress Holdings Information not available. 2. The alliance : a novel LCCN 2015045428 Type of material Book Personal name Petersheim, Jolina, author. Main title The alliance : a novel / Jolina Petersheim. Published/Produced Carol Stream, Illinois : Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., [2016] Description xii, 371 pages ; 22 cm ISBN 9781496413994 (hardcover) 9781496402219 (softcover) CALL NUMBER PS3616.E84264 A79 2016 CABIN BRANCH Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE 3. The midwife LCCN 2014005592 Type of material Book Personal name Petersheim, Jolina. Main title The midwife / Jolina Petersheim. Published/Produced Carol Stream, Illinois : Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., [2014] Description xiv, 383 pages ; 21 cm ISBN 9781414379357 (sc) Shelf Location FLS2014 179611 CALL NUMBER PS3616.E84264 M53 2014 OVERFLOWA5S Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms (FLS1) 4. The outcast LCCN 2012048725 Type of material Book Personal name Petersheim, Jolina. Main title The outcast / Jolina Petersheim. Published/Produced Carol Stream, Illinois : Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., [2013] Description ix, 389 pages ; 21 cm ISBN 9781414379340 (sc) Shelf Location FLS2013 022463 CALL NUMBER PS3616.E84264 O97 2013 OVERFLOWA5S Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms (FLS1)

• Jolina Petersheim Home Page - http://www.jolinapetersheim.com/about/

  MEET JOLINA

  Jolina Petersheim is the critically-acclaimed author of The Alliance, The Midwife, and The Outcast, which Library Journal called “outstanding . . . fresh and inspirational” in a starred review and named one of the best books of 2013. That book also became an ECPA, CBA, and Amazon bestseller and was featured in Huffington Post’s Fall Picks, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and the Tennessean. CBA Retailers + Resources called her second book, The Midwife, “an excellent read [that] will be hard to put down,” and Booklist selected The Alliance as one of their Top 10 Inspirational Fiction Titles for 2016. Jolina’s nonfiction writing has been featured in Reader’s Digest, Writer’s Digest, and Today’s Christian Woman.

  She and her husband share the same unique Amish and Mennonite heritage that originated in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, but they now live in the mountains of Tennessee with their two young daughters.
  I was born on a hot August day in the heart of Amish country. While my family moved to Tennessee when I was only three years old, my childhood was filled with stories of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors hiding TVs from bishops and concealing permed hair beneath kapps. But this unique heritage did not interest me. Instead, I pouted as my mother divided my waist-length hair into plaits and then forced me to change from purple overalls into a jean skirt and sneakers in preparation to visit our Plain friends—knowing, even at the tender age of six, that this combination was a fashion faux pas. Playing Hide ‘n’ Seek or Kick the Can with my Old Order Mennonite peers, however, I soon became grateful for that skirt, which helped me transition from Southern Englischer to intimate friend.

  Years passed. I knew my Mennonite playmates had traded braided pigtails for kapped buns, yet on a visit to the community, I rebelled against my mother’s instructions and arrived with unbound hair. During supper, which was eaten beneath a popping kerosene bulb, the hostess came and stood behind my portion of the bench. She slid out my blue satin ribbon and plaited my hair as I stared into my bowl of grummbeer supp accented with homemade brot.

  The winter of my seventeenth year, I returned to the community to visit my once-raucous playmate whose ill health had transformed her into a soft-spoken friend. The whites of her deep brown eyes had yellowed from liver complications. Her family and my own gathered around her bed, which was heaped with spinning-star quilts, and sang hymns whose Pennsylvania Dutch words I did not know, but whose meaning struck my heart with such clarity, tears slid down my cheeks.

  One week later, I stood beside her grave, wearing a thick black headband to hide my newly pierced ears with the fake diamond studs that stabbed the tender skin of my neck and gave me a migraine further magnified by jaw-clenching grief. I remember how the somber community huddled around her family as if their physical presence could shield them, not only from the slashing wind and sleet, but from the reality that their dochder and schweschder’s body was about to be placed into the cold, hard ground.

  I left for college that summer, almost eighteen years to the day I had been born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I was the first person in my immediate family to attempt a higher education. As I unpacked my flared Lucky jeans and beaded sweaters into wobbling dorm drawers, I thought I was leaving my Mennonite heritage along with a certain broad-shouldered, hazel-eyed man whose father had attended my father’s Mennonite high school. Three years, one death, and two lifetimes’ worth of tribulations later, I realized that I had not lost the precious attributes surrounding my Plain heritage, so much as I had needed to go away in order to find myself. This is my Plain groossmammi on my mother’s side, Charlotte Mummau Grove Miller, at sixteen years old. She passed away shortly after we moved from Lancaster to Nashville, but I will never forget her bone-popping hugs. I imagine the twins in THE OUTCAST, Rachel and Leah, resemble her a little.

  In the cool autumn of 2008, I married my broad-shouldered, hazel-eyed Dutchman; thus making my last name as difficult to spell as my first. I kept wearing my Lucky jeans and layering my wrists with jewelry, but I was also drawn to a simple life, reminiscent of the one I had once tried to flee. My husband and I purchased a forty-acre valley nestled at the base of softly rolling Tennessee mountains. Upon moving into the haus my husband built with determination and his own two hands, I began to write a fictionalized version of a story that had once been told to me. A story regarding the power of desire and the reverberating cost if that desire is left unchecked; a story that, shockingly enough, took place in an idyllic Old Order Mennonite community.

  In Nashville, I was introduced to a genial, white-haired man who was as excited to hear my Dutchy last name as I had been to hear his. He had attended the same Mennonite high school as my father (and my husband’s father) and, as a literary agent, he was interested to read the portion of the story that I had completed. He read the first twenty-five thousand words while flying home from a book festival in Brazil and wanted to read more. I continued to write as my expectant belly continued to grow. Two months after the birth of our daughter, Tyndale House accepted the manuscript, as they were as excited to promote my modern retelling of The Scarlet Letter as I had been to write it.
  And so, wearing Lucky jeans (the same pair, actually), chandelier earrings, and with unkapped hair, I continue writing stories about the Pennsylvania Dutch heritage that once brought me acute embarrassment, but has now become a creative outlet with no closing doors. Thank you for joining me on this journey.

• Jolina Petersheim Home Page - http://www.jolinapetersheim.com/media-kit/

  Long Bio:

  Jolina Petersheim is the critically-acclaimed author of The Alliance, The Midwife, and The Outcast, which Library Journal called “outstanding . . . fresh and inspirational” in a starred review and named one of the best books of 2013. That book also became an ECPA, CBA, and Amazon bestseller and was featured in Huffington Post’s Fall Picks, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and the Tennessean. CBA Retailers + Resources called her second book, The Midwife, “an excellent read [that] will be hard to put down,” and Booklist selected The Alliance as one of their Top 10 Inspirational Fiction Titles for 2016. Jolina’s nonfiction writing has been featured in Reader’s Digest, Writer’s Digest, and Today’s Christian Woman. She and her husband share the same unique Amish and Mennonite heritage that originated in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, but they now live in the mountains of Tennessee with their two young daughters. Jolina blogs regularly at www.jolinapetersheim.com
  Short Bio:
  Jolina Petersheim is a bestselling author whose unique Mennonite heritage originated in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but she now lives in the Driftless Region of Wisconsin with her family.

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  Maggie Rowe| maggierowe@tyndale.com| 630.784.5333Q & A with Jolina PetersheimAuthor of The AllianceJOLINA PETERSHEIM is the bestselling author of The Outcast, which Library Journalgave a starred review and named one of the best books of 2013. Upon the release of her second book, The Midwife, Romantic Timesdeclared, “Petersheim is an amazing new author.” Jolina and her husband share the same unique Amish and Mennonite heritage thatoriginated in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They recently relocated from the mountains of Tennessee to the Driftless Region of Wisconsin, where they live with their two young daughters. Visit jolinapetersheim.com.1.The Allianceis quite a unique take on the standard apocalyptic novel, which New York Timesbestselling author Sarah McCoy said is “ablaze with hope.” Can you tell us how you came up with the idea for this story?I guess you could say I had a slightly different childhood. When I was six and my brother ten, our family stood in a field on the camp where my parents were caretakers, and my parents told us that this was where we would meet if we were separated when the world “blew up.” From this field, our family would travel by foot to our friends’ elaborate, fairytale home and live in the blue room hidden behind their bookshelves. My parents in no way meant to instill fear in us. Now that I’m a parent, I see that they were trying to assuage their own fears by coming up with a disaster-recoveryplan. But I was born with an overactive imagination, and therefore this plan planted in me the seed of fear–and, subsequently, a driving need to control my environment.2.Would you say you were from a very apocalyptically-minded family?Very. This mindset is generational, it seems, for my grandfather—who grew up in immense poverty during the Great Depression—was very “end of the world” as well. I breathed fear all my life and am only now, at twenty-nine, learning to live by faith. This story is an extension ofmy own personal journey.3.Can you tell us a little more about this journey?Of course. When my eldest was six months old, an unnerving exchange with a logger caused my fear to deepen its roots and for me to ask myself whether I would ever use lethal forceto protect myself and my family. I believed I would, even though, growing up, I sensed that my own father would adhere to his Mennonite (pacifist) heritage if placed in such a situation. This is very similar to what the Mennonites in The Allianceare faced with when a cataclysmic event causes society to break down around the community and begin closing in.
  Maggie Rowe| maggierowe@tyndale.com| 630.784.53334.I find it fascinating how you drew upon personal experiences to create this story. Leora Ebersole, one of your two narrators in The Alliance, has a driving need to control her environment, even after society crumbles around her, because if she controls her environment, she believes she will be able to keep her family safe. Is this something you’ve also experienced?Unfortunately, yes (or perhaps fortunately, depending on how you look at it). With every one of my books, God’s been faithful to allow me to experience some portion of whatever topic I'm addressing. The Alliancehas been no exception. My family and I moved from Tennessee to Wisconsin shortly before I finished the rough draft. Eight weeks later, my husband went in for a CAT scan, which revealed a tumor near his brain stem. He had surgery the next morning, and all through that night next to his hospital bed, I feared for my family.I feared for our two young daughters--our firstborn was two and a half and our second wasfour months old at the time. I feared that I would be a widow, living on a grid-tie solar-powered farm six hundred miles away from our immediate families.5.Thatmust’ve been terribly frightening, seeing one of your worst fears come true.It was. I really didn’t know how to handle it. However, all through that Garden of Gethsemane night, during the hours my husband was in surgery, and the critical weeks that followed the craniotomy, I felt God’s presence as if he was sitting beside me. I then understood that God had allowed me to face one of my greatest fears so that I would learn that inner peace can never be acquired through my futile attempts to control my environment—and therefore keep my family safe. Moreover, I can only achieve inner peace if I continually surrender my life andthe lives of my family to the One who called us into being.The Allianceby Jolina PetersheimISBN: 978-1-4964-0221-9Softcover: $14.99ISBN: 978-1-4964-1399-4Hardcover: $22.99June2016Tyndale.com

• Southern Literary Review - http://southernlitreview.com/authors/allen-mendenhall-interviews-jolina-petersheim.htm

  ALLEN MENDENHALL INTERVIEWS JOLINA PETERSHEIM

  AUGUST 4, 2014 BY EDITORS 1 COMMENT
  Jolina Petersheim
  Jolina Petersheim
  APM: Thanks for taking the time to talk to Southern Literary Review, Jolina. Your latest novel, The Midwife, follows closely on the heels of The Outcast. Did you expect these books to be the successes they’ve been?

  Click to purchase The Midwife
  All authors dream that their novels will be successful, and I was certainly no exception. Still, I had no idea these two stories would resonate so deeply with readers. I have been moved almost to tears, time and time again, to hear a personal story about how these novels touched a reader’s life. This means far more to me than best-seller status or critical acclaim. I am so grateful.
  APM: I recently mentioned your book to a friend, who said she didn’t know that “Amish literature was a thing.” She was referring of course to genre. I suppose I didn’t know this genre was as popular as it is, but it makes sense to me. There’s a certain suspense to this way of life that we—many people I mean—no longer practice in our current culture. I’m reminded of Jane Austen: the pleasure of reading her books is heightened if you understand the mores and customs of the characters. What do you make of all this?
  With both of my novels, I try to go deeper than the quintessential Amish boy-meets-Englischer girl dilemma. I grew up on a Christian camp (or community) from the time I was six until I was fourteen, and during those eight years, I witnessed the elements that can bring a community together and tear it apart. Since I have a Mennonite heritage, it seemed natural to combine these two interests: the definition of community and the Mennonites. So far, the questions keep spinning entirely new plot threads. I just follow wherever they lead.
  APM: Could you give our readers the premise of The Midwife?
  The Midwife is a story about a mother who risks everything to save a child not genetically hers. The concept of surrogacy was first brought to my attention when my dear friend in college discussed using a gestational surrogate in the future because she would be unable to carry a child of her own due to the medication she was taking for a heart transplant.
  This made me contemplate all of the many obstacles in surrogacy that everyone involved would have to overcome:
  What if the surrogate became attached to the child? What if, God forbid, something happened to one of the parents, or if there was a chromosomal abnormality, and the parents decided they did not want the child any longer?
  All of these disparate ideas coalesced into the concept for The Midwife once I gave birth to a child of my own. I knew that even if I was of no relation to the child, if my body had sustained her for nine months, she would still be my daughter, even if we shared no genetic connection.
  From there, the story went on to expound upon the heights and depths a mother will go to protect that child, and what is the definition of motherhood: genetics or love.
  APM: There’s a lot there—womanhood, motherhood, fertility. What draws you to these themes? Is there someone in the so-called literary canon from whom you draw inspiration or motivation?
  I don’t believe I would’ve been able to write either of my stories without the perspective of being a mother. I was expecting our firstborn daughter when I wrote The Outcast – a modern retelling of The Scarlet Letter set in an Old Order Mennonite community in Tennessee – and she was only twelve weeks old when I began crafting The Midwife. It was a transformative experience to place myself in the midwife Rhoda’s shoes and imagine my daughter being taken from me without any power to get her back. I actually miscarried during the editorial process of The Midwife, and it was beautiful and heart-wrenching to read back over the scenes my own fingers had typed and find such healing through the midwife’s journey of overcoming loss and learning to love again. My prayer is that this story will touch my readers’ lives to the same extent it did mine.

  Click here to purchase The Outcast

  APM: Let’s talk about you—Jolina the writer. In a sense we can never divorce our subjective self—the “I myself” whom Whitman celebrates—from our writing, but I’d like to know or to try to know who you are as a writer. Writing can be a very private and solitary activity—at least when the muse strikes. Writing almost always eventually becomes a collaborative activity, what with editors and proofreaders and the like. But the initial product is yours alone, a creature of the imagination. What makes you write what you write? Do you ever find yourself lost in a world of your own creation?
  Long before I knew how to read or write, I would sit on the front porch and try to make up stories. My parents inadvertently encouraged this because my father—a barn builder by trade—would pause in his labors to jot down lyrics on his 2 x 4 boards with a carpenter’s pencil, and my mother would read excerpts from her novels to me like a bedtime story. We also didn’t have a TV for the majority of my childhood, so once I learned how to read, I would bring stacks of books home from the library. This, naturally, developed into a love for writing. I attempted to write my first novel when I was in sixth grade, and I’ve been compelled to create in this vein ever since.
  I do often get lost in a world of my own creation, but I have also found that it’s necessary to continue working even when the inspiration isn’t there. Oftentimes, just sitting down to write each day will force those creative juices to start flowing. Even if they only flow for the last half hour of a four-hour stretch, that last half hour is then when the magic happens. It’s addicting!
  APM: You don’t shy away from the psychology of your characters. Why not?
  I’ve always been fascinated by our motivations, for good and for evil. I like to explore these motivations—these behaviors—through writing to better understand why people do what they do, even if they’re fictional. I love how crafting a novel helps me understand myself and those around me.
  APM: You and your husband have similar backgrounds. How long did it take the two of you to figure that out, and if I could push this question into two, what effect does your background have on your books?
  My husband and I met at a church mainly composed of ex-Amish and Mennonites, so it sure didn’t take long to figure out that we share the same background. Before we even journeyed down to southern Tennessee, my father was in contact with my husband’s grandfather, Amos Stoltzfus, who was kicked out of the Amish church when he was seventeen. He was the one who invited us to church and who made sure that our family got introduced to everyone.
  Even if I didn’t write “Amish fiction,” I believe my background would still remain very evident in my books. The Pennsylvania Dutch heritage is just something you cannot shake, and the customs are being carried on in our own family, although we’re often not aware of it. (For instance, I use certain PA Dutch phrases with my daughter like brutzing, ferhoodled, redd up, etc.)
  APM: Thanks, Jolina. There’s just one more question I want to ask you, and I already know the answer because I read it somewhere, but I find it to be compelling and inspiring and selfishly want it to be archived here in Southern Literary Review. The question is, how did you come to find an agent and publish your first book?
  I met my agent, Wes Yoder, at an author reading when I was 25,000 words into the first draft of my debut, The Outcast. He asked if he could read the portion of the manuscript I had completed. I was skeptical at first because I had no idea that he was an agent; I just knew that he was a writer. Once we cleared that up, I went home and started working like crazy. I sent the polished version to him one month later. He read the story on his way home from a book festival in Brazil and told me he thought the story had potential, so I began to write as quickly as I could. I was expecting our little girl at the time; therefore, I knew I had a narrow window in which to finish the manuscript. I completed The Outcast in six months, and Wes and I had a two-book publishing contract with Tyndale House when my firstborn daughter was 12 weeks old. She is now twenty-eight months, and I have her little sister on the way—who we’re expecting to meet in September—and all I can say is that it has been a delightful, somewhat challenging, but always a rewarding journey!
  APM: I appreciate your taking the time, Jolina, and wish you the best on all your future endeavors.
  Thank you for having me here, Allen!

• Pamela King Cable - http://pamelakingcable.com/interview-jolina-petersheim/

  INTERVIEW: JOLINA PETERSHEIM
  June 27, 2016
  Today on the blog I’m truly honored to have author Jolina Petersheim for an interview. 978-1-4143-7935-7

  W6873_P11126_TheAlliance_Final

  1.) When did you decide to become a writer? In other words, what made you actually sit down and write something?

  My father and my best friend’s father wrote music every Tuesday night from the time I was two years old until I was about fourteen. Listening to them—two carpenters—setting aside time and energy every week to create rhythm and language caused me to want to create as well. Therefore, I wasn’t even reading or writing when I began to make up stories. My mother was always very patient, listening to me ramble. This experience, coupled with a dedicated second grade teacher—who saw me struggling to read and helped me unlock that magic of story—caused me to know that I wanted to tell stories when I “grew up.”

  As for actually sitting down and writing? I guess I wrote my first “novel” in sixth grade, proudly filling up an entire journal with my scribbled plot structure. An English teacher, my junior year of high school, gave me a short story prompt for fun, which I spent about two weeks cultivating and then turned in. I remember how obsessed I was with language—spending hours looking up fancier synonyms to replace my words, so that my patient teachers also had to look up those words when they read my stories.

  Thankfully, that obsession’s worn off. A little.

  2.) Every writer is eventually asked this question, but where do your ideas come from? Why do you write what you do?

  My ideas usually come from real life. The Outcast came from a true story that someone told me about carnal desire that was left unchecked, and how the price of fulfilling it trickled down through the generations, not only affecting that generation, but the generations to come.

  The Midwife came from my own desire, as a new mom (my eldest was twelve weeks when I began), to explore maternal nature in all its beautiful forms, and then was further set into motion when I imagined a surrogate saving the life of the child she was carrying only to have the biological parents take her away after birth: what is the definition of motherhood, I wondered, genetics or love?

  The Alliance came from a conversation with my father about the importance of saving heirloom seeds until the next harvest season, and then—after an altercation with a logger that unsettled me—I imagined how a pacifist community could survive if society was affected by something like an electromagnetic pulse: would they adhere to their beliefs not to take up arms, or would they set those beliefs aside to protect their family?

  3.) Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer to see where an idea takes you? How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?

  With The Outcast and The Midwife, I just had general plots mapped out in my head, but then allowed the stories to take me where they wanted to go. With The Alliance, an altogether different kind of topic, I realized that I really needed to take another approach. My publisher sent me a book, Goal, Motivation, Conflict, which really helped me break the story down and understand my characters’ motivations, which then helped accelerate the conflict. Now, I see GMC in everything—movies, ads, and even interpersonal relationships. So, I would say that this is how I’ve evolved creativity: I used to just wing it, but I find it’s necessary to do a little planning beforehand, or else I waste too much time trying to tidy everything up in the second draft.

  4.) What is the hardest thing about the creative process of writing?

  For me, it’s the first draft! Once I can just get everything out of my head and onto the page, I find it’s much easier to see where the story’s going and pull out the themes accordingly. But because of Goal, Motivation, Conflict, I even find that process is a little easier. Still, let me tell you, sometimes it’s just a matter of staying in the chair. But once that inspiration descends, there is nothing like it in the world!

  5.) If you’re a Christian, what are the challenges you believe Christian writers face now and in the future?
  Christian writers are often pigeonholed as being close-minded, or—worse, in my opinion—their stories being full of fluff. The Christian journey is not an easy one, and I believe such stories should reflect that, giving readers wisdom on how to overcome obstacles and continue trusting God, regardless of the hills and valleys of life. As for the future? I am deeply unsettled by the rising animosity toward Christians, and I know that will not only affect the Christian publishing industry, but all believers as well.

  6.) If you would, please tell us what was hardest thing about writing your last book? How long does it typically take you to finish your book?

  The Alliance was, no doubt, the hardest book I’ve written so far. Whereas, with The Outcast and The Midwife, most of the action came through interpersonal relationships, the majority of the action in The Alliance took place through outside forces that wreaked havoc on the interpersonal relationships within the community, so it required me to thoroughly understand the dynamics between the external and internal forces. I also had to research almost every step of the book, since I needed to know how society would break down after a cataclysmic event. However, this project has also been the most rewarding to have accomplished.

  As for the second question: I can comfortably write a book in a year and a half, but I wrote The Outcast in six months (that was before my eldest daughter was born).

  7.) Name your three biggest frustrations about the writing business.

  I love marketing, and I love writing, but sometimes I find it difficult to truly juggle both and do each well. I have found, however, as I draw closer to deadline, that I just need to check out of marketing and really get honed in on the book. Once it’s turned in, then I can take a few weeks and work on guest posts (as I’m doing now) and have them scheduled for the book’s release. By that time, my book is usually returned from my editor, and I can continue the editing process until it’s completed.

  I am incredibly grateful for my job, and for the fact that I can work from home and be there for my daughters during each and every step of their childhoods. I wouldn’t trade that aspect for the world. However, being a novelist is not a very dependable income (authors get a royalty check every six months, and then advances according to their next release), and our family could not subsist on it alone. On the average, though, I work about four hours a day, and so I really cannot complain.

  Hmm, I’m having a hard time thinking of a third one. Perhaps it’s difficult at times not to constantly look around, scoping out if someone has better reviews or more silly “Likes” than you. That’s also why it’s good to step away from social media from time to time and focus on the world immediately around you. And on what really matters. I think, with everything, it all comes down to being grateful for what you have.

  8.) On the flip side, what excites you the most about the creative process?

  My favorite part of the creative process is when I can read over my novel one last time before turning it in, and it no longer seems like a mishmash of ideas that have been floating around in my head for years, but a cohesive, living, breathing entity that exists entirely beyond me and my realm of imagination. That feeling never gets old!

  9.) What are you reading at the moment, and who are a few of your favorite authors and why?

  I just finished Atonement by Ian McEwan, which I really enjoyed. I love when I can see the scenes play out in my head, and each was beautiful and evoked through such lyrical language. Another favorite is Donna Tartt of The Goldfinch, The Secret History, and The Little Friend (that author fascinates me—she’s so mysterious with her little suits and stiff way of walking and cropped black hair); I love Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life (very unique story, really makes you think, but you have to take a while to process it all). I enjoy Ron Rash. His novel, Serena, is so atmospheric, it practically crackles! I met Mr. Rash once, at the Southern Festival of Books, and he was so incredibly kind.

  IMG_0459

  Jolina Petersheim is the bestselling author of The Alliance, The Midwife, and The Outcast, which Library Journal called “outstanding . . . fresh and inspirational” in a starred review and named one of the best books of 2013. Her writing has been featured in venues as varied as radio programs, nonfiction books, and numerous online and print publications such as Reader’s Digest, Writer’s Digest, and Today’s Christian Woman. Jolina and her husband share the same unique Amish and Mennonite heritage that originated in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, but now live on a solar-powered farm in the Driftless Region of Wisconsin with their young daughters. Jolina blogs regularly at www.jolinapetersheim.com

The Alliance
Carolyn Richard
Booklist.
112.18 (May 15, 2016): p19.
COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
The Alliance. By Jolina Petersheim. June 2016. 400p. Tyndale, $22.99 (9781496413994); paper, $14.99
(9781496402219).
Petersheim (The Midwife, 2014) tells a unique, inspirational, apocalyptic tale set in a Mennonite paradise. When an
electromagnetic pulse (EMP) effectively ends life as everyone knows it, Leora Ebersole's Mennonite community must
band together with the Englischers stranded among them, including Moses Hughes, a pilot who crashed in Leora's
fields when the EMP hit. The two join forces to protect her people's land and assets against outsiders turned desperate
in the crisis. Although their approaches could not be more different­­Leora is a pacifist and Moses is a trained fighter­­
the two find themselves answering life's big questions more and more similarly as they draw close. Their bond is
tested, however, when Moses discovers a truth that could affect everything Leora believes about her family. Petersheim
has written a novel of hope forged in unlikely circumstances and a romance sparked in the cold of despair. Readers of
faith who have questioned their place in the world, who wonder what they might become if society's bounds no longer
held them, will be enthralled.­­Carolyn Richard
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Richard, Carolyn. "The Alliance." Booklist, 15 May 2016, p. 19. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA453913552&it=r&asid=01d0809a50f482ae41fe34b4dc3cf193.
Accessed 2 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A453913552

The Alliance
Publishers Weekly.
263.15 (Apr. 11, 2016): p45.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Alliance.
Jolina Petersheim. Tyndale, $22.99 (355p) ISBN 978­1­4964­1399­4
In Petersheim's dystopian religious tale, set in the near­future U.S., two very different people­­an Old Order Mennonite
and a hardened military pilot­­are unexpectedly brought together. When Moses Hughes's plane crashes in Leora
Ebersole's field in Mt. Hebron, Mont., her pacifist Mennonite community takes the injured pilot in, showing their usual
hospitality as stories of widespread power outages trickle in from the neighboring Englischers. Moses's theory about
the reason for the outages leads to an uneasy alliance between the Mennonites and the Englischers stranded by the
power outages in their area. Leora, forced to lead her family after her father's desertion two years before, holds tightly
to her faith and traditions. But the deteriorating culture around them brings danger to their doorstep, and Leora must
wrestle with long­held convictions and fears. She and Moses walk an emotional tightrope as they develop romantic
feelings for each other. This unusual dystopian work mixes hope and faith with fear and cynicism as Leora must
determine whether her pacifism is merely adherence to her community's collective belief or a personal, faith­based
conviction as well. How valid is violence in defense of loved ones? Will her community stay true to their convictions
and faith? Petersheim (The Outcast) focuses less on the outcome of the destroyed society and more on the internal
conflict within the characters in this astute meditation on the intersection between belief systems and the politics of
aggression. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"The Alliance." Publishers Weekly, 11 Apr. 2016, p. 45+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA449662983&it=r&asid=359ecb33d43c2f94c61dbbedbd07f428.
Accessed 2 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A449662983

The Alliance
Internet Bookwatch.
(Aug. 2016):
COPYRIGHT 2016 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Full Text:
The Alliance
Jolina Petersheim
Tyndale House Publishers
351 Executive Drive, Carol Stream, IL 60188
www.tyndale.com
9781496413994, $22.99, HC, 384pp, www.amazon.com
When Leora Ebersole sees the small plane crash in her Old Order Mennonite community, she has no idea it's a
foreshadowing of things to come. Soon after the young pilot, Moses Hughes, regains consciousness, they realize his
instruments were destroyed by the same power outage that killed the electricity at the community store, where
Englischers are stranded with dead cell phones and cars that won't start. Moses offers a sobering theory, but no one can
know how drastically life is about to change. With the only self­sustaining food supply in the region, the Pacifist
community is forced to forge an alliance with the handful of stranded Englischers in an effort to protect not only the
food but their very lives. In the weeks that follow, Leora, Moses, and the community will be tested as never before,
requiring them to make decisions they never thought possible. Whom will they help and whom will they turn away?
When the community receives news of a new threat, everyone must decide how far they're willing to go to protect their
beliefs and way of life. In "The Alliance", author Jolina Petersheim demonstrates an original and exceptional
storytelling talent as novelist. A riveting and thoroughly entertaining read from beginning to end, "The Alliance" is
unreservedly recommended and certain to be an enduringly popular addition to community library General Fiction
collections. For personal reading lists it should be noted that "The Alliance" is also available in a paperback edition
(9781496402219, $14.99) and in a Kindle format ($8.46).
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"The Alliance." Internet Bookwatch, Aug. 2016. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA462046406&it=r&asid=4c9a0476ea12903cb234b99150ff2b0a.
Accessed 2 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A462046406

Richard, Carolyn. "The Alliance." Booklist, 15 May 2016, p. 19. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA453913552&it=r. Accessed 2 Feb. 2017. "The Alliance." Publishers Weekly, 11 Apr. 2016, p. 45+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA449662983&it=r. Accessed 2 Feb. 2017. "The Alliance." Internet Bookwatch, Aug. 2016. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA462046406&it=r. Accessed 2 Feb. 2017.

• Novel Reviews
  http://novelreviews.blogspot.com/2016/09/jolina-petersheims-alliance-reviewed.html
  Word count: 492

  Wednesday, September 21, 2016
  Jolina Petersheim's The Alliance ~ Reviewed

  The Alliance
  Molina Petersheim
  Series: The Alliance
  Paperback: 384 pages
  Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.; Author Signed edition (June 1, 2016)
  Language: English
  ISBN-10: 1496402219

  Description:

  When Leora Ebersole sees the small plane crash in her Old Order Mennonite community, she has no idea it's a foreshadowing of things to come. Soon after the young pilot, Moses Hughes, regains consciousness, they realize his instruments were destroyed by the same power outage that killed the electricity at the community store, where Englischers are stranded with dead cell phones and cars that won't start.

  Moses offers a sobering theory, but no one can know how drastically life is about to change. With the only self-sustaining food supply in the region, the Pacifist community is forced to forge an alliance with the handful of stranded Englischers in an effort to protect not only the food but their very lives.

  In the weeks that follow, Leora, Moses, and the community will be tested as never before, requiring them to make decisions they never thought possible. Whom will they help and whom will they turn away? When the community receives news of a new threat, everyone must decide how far they're willing to go to protect their beliefs and way of life.

  Review:

  The Alliance takes place in an Old Order Mennonite Community. Leora Ebersole is taken aback when a small plane crashes in her community. The pilot, Moses Hughes, regains concsiousness, and realizes his plane crashed because his instruments were destroyed by a strange power outage the took out the electricity and power in all of the local stores. Not only that, the cars and cell phones of the Englishers in town were not working either. Moses, theory is that there was an EMP attack, causing the loss of all power and electricity, and that it will not come back. This results in the town and the Englischers coming together to ration food and protect their families and belongings from anyone who might come along from the cities. This ordeal tests both Leora and Moses, not only in their faith, but the struggle they have with the growing attraction they feel towards each other.

  This was a very interesting storyline that I did not expect when I started the story. I guess the thing that hits home is that this is something that could realistically happen today, and it makes you wonder what will happen, how the world will react, and how we as believers are to conduct ourselves. Of course, God is sovereign over all, and we can trust him if something like this happens. However, it is a bit scary to think about. I'm hoping there is a sequel to this book as I felt like the ending was abrupt.

  Reviewed by: Sarah Meyers

• Amandainpa
  https://amandainpa.wordpress.com/2016/05/29/the-alliance-by-jolina-petersheim-review/
  Word count: 509

  The Alliance by Jolina Petersheim Review
  MAY 29, 2016 ~ AMANDAINPA
  ta

  Goodreads Synopsis: When Leora Ebersole sees the small plane crash in her Old Order Mennonite community, she has no idea it’s a foreshadowing of things to come. Once the young pilot, Moses Hughes, regains consciousness, they realize his instruments were destroyed by the same power outage that killed the electricity at the community store, where Englischers are stranded with dead cell phones and cars that won’t start.

  Moses offers a sobering theory, but no one can know how drastically life is about to change. With the only self-sustaining food supply in the region, the Pacifist community is forced to forge an alliance with the handful of stranded Englischers in an effort to protect not only the food but their very lives.

  In the weeks that follow, Leora, Moses, and the community will be tested as never before, requiring them to make decisions they never thought possible. Whom will they help and whom will they turn away? When the community receives news of a new threat, everyone must decide how far they’re willing to go to protect their beliefs and way of life.

  My Thoughts: The synopsis of this book was very intriguing to me. I went through an Amish Romance reading phase shortly after getting married but after reading numerous books with very similar plots, I strayed from that genre. This book does feature Old Order Mennonite characters but the story is vastly different from the Amish books I was used to. It is an apocalyptic/ disaster type story where America is affected by an EMP.

  The story was extremely interesting but it caused me to have some anxiety while reading it. Knowing that this scenario is definitely possible, I was a bit stressed as I am very good at jumping to conclusions and blowing things out of proportion in my mind. (This is why I avoid the news at all costs). I did not lower my rating because of my anxiety…I finally decided to read it as a fictional story and nothing else which really helped.

  There is a lot of character development in this story. It explores the way people can change when faced with life-changing circumstances and impending danger. Leora, the main character was a bit unlikable at first but as her past is revealed it becomes more understandable why she is who she is.

  The premise was very interesting and unique. This would be a great book club book as it could promote a lot of discussion of many issues.

  My only problem with the book was the romance…I am not a fan of romance in books and this one seemed slightly unnecessary to me. I could see some people enjoying the romance but I could have done without it.

  My Rating: 4 stars

  I received this book from Tyndale House Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

• Trinity Rose's Garden
  http://thelifeandtimesofwanda.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-alliance-by-jolina-petersheim-review.html
  Word count: 570

  Wednesday, September 7, 2016

  The Alliance by Jolina Petersheim A Review

  ABOUT THE ALLIANCE

  When Leora Ebersole sees the small plane crash in her Old Order Mennonite community, she has no idea it's a foreshadowing of things to come. Soon after the young pilot, Moses Hughes, regains consciousness, they realize his instruments were destroyed by the same power outage that killed the electricity at the community store, where Englischers are stranded with dead cell phones and cars that won't start.

  Moses offers a sobering theory, but no one can know how drastically life is about to change. With the only self-sustaining food supply in the region, the Pacifist community is forced to forge an alliance with the handful of stranded Englischers in an effort to protect not only the food but their very lives.

  In the weeks that follow, Leora, Moses, and the community will be tested as never before, requiring them to make decisions they never thought possible. Whom will they help and whom will they turn away? When the community receives news of a new threat, everyone must decide how far they're willing to go to protect their beliefs and way of life.

  File Size: 15811 KB
  Print Length: 384 pages
  Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (June 1, 2016)
  Publication Date: June 1, 2016
  Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
  Language: English
  ASIN: B0198V4LL0

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  Jolina Petersheim is the bestselling author of The Midwife and The Outcast, which Library Journal called "outstanding . . . fresh and inspirational" in a starred review and named one of the best books of 2013. Her writing has been featured in venues as varied as radio programs, nonfiction books, and numerous online and print publications such as Reader's Digest, Writer's Digest, and Today's Christian Woman. Jolina and her husband share the same unique Amish and Mennonite heritage that originated in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, but now live on a solar-powered farm in the Driftless Region of Wisconsin with their young daughters. Follow Jolina and her blog at jolinapetersheim.com.

  MY REVIEW
  I usually don’t like to read Mennonite or Amish books, because it’s usually the same old thing, but The Alliance seemed different to me. Also I’ve read several books this year about a huge power outage that takes the whole world {must be the year for that} and how it affects everyone and how food would run out along with not having any cars/trucks that would work because of how cars are made now.
  The Alliance tells how the Mennonite don’t believe in wars and fighting back and how some Englischers got stuck in their community and how they worked together to protect each other.
  Leora and Moses are so different, but so alike in many ways.
  One thing I didn’t see as natural is the romance in the middle of a crisis. A lot of people would disagree with me, but I don’t see it happening.
  This is the first book I’ve read by Jolina Petersheim and it won’t be the last. She writes a good story, but some of it was hard for me to believe. So much of it just seemed like the characters were pretending.
  I will however recommend it and most people will enjoy it.

• Beauty on the Backroads
  http://lisabartelt.com/2016/06/hope-the-end-of-the-world-review-of-the-alliance-by-jolina-petersheim/
  Word count: 319

  UNE 8, 2016 BY LISA 1 COMMENT

  HOPE & THE END OF THE WORLD: REVIEW OF THE ALLIANCE BY JOLINA PETERSHEIM

  Two words I never thought I’d put together in a book review: Amish and apocalypse. But here we are with The Alliance by Jolina Petersheim. I should note that the Plain community in this novel is Old Order Mennonite, not Amish, though the two have similarities. And it really is set when the world, as we know it, ends. (Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book through the Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for my review.) alliance

  When a small plane crashes in Leora Ebersole’s Plain community in Montana, it’s clear that something major has happened in the world. The pilot, Moses Hughes, reveals that an epic power outage is the reason for the stranded Englischers and the lack of electricity. As the Old Order Mennonite community becomes a refuge, the two groups must decide if they can work together to stay alive while navigating their differing beliefs about pacifism and protection.

  This is not a “Walking Dead” kind of apocalyptic story, but it does raise challenging questions about how far a person is willing to deviate from their beliefs in order to save those they love. My only disappointment is that I didn’t know there is a second, forthcoming book, in this series. So, the end is not exactly the end. I’m eager to learn more about the lives of Leora and Moses as the end of the world as they know it intensifies.

  Petersheim is a gifted wordsmith, and her tone throughout the novel is one of hope despite circumstances. The Alliance is such a rare read. I don’t know of another book of its kind. I don’t usually read apocalyptic novels, but this one I can wholeheartedly recommend.

• Straight off the Page
  http://straightoffthepage.com/the-alliance/
  Word count: 2241

  THE ALLIANCE
  Admin | July 15, 2016 | Reviews | 4 Comments
  FTC Disclaimer
  The AllianceThe Alliance by Jolina Petersheim
  Genres: Apocalyptic, Contemporary, Mennonite
  Published by Tyndale Publishing on June 1, 2016
  Pages: 384

  About The Alliance (from the back cover):
  When Leora Ebersole sees the small plane crash in her Old Order Mennonite community, she has no idea it’s a foreshadowing of things to come. Once the young pilot, Moses Hughes, regains consciousness, they realize his instruments were destroyed by the same power outage that killed the electricity at the community store, where Englischers are stranded with dead cell phones and cars that won’t start.

  Moses offers a sobering theory, but no one can know how drastically life is about to change. With the only self-sustaining food supply in the region, the Pacifist community is forced to forge an alliance with the handful of stranded Englischers in an effort to protect not only the food but their very lives.

  In the weeks that follow, Leora, Moses, and the community will be tested as never before, requiring them to make decisions they never thought possible. Whom will they help and whom will they turn away? When the community receives news of a new threat, everyone must decide how far they’re willing to go to protect their beliefs and way of life.

  I am a big fan of Jolina’s work, so when I heard she had a new book coming this year, it immediately went on my wish list – when I heard the premise of the story – about the loss of technology and its rippling effect on an Old Order Mennonite community, I couldn’t wait to read it. In The Alliance, Jolina brings her knowledge of the Mennonite faith, while bringing in the element of societal collapse.

  There are some moments of danger and action, but readers expecting the typical “end-of-the-world,” apocalyptic tale might find a slower pace due to its more introspective, character-driven nature.

  The story did unfold in a totally different way than I was expecting, but that is in no way a bad thing. It is about the ramifications of this catastrophic event for the Mennonite community, especially in regards to how they would interact when the outside world appeared at their gate. There are some moments of danger and action, but readers expecting the typical “end-of-the-world,” apocalyptic tale might find a slower pace due to its more introspective, character-driven nature. I think this set up is perfect for starting with a strong, unpredictable beginning with the next book.

  Told in alternating chapters from both Leora Ebersole, a young Mennonite woman, and Moses Hughes, an outsider whose plane crashed inside the community, the story is both about the danger of the outside, as well as the question of how far she and the community are willing to uphold their beliefs despite the potential risk to their very lives. Leora’s life up to this point hasn’t been easy, and even before the outside world begins to collapse, she has already been having doubts about her way of life and what is expected of her as a Mennonite woman. Once things begin to happen, she is forced to face these doubts and make decisions based on feelings that she hasn’t truly come to terms with yet. Moses is probably the more secretive of the two; the allusions to his past are general enough that he keeps readers at arms-length, but with enough specifics to leave me with a strong wish to learn more in book two. There is a bit of a love triangle, which I usually don’t like, but in this case, it felt right and gave another layer to the plot.

  I love books that make me question myself, especially when I’m challenged and humbled by the initial direction of my thoughts, and The Alliance definitely did that for me.

  Because it was so focused on Leora and Moses, sometimes I did want a bigger picture of how things were in the community as a whole, however, it also made it a very personal, though-provoking read – I wondered the entire time whether or not I’d do what Leora or Moses was choosing to do – if not, what would I do? I love books that make me question myself, especially when I’m challenged and humbled by the initial direction of my thoughts, and The Alliance definitely did that for me. I’m not sure if this was on purpose or not, but I often felt frustrated by not knowing just how bad things were outside of the community, then I realized that must be exactly how the characters felt. Despite them choosing to continue their lives as usual – other than an alliance with the stranded Englischers, of course – there was an overall atmosphere of foreboding because they didn’t know what was happening, who might come for them or when.

  I was enthralled with The Alliance, a story both similar and different from Jolina’s previous books.

  I was enthralled with The Alliance, a story both similar and different from Jolina’s previous books. It has the Old Order Mennonite connection, with the unique premise of how they would react in the event of a widespread breakdown of society. I eagerly await the next book to see what becomes of Moses, Leora and her family, and the community as a whole. I feel that The Alliance has just scratched the surface of what they are willing to sacrifice to preserve their way of life and what they are willing to let go and wait with great anticipation to find out what comes next.

  –Beth

  I have been a little late in joining Jolina Petersheim’s fan club. She entered the Amish scene around the time that I was getting a bit burned out and took a break from it. In spite of my desire to move on to a different genre, I couldn’t escape the glowing reviews of Jolina’s debut novel—especially those written by people who wouldn’t normally touch Amish fiction—and finally listened to both The Outcast and The Midwife on audiobook. (Sidenote—Tavia Gilbert is an amazing narrator. She could probably recite the dictionary and make it sound riveting). Her books are not your typical Amish fare, so if you’re in the same boat as me and a little tired of the standard plots found in this genre, I’d urge you to give Jolina Petersheim a shot. It’ll be worth it!

  The subject matter of Jolina’s first two novels were pretty challenging and controversial—out of wedlock pregnancy and surrogacy—but The Alliance definitely takes it a notch higher. I wasn’t sure if I’d have time to review The Alliance, but when I saw the synopsis I knew I had to try to squeeze it into my schedule. How could I pass up a post-apocalyptic Mennonite novel? On the one hand, this mash up of genres sounds totally off the wall, but on the other hand, who hasn’t watched a post-apocalyptic film and not thought, “Well, we’ll be screwed if this happens, but the Amish will be sorted with their buggies and self-sustaining farms”? I’m actually kind of surprised no one has written about this before. It’s a fascinating premise.

  The subject matter of Jolina’s first two novels were pretty challenging and controversial—out of wedlock pregnancy and surrogacy—but The Alliance definitely takes it a notch higher.

  In spite of the chaos that occurs at the start of The Alliance, the majority of the novel feels pretty slow moving. Sure, a pilot has just crash-landed in Leora’s field, but their lives don’t change dramatically as a result of whatever has happened to the world. Leora’s Mennonite community are still pretty safe in their little technology-free bubble. Tough decisions need to be made about protecting their community and rationing food, but a large chunk of the book kind of feels like it’s spent waiting for something big to happen.

  If you’re wanting a book that delves into the catastrophic effects of an EMP or the desperate levels people will go to in order to survive, this probably isn’t the one for you—although I do wonder if these issues will be explored more in the sequel. The Alliance is definitely more of a character study of how two very different people struggle to come to terms with their faith and convictions in the face of unknown dangers and a world that has rapidly changing. To begin with, Leora and Moses appear to be polar opposites, but as the novel develops we see how they’re actually very alike, in spite of their very different backgrounds.

  The Alliance is definitely more of a character study of how two very different people struggle to come to terms with their faith and convictions in the face of unknown dangers and a world that has rapidly changing.

  Leora isn’t your typical Amish woman, and I’ve seen some reviews complaining about this. Personally, I don’t think it would have been all that interesting to read about a Mennonite woman who refused to compromise on her beliefs in the face of a terrifying post-apocalyptic future. The fact that Leora does consider the possibility of bearing arms to protect her siblings, and is angry that she doesn’t get to vote on how the community moves forward just because she’s female, make her all the more fascinating and relatable. It’s easy to hold true to our convictions when life is safe and consistent, but not so straight-forward when we’re facing an uncertain and dangerous future. I got the impression that Leora had been grappling with parts of her faith before the EMP occurred, and this event was the catalyst that forced her to really reassess whether she truly aligned to the Mennonite belief system.

  Moses felt a bit more distant than Leora, and I hope his character is developed further in the sequel. His backstory and beliefs are slowly trickled out over the course of the novel, but I felt like there was still more to know and understand about him. I appreciated that he helped to reaffirm Leora’s faith rather than dragging her further away from it, and challenged her whenever she suggested something out of character. Moses was definitely a bit more Alpha than I like my heroes, but I probably prefer him to Jabil Snyder. A few reviewers have claimed that there’s a love-triangle in The Alliance, but I’m not entirely certain if one exists. Jabil may be actively vying for Leora’s affections, but I never felt like she seriously considered him as a prospect. I appreciated the clear differences between Jabil’s desire to protect Leora, and Moses trying to balance keeping her safe and treating her like the mature free-thinking adult she is.

  It’s easy to hold true to our convictions when life is safe and consistent, but not so straight-forward when we’re facing an uncertain and dangerous future.

  A lot happens at the end of this novel, and I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it all. The love-triangle (if you want to call it that) isn’t resolved, and I’m kind of glad about that as it’s actually pretty realistic to have a budding romance interrupted by disaster and action when your novel is set during an apocalypse, right? Still, so much happened at the conclusion of this novel and I may venture to suggest that maybe too much occurred all at once, especially given the sudden change of pace. A long-lost family member of Leora’s is thrown into the mix, along with a surprising backstory that kind of felt like it came out of nowhere. A subplot about Leora’s younger sister is cleared up a rather anti-climatic fashion. I will admit that I read an ARC, and maybe these two issues are woven into the plot better in the final version of the book? I also didn’t realise that there would be a sequel to this book, so I expected the story to wrap up at the conclusion, not ramp up into a cliffhanger, so I may have felt differently if I’d been aware that this was not a standalone novel.

  It’s been a few days and I’m still kind of reeling from all the fast-paced action and tension at the end of The Alliance. Even if I didn’t find the conclusion to this novel entirely satisfactory, I unequivocally recommend this book to anyone who a) is intrigued by post-apocalyptic scenarios, b) wants to see something entirely different done with the Amish genre, or c) just wants proof that Christian novels don’t have to be cheesy and can actually be beautifully and skillfully written. I’m not sure how long we’ll have to wait for The Divide, but I’m intrigued to see where Jolina takes this community next.

  –Rachel

• Bipolar for Christ
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  Word count: 916

  The Midwife by Jolina Petersheim ~ Review ~

  JULY 17, 20144GAZPACHO BOOK REVIEWS 1 COMMENT

  Midwife

  The Midwife by Jolina Petersheim

  When you read this book, be prepared for an unusual chronology. The prologue is a glimpse into the future, mysterious and puzzling. It does not prepare you for what’s to come, but rather sets the tone for the book.

  In the opening chapters we are introduced to Beth Winslow, a graduate student assigned to Dr. Thomas Fitzpatrick. To assist in the completion of her Master’s degree, she has agreed to become the gestational surrogate for the doctor and his wife, Meredith. It’s 1995 and soon Beth will be faced with a life changing dilemma.

  Then we are transported to the present, 2014, and meet Rhoda Mummau, a midwife for Hopen Haus in the tiny community of Dry Hollow, Pennsylvania. Hopen Haus is a charity home for unwed pregnant girls, run by the Mennonite church. The house had just received some unwelcome (for religious reasons) publicity and out of the past, Rhoda’s past, Ernest Looper shows up and offers his services as handyman. It is clear that he and Rhoda share some type of history.

  Midwife quote3

  From then on the story hops from Beth in the past to Rhoda in the present. The author keeps the reader mystified about their connection until about a third of the way through the book when we start to see some patterns.

  After the newspaper article about Hopen Haus was published, Amelia arrives. She is pregnant like the other girls and is trying to decide what to do with her life. We begin to see what living at Hopen Haus is like through the eyes of one of the patients. Amelia makes friends with Lydie, a 16-year-old Mennonite living at the Haus until she has her baby. It’s an odd friendship, a rich city girl and a mennonite; but it works.

  Midwife quote2

  At first, I found the shifting chronology to be annoying and confusing. It appeared aimless to me until some of the puzzle pieces fell into place. What kept me motivated to read was the desire to make sense of the opening story. Looking back, I can better appreciate the chronology presented since it was the timing of revealed factors that added to the suspense and urgency. I’m still not a fan of this approach, but in this story it serves to increase expectations. I just couldn’t put the book down.

  What genre is this book written in? I can tell you better what it is not than what it is. For example, it is not a typical romance although there is a satisfying conclusion and the presence of some romance. Midwife quote1It is not a boy meets girl kind of story. Many of the characters are not who they claim to be. Yet this is a story that does not easily fit into the mystery, suspense, or thriller genres. There is some mystery, some suspense, but those are not the driving force. It has more character development than action, so it is not a thriller or an action and adventure book. This is not even a “bonnets” story, even though the midwife, Rhoda, is Mennonite, wears a cape dress, apron, and a prayer kapp. Being Mennonite is pretty much incidental because the central issues revolve around identity, acceptance, pain, loss, hiding, finding love, and resolution. In essence, it is a contemporary tale that deals with some hard-hitting issues at the core. The thought provoking problems seem to have come out of the author’s “what if” file, assuming she has one. I don’t think you can pin a particular genre to this book. As I read, the thing uppermost in my mind was a big question mark.

  Midwife quote5

  The segment I found most heartwarming was the friendship Rhoda found in Fanny Graber, the head midwife of Hopen Haus when Rhoda first arrived there pregnant and frightened. A special friendship developed between the elderly Mennonite and the young girl. Rhoda met the Lord because of Fanny. It was the first time she felt completely accepted, wanted and loved. Eventually, Fanny taught her to be a midwife. It was a task Rhoda adopted as her own mission–to care for the girls who came for assistance–even after Fanny had passed on.

  Midwife quote4

  There are parts of the book that will grip you and emotionally wring you dry. Most of the accounts are told in the first person, so that the point of view becomes personal to the reader. Toward the end, the resolution includes some twists in the plot that, in spite of a few clues, will still surprise the reader. That said, I still found more satisfaction from the second reading of the book. Once I had more of the pieces in place in my mind, it was easier for me to follow.

  Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from NetGalley on behalf of Tyndale House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

• JC's BookShelf
  https://jcsbookshelf.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/a-review-of-the-midwife-by-jolina-petersheim/
  Word count: 776

  A review of “The Midwife” by Jolina Petersheim
  MAY 14, 2014 ~ JCMORROWS
  The Midwife by Jolina PetersheimWhat can I say about The Midwife?

  I can say this. It is not a easy story to read.

  Jolina Petersheim deals with some very strong and serious issues in The Midwife and it will be a very difficult book for a lot of women to read.

  In my own case, it’s exceptionally difficult and I’m certain that has colored every perception that grew from the reading of this intensely emotional story.

  Am I saying not to read this book?

  NO. I am not saying that at all.

  In fact, if you enjoy intense drama and deep emotional turmoil, this is definitely the book for you.

  In fact, Jolina’s writing is so exceptional, I was drawn into the story – even when I was thoroughly disgusted with several different things about it.

  I know it’s probably silly but I don’t care for the cover at all. In fact, I almost didn’t request it because of the cover alone but you know the old adage – “Never judge a book by it’s cover.”

  I don’t care for the back and forth way the story is told – it’s difficult to keep up with and it seems unnecessary once the “big revelation” is made (not saying anymore than that), but it continues to the last chapter. It took me almost to the end of the book to understand why it has to be this way but I don’t care for it nonetheless.

  I really don’t care much for Rhoda Mummau at all. She is not at all what she is supposed to be. Yes, she is human and humans make mistakes so her character is very believable and that is another thing that shows Jolina’s skill as a writer. We don’t have to like main characters for them to be written well.

  So… What did I like about the story? That one is a tough question to answer without giving too much away. There are a lot of things revealed throughout the story that gave insight into why our characters are the way they are and I LOVE that Jolina put those tidbits in. Again, it just goes to show her depth as a writer. She knows that out characters have to have flaws to be “real”. And she doesn’t hesitate to paint them in vivid detail.

  I liked the ending. I wish there had been more of it but I did like where everything ended up. I was very afraid for a long time that I was going to hate the ending so it was a vindication for my pushing on to the end to see where it all went. It wasn’t a perfect little fairy tale happy ending but it fit the story very well.

  I liked how Jolina brought to many different things in to affect the characters lives. Without these small details and events, it would have been far too dry. But Jolina clearly knew what she was doing and brought in enough details to fill out the story and give it life.

  Here is what Tynedale has to say about The Midwife:

  Since the day Rhoda Mummau was baptized into the Old Order Mennonite Church and became the head midwife of Hopen Haus, she’s been torn between the needs of the unwed mothers under her care and her desire to conceal the secrets of her past. Contact with the outside world could provide medical advantages, but remaining secluded in the community gives her the anonymity she craves.

  Graduate student Beth Winslow is on a path she never would have chosen. Heartbroken after surrendering a baby to adoption, she devotes herself to her studies until she becomes pregnant again, this time as a surrogate. But when early tests indicate possible abnormalities, Beth is unprepared for the parents’ decision to end the pregnancy—and for the fierce love she feels for this unborn child. Desperate, she flees the city and seeks refuge at Hopen House.

  Past and present collide when a young woman named Amelia arrives to the sweeping countryside bearing secrets of her own. As Amelia’s due date draws near, Rhoda must face her past and those she thought she had left behind in order for the healing power of love and forgiveness to set them all free.

• Reading to Know
  http://www.readingtoknow.com/2014/06/the-midwife-by-jolina-petersheim.html
  Word count: 816

  FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 2014
  The Midwife, by Jolina Petersheim (giveaway)

  Jolina Petersheim has stories in her to tell. Granted, everyone has a story that they could tell, but not every personality has the ability to tell a story in an artful manner which makes them worthy of publication. (Yes. That is a very snooty statement. But I can make it because although I think I have stories to tell, I know well enough that I'm not skilled enough as a writer to begin telling them.) Petersheim, however, is proving she has what it takes to write a memorable, poignant story and I thoroughly enjoyed reading her new tale, The Midwife.

  If you will recall, I read her debut novel last year and I liked it well enough to know that I'd be curious to read more of her work. I was excited to receive a copy of The Midwife in the mail, courtesy of Tyndale House Publishers. I noted that the book was not due to be released until this month (June) so I put it on the shelf to pull out in due time and was delighted to realize that the time had finally arrived. I plucked the book off the shelf and sat down to read and discovered myself unwilling to get back up again except for severe life interruptions. The Midwife is positively enthralling.

  The story opens with an introduction to a young graduate student by the name of Elizabeth Winslow. She has volunteered to be a surrogate mother for one of her professors and his wife. However, complications have arisen with the pregnancy causing the biological parents to wonder if the child should ultimately be granted a chance at life. We flip back and forth between Elizabeth in the early 1990's to the present day where we observe Rhoda Mammau. Rhoda is the head midwife at Hopen Haus which is located in an Old Order Mennonite community. Hopen Haus operates as a place of refuge for single women who discover that they are pregnant. These women can come and live at the house at no charge while they are pregnant and receive prenatal care, boarding, and camaraderie, should they desire it. We meet several young ladies within the pages of The Midwife and the mystery of the book is how each one of their lives intersect.

  This is a story of moral questions, "political" issues, relationships, forgiveness, hope and courage. The characters are developed over the course of the book and each chapter adds a layer to each person as well as to the major and minor plot lines. The story weaves back and forth from the 90's to the present day. Although the story is set in an Old Order Mennonite community, the focus of the book is not on the habits and practices of those members. The community merely provides the backdrop for the story which is largely focused on Rhoda, the head midwife. I want to be careful not to provide spoilers but I will tell you that Petersheim shocked me with her plot twist at the end. Brilliantly satisfying, if I do say so myself. (Heh.)

  Petersheim wrote this story when she was pregnant and after she had suffered a miscarriage. Her love for a child in the womb is definitely strongly felt in this story. For me, the story was impacting from the perspective of just having completed an international adoption process (which lasted 2 1/2 years!). The idea of a child loved but given up for adoption definitely caught my attention and I felt for these single mothers who were struggling and alone as they were bringing dearly loved and wanted children into this world. I ached with characters who gave their babies up for adoption. I loved the birth mothers for making that choice because they knew it was the right one for them and for their child. I sympathized with their sense of loss because I think about both of my boys' birth mothers quite often. I think my sons' birth moms are amazingly strong women who have sacrificed their very hearts and consider myself in a partnership, of sorts, with them even though they do not know me. I will always be sharing a part of them and so I found the topic of adoption in this book both sad and heart warming. (Because it really is both.)

  The Midwife can be labeled "Christian Fiction" which I normally don't read because I think the genre is typically written very poorly. However, I think Petersheim writes memorable stories well. If she did try to preach a sermon in the book, she didn't do it in words which I remember; she preached a sermon through thoughtful storytelling. I appreciate that very much and have no hesitations in offering this book up for your consideration.

• Novel Reviews
  http://novelreviews.blogspot.com/2014/07/jolina-petersheims-midwife-reviewed.html
  Word count: 464

  Tuesday, July 29, 2014
  Jolina Petersheim's The Midwife ~ Reviewed

  THE MIDWIFE
  Jolina Petersheim
  Binding Softcover
  Release Date May 1, 2014
  Publisher Tyndale House Publishers
  ISBN 1414379358
  Pages 383

  Description

  Since the day Rhoda Mummau was baptized into the Old Order Mennonite Church and became the head midwife of Hopen Haus, she's been torn between the needs of the unwed mothers under her care and her desire to conceal the secrets of her past. Contact with the outside world could provide medical advantages, but remaining secluded in the community gives her the anonymity she craves.Graduate student Beth Winslow is on a path she never would have chosen. Heartbroken after surrendering a baby to adoption, she devotes herself to her studies until she becomes pregnant again, this time as a surrogate. But when early tests indicate possible abnormalities, Beth is unprepared for the parents' decision to end the pregnancy--and for the fierce love she feels for this unborn child. Desperate, she flees the city and seeks refuge at Hopen House.Past and present collide when a young woman named Amelia arrives to the sweeping countryside bearing secrets of her own. As Amelia's due date draws near, Rhoda must face her past and those she thought she had left behind in order for the healing power of love and forgiveness to set them all free.

  Review:

  The Midwife is the story of Rhoda Mummau. She was baptized into the Mennonite Church and became the head midwife of Hopen House, dedicated to helping young women who are pregnant and don’t know where to go. She finds herself torn between keeping Hopen House as it is and using it to hide from her past, and getting help from the “outside world” to make improvements to help the young women that come. We also learn about Beth Winslow, a graduate student who is still grieving after giving up a baby for adoption. In her grief, she agrees to help her professor by becoming a surrogate for him and his wife. In the process, she finds herself falling in love with this baby, while the parent’s decide to terminate the pregnancy due to the change of the baby being abnormal. Beth panics and runs away to Hopen Haus, hoping to find the refuge she’s looking for. As we read, we find Rhoda and Beth’s lives coming together in a series of unusual circumstances.

  This was a WONDERFUL book! I loved how it kept taking twists and turns, and you didn’t always know what was going to happen. I had a really hard time putting it down! I highly recommend this book. It was WONDERFUL!

  Reviewed by: Sarah Meyers

• Connywithay
  https://connywithay.wordpress.com/2013/03/21/the-outcast/
  Word count: 511

  MARCH 21, 2013 · 5:35 PM ↓ Jump to Comments
  The Outcast
  Title: The Outcast
  Author: Jolina Petersheim
  Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
  ISBN: 978-1-4143-7934-0

  In her debut novel, The Outcast, Jolina Petersheim’s character Rachel cries out to God, “I know I have already asked your forgiveness for my adultery, but I need to know that you really forgive. That you are not punishing my child for the sins I have committed.”

  At three hundred and seventy-three pages, this paperback book is touted as a modern retelling of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlett Letter from the perspective of current-day Amish / Mennonite living. With no profanity but situations about adultery that produces a child out of wedlock, the story is targeted toward mature Christian young adult or female readers. This reader wishes all pronouns related to Deity were capitalized for reverence.

  Nineteen year old independent Rachel becomes pregnant in the Mennonite Copper Creek community in Tennessee but adamantly refuses to reveal the father’s identity as she is not married. Her twin sister, Leah, becomes pregnant months later by her husband, the arrogant, prideful Tobias who wedded her to take care of his four children when their mother died five years ago. Now that his father, Amos, has recently passed away, Tobias has been chosen as bishop in the community and, to Leah’s dismay, casts Rachel out due to her premarital pregnancy. Tobias’s young brother, Judah, has always loved Rachel and has told her but due to the recent birth of her son, he questions her decisions and responsibilities when she becomes more and more Englisch.

  Upon Rachel’s excommunication, she befriends Ida Mae, a rough-talking, calloused woman with her own heart-breaking past who gives her a job with room and board at her supposedly Amish country store to make ends meet. Angered by his brother’s insistence that Rachel leave their sect, Judah follows Rachel, only to be rejected by her love so he leaves the state to search for solace. It is only when Rachel’s infant child has life-threatening medical issues that several lives intersect to uncover families’ hidden truths that endanger the calm, serene life on a rural Mennonite farm and beyond.

  Separated by bold headings, the tome is uniquely written from the viewpoints of Rachel and the deceased Amos who has the ability to witness his sons’ choices, errors and thoughts as each person deals with, confesses, accepts and forgives his or her own past sins. Both versions overlap as the reader is caught up in the secrets, lies and broken relationships that need to be told, forgiven and mended.

  Although predicable from the start, Petersheim writes emotionally and lovingly about her characters’ lives, lapses and longings as she blends old-fashioned, at times legalistic upbringings with current day society’s morals by learning to accept God’s unconditional love and forgiveness of one’s past mistakes.

  This book was furnished by Tyndale for review purposes.

• Healing Hearts
  http://edgyinspirationalauthor.blogspot.com/2013/07/my-review-of-outcast-modern-retelling.html
  Word count: 572

  THURSDAY, JULY 04, 2013

  My review of The Outcast, a modern retelling of The Scarlet Letter by Jolina Petersheim.

  About the book:

  Raised in an Old Order Mennonite community, Rachel Stoltzfus is a strong-willed single woman, content living apart from mainstream society until whispers stir the moment her belly swells with new life. Refusing to repent and name the partner in her sin, Rachel feels the wrath of the religious sect as she is shunned by those she loves most. She is eventually coerced into leaving by her brother-in-law, the bishop.

  But secrets run deep in this cloistered community, and the bishop is hiding some of his own, threatening his conscience and his very soul. When the life of Rachel’s baby is at stake, however, choices must be made that will bring the darkness to light, forever changing the lives of those who call Copper Creek home.

  My review:

  Wow! Not since reading Cantrell's "Into the Free," have I been so emotionally moved by a story. There were so many things that this author did well. Her writing style is emotionally evocative, and her words are expressed with such beauty that I became fully immersed in the book. Her use of characters to bring out different truths was sheer perfection. I especially loved how she used Amos's point of view from the "great cloud of witnesses" as a way of showing omniscience, but in a much more compelling fashion that is typically seen in fiction. It added more complexity and depth to the plot and revealed things the reader might otherwise not have known.

  The way the author slowly trickled in the facts that led up to the night Rachel's world imploded from one bad decision was extremely well done. It drew my attention like a mystery plot and kept me wondering, until a surge of emotion hit me when the secret was brought to light and the truth finally came out. The serious illness was a perfect conduit to provoke the needed revelation. The suffering Rachel felt while her son suffered was deep and profoundly written.

  I loved Judah so much for so many reasons. His undying devotion going back to their childhood made him so heroic in my eyes. The pain he felt and the forgiveness he extended -- after releasing the anger that seemed very natural given the unsavory revelation -- made me want to weep for him. Even Tobias made my heart ache because of the true repentance he experienced. What a difference it can make when we own our actions and stop blaming others for our own sins, eh?

  To sum things up, this was a fantastic book. In fact, of all the books that I've read this year, I think this one makes the top of my list. I read this entire book in a day. The premise intrigued me, but I've read many story plots that sounded great, but were weak in their execution. This was a powerful story on many levels. It is not a cookie cutter Amish/Mennonite plot, but unique and enthralling... for me as a reader. I normally won't read fiction about strict religious orders be they Amish or Mennonite, but this book surpassed my expectations. What a fantastic debut!

  The Outcast was published by Tyndale and released in July 2013.

• To Be A Person
  https://mautobeaperson.com/2013/11/05/book-review-the-outcast-by-jolina-petersheim/
  Word count: 901

  Published on November 5, 2013 Comments 2
  Book Review ~ The Outcast by Jolina Petersheim
  written by Miranda A. Uyeh
  About the Book

  The OutcastRaised in an Old Order Mennonite community, Rachel Stoltzfus is a strong-willed single woman, content living apart from mainstream society until whispers stir the moment her belly swells with new life. Refusing to repent and name the partner in her sin, Rachel feels the wrath of the religious sect as she is shunned by those she loves most. She is eventually coerced into leaving by her brother-in-law, the bishop.

  But secrets run deep in this cloistered community, and the bishop is hiding some of his own, threatening his conscience and his very soul. When the life of Rachel’s baby is at stake, however, choices must be made that will bring the darkness to light, forever changing the lives of those who call Copper Creek home.

  Genre

  Christian/Amish Fiction

  My Rating

  5 out of 5 (stars)

  My Review

  Where to begin?

  First of, this is an amazing story. Not in the over-the-top gleeful way, but in the truth-about-life solemn way. The first thing that struck me about this book was that EVERY character was guilty of something that led to another character’s grief or act of sin. Most times even, it was both cases. The ripple effect of everyone’s action, small or big, resonated in such a way that led to one huge mess. It brings to light the kinds of consequences and damages that can happen when we fail others in ways that we assume are harmless. Rachel was the outcast. But what led her to becoming that started since she was a little girl. Parents, siblings and the entire community at large, at the sidelines played some role that led to the story turning out the way it did.

  This story is dark in ways that I could never wish on anyone. It’s amazing how much a person could yearn for love, and the extent they are willing to go and get it. It’s also frightening the price paid when the people around you suffer when you insist on pride, self-righteousness and anger. But in the midst of this darkness, the healing power of God’s love and forgiveness was most evident, going to unbelievable depths to achieve good. Indeed, there is no brokenness caused by sin that God cannot heal.

  At a certain point in this book, I shut it, closed my eyes and shook my head. I asked, ‘How in the world is this going to end right?” Everything was such a mess. But then I opened it again and continued to read because I just had to know!

  Another lesson from this story—no sin is hidden under sun. You can use self-righteousness, hypocrisy, pride, anger and a lot of other shady things to try to cover it up. But if God decides at any moment to rise up and set things right, there is no where you can run and hide.

  God used the suffering of a certain, little character to unfold the truth and accomplish healing. Makes you think on a lot of things you witness happening today, like, why does God let a certain innocent person suffer (or even die)? But you just never know what God is up to. This is why it is best to ALWAYS trust God. Take this from this review, ‘God watches all things. He is not unaware of the happenings around us. The only way out of sin and the burden that comes with it, is repentance. And He comes quick to rescue.’

  In my opinion, this story brings out the conflicts between Rachel and Leah in the Bible, and also the ones between Joseph and his jealous brothers. At the same time it is able to stand on its own as a unique story, separate from these two. On the book cover it says it is the retelling of The Scarlet Letter, which I’ve never read. I just might find the book and pick it up some time when I have far less, to zero books on my TBR. Lol!

  We’ll see.

  Overall, it’s a wonderful read. I encourage everyone to read this book. Seriously. You’d be surprised what’ll you learn and take away.

  *Although I offer this review to the public, it is my opinion and simply that. Many thanks to Maggie Rowe, Senior Publicist/Tyndale House for a free copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

  About the Author

  Jolina PetersheimJolina Petersheim holds degrees in English and Communication Arts from the University of the Cumberlands. Though The Outcast is her first novel, her writing has been featured in venues as varied as radio programs, nonfiction books, and numerous online and print publications. Her blog is syndicated with The Tennessean’s “On Nashville” blog roll, as well as featured on other creative writing sites. Jolina and her husband share the same unique Amish and Mennonite heritage that originated in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, but now live in the mountains of Tennessee with their young daughter. Follow Jolina and her blog at http://www.jolinapetersheim.com/

• Novel Reviews
  http://novelreviews.blogspot.com/2013/07/jolina-petersheims-outcast-reviewed.html
  Word count: 316

  Friday, July 12, 2013
  Jolina Petersheim's The Outcast ~ Reviewed

  The Outcast
  By: Jolina Petersheim
  Format: Paperback
  Number of Pages: 400
  Vendor: Tyndale House
  Publication Date: 2013
  ISBN: 141437934X

  Description
  Raised in an Old Order Mennonite community, Rachel Stoltzfus is a strong-willed single woman, content living apart from mainstream society until whispers stir the moment her belly swells with new life. Refusing to repent and name the partner in her sin, Rachel feels the wrath of the religious sect as she is shunned by those she loves most. She is eventually coerced into leaving by her brother-in-law, the bishop.
  Review:
  The Outcast is a modern day re-telling of The Scarlet Letter. Rachel Stoltzfus was raised in an Old Order Mennonite Community, along with her twin sister, Leah. Shortly after Leah marries an older widower, Tobias, she asks Rachel to come live with them, as she is having a difficult pregnancy. By the time Leah’s baby is born, it becomes apparent that Rachel is also expecting, though she is un-married and refuses to reveal who the father is. She is kicked out of her sister’s home and left to fend for herself. As more secrets are revealed, other tragedies present themselves, threatening Leah, Rachel and Tobias’ relationships even further.
  I REALLY enjoyed this book. It’s been years since I’ve read The Scarlet Letter but I really enjoyed the parallels between the two stories. I also thought it interesting that the author chose the names Rachel and Leah for the twins. It takes you back to the Bible, with the struggle between Jacob and Esau, and Rachel and Leah. I really wasn’t sure what was going to happen next and I had a really hard time putting the book down. This was a great read!

  Reviewed by: Sarah Meyers

• Farm Fresh Adventures
  http://farmfreshadventures.blogspot.com/2013/07/book-review-outcast-by-jolina-petersheim.html
  Word count: 916

  July 11, 2013
  Fresh from the Bookshelf: The Outcast by Jolina Petersheim (Book Review)
  "Raised in an Old Order Mennonite community, Rachel Stoltzfus is a strong-willed single woman, content living apart from mainstream society until whispers stir the moment her belly swells with new life. Refusing to repent and name the partner in her sin, Rachel feels the wrath of the religious sect as she is shunned by those she loves most. She is eventually coerced into leaving by her brother-in-law, the bishop. But secrets run deep in this cloistered community, and the bishop is hiding some of his own, threatening his conscience and his very soul. When the life of Rachel’s baby is at stake, however, choices must be made that will bring the darkness to light, forever changing the lives of those who call Copper Creek home."

  So reads the back cover of this newly released Inspirational Fiction book The Outcast by Jolina Petersheim --a modern retelling of Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic "The Scarlet Letter". Are you intrigued yet?
  ***

  Let me start by saying...I don't pick Amish (at they lump all Amish/Mennonite based books into) fiction to read for pleasure. It's not my style and I usually avoid it. Don't ask me why--I really don't even know. I just don't. LOL! But this book called to me. It said "give me a try" and I admit I was curious about the Nathaniel Hawthorne link.

  The Mennonite community setting for this book works perfectly. Especially since it is set in modern times! It would have been impossible to pull off a strict old order society any other way. So that was brilliantly done.

  I actually want to go back and re-read The Scarlet Letter now just to compare the stories!

  One of the first things you will notice about this book is the narrative voice--We see two "voices" in this book. The primary voice is that of the principle character Rachel. We "see" her thoughts, emotions, actions... everything through her telling of events. It's the second voice that is unusual as it is in the form of Amos, a newly deceased father of two of the other characters. And I do mean newly deceased. He is being buried in the first chapter! LOL! He seems to speak on behalf of his two son's Tobias and Jacob (both of whom are the main men of the story) and chimes in little random comments to help the reader get to know them more clearly. But I admit it took me a while to "get" him and his purpose to the story....I'm not sure I could even explain it. You just have to read it to understand.

  The two lead females in this story are aptly named Rachel and Leah--identical twin sisters. Rachel moved in with Leah and her husband to help after Leah gives birth and is on bedrest. It is while she is living with her sister that everything (and by that--I mean THE incident) happens. In fact, the story seems to progress almost backwards in time as it starts AFTER Rachel's illegitimate baby is born and is several months old. And from there it slowly adds pieces of the past events in until you finally see everything clearly. It's a very clever way to tell the story.

  This story tackles so much within it's pages. Not only do we get an in depth view of the Amish/Mennonite life (both of which the author clearly knows backwards and forwards) but it explores the complexities of lust, sin, betrayal, family loyalties, single parenting, conflict between medicine and religion, repentance and forgiveness. Talk about a griping story!

  Did I mention the added layer of a mother having to deal with childhood cancer in her baby? That aspect alone held me captive!

  Even once I had determined for myself the answer to the burning question "Who is the father of Rachel's baby?" I didn't put it down--and not just because it wasn't over yet! No, by that time, I was rooting for some characters, hating others...not to mention cheering and crying as more of the plot unfolded.

  And I do mean crying---there were times I just had tears trickling down my cheeks while I read.

  The story ends with a definite twist (you won't see it coming!) but with a very satisfactory resolution.

  This book would not be my typical selection off the shelf--but anytime I become emotionally involved with the characters, I have to give the book a perfect score! The Outcast most definitely earned 5 out of 5 stars with me and I am eager to see what comes next from the author!

  If you like Amish Inspirational fiction--you will LOVE this book.
  If you don't like Amish fiction, but enjoy inspirational fiction in general--I think you will still LOVE this book.

  I applaud Ms. Petersheim for taking on multiple issues and not letting them get away from her. This book is NOT a light read (and not really for young girls due to subject matter)--but well worth your time and emotional investment.

  Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Tyndale Press as part of their book review bloggers program. All opinions expressed are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.

• Life Is Story
  http://www.lifeisstory.com/archive/the-midwife-jolina-petersheim/
  Word count: 347

  The Midwife – Jolina Petersheim
  Home»Archive»The Midwife – Jolina Petersheim
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  Posted By Josh Olds on Jun 1, 2014 in Archive, Fiction
  The Mennonite community doesn’t accept outsiders very easily. But, thanks to the head midwife’s misfortune and Rhoda’s nursing skills, she’s not only accepted into the community but given the position of head midwife at Hopen Haus. Secluded within the rural community, she is able to hide from the past mistakes she carries with her.
  Beth Winslow has agreed to become a surrogate for a couple in exchange for tuition money for graduate school in Boston. However, after an amniocentesis detects potential abnormalities with the child, the biological parents decide it would be best to terminate the pregnancy. Beth realizes that she has become attached to the unborn daughter and cannot bear harm to come to her, so she escapes to the safety of Hopen Haus.
  One day, a new teenager named Amelia arrives at Hopen Haus, pregnant and trying to find herself. She sparks a series of events that bring the past to the present, forever changing Rhoda and her view of the Creator’s love.
  I had a difficult time reading this book. Not because of the story, structure, or flow—but due to its sheer emotional power. This story made me really look at how difficult it would be to not only willingly give up my own child to someone that I didn’t know through adoption, but also to unwillingly give up a child to a couple that I knew would not be able to provide love for the child as well as I could. This story really took me on an emotional roller coaster with everything that happens.
  The story is told by three different viewpoints, two of which are the same person at different times in her life. Several parts of the story were predictable, but the ending still had a well placed surprise. It’s a beautifully told—and heartbreakingly felt—story.
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