The gentle yet strong woman

Anathema
by Colleen Coble
2008

After sneaking out of the house to meet up with her forbidden Englisch boyfriend Reece, Hannah Schwartz returns home only to find her Amish parents murdered by strychnine poisoning and her mother's beautiful quilts stolen. It is Hannah's fault. All her fault - at least according to Hannah. Convinced that God is now punishing her, Hannah runs away from her Parke County Indiana home and marries Reece. But she jumped from what she perceived to be the frying pan into the fire. Five years of marriage to Reece has been filled with verbal and physical abuse. The final straw is a fall down a flight of stairs just two weeks before the baby she carries within her is to be born. When Hannah wakes up in the hospital Reece, who never really wanted to have children, tells her the baby is dead. And so she runs again, vowing to never return to a life of abuse. But she can't go back home unless she begs forgiveness from the bishop. But it would also mean that she cannot divorce her Englisch husband.

Another five years pass and Hannah still cannot run from the past fast enough. It's lurking in the shadows. She receives a letter from Reece (sent through Hannah's aunt) stating their daughter is alive. Can it be true? The only way to know for sure is for Hannah to return to Parke County and face the very things that made her run in the first place. And forgive. And love herself.

I have had a bit of trouble determining the right genre for this book. So I have had to really look at the big three and our course book for assistance in its proper placement. Colleen Coble, an Indiana author, brings us a look into a woman who has lost her way and is trying to find her way back. Hannah is a conflicted woman because she has not yet faced the past. She's a woman who is quite good at beating on herself, making all of the sacrifices, and leaving nothing for herself. As in many novels in the women's lives and relationships genre, the big issues in Anathema are love (for oneself in this case), trust, and the importance of family. Yes, there is a mystery to be solved and the question as to whether her baby is alive or not. But she isn't the detective such as in those books that make up the mystery genre. The real story is Hannah and the issues that she, and so many other women, face. And that is why Anathema belongs in women's lives and nowhere else.

I would call this a likable book, but not great. An easy read if that is for what you are looking. I am surprised as to who committed the murders and why. And Coble does leave you wondering about Reece. The character is developed just to the point leaving the reader to decide on the part he plays in the events, his motive in all of this. It did bother me, though, that Hannah runs from her husband, the idea (I thought) to live in obscurity. But then she writes a book. And if anything catapults a person into the limelight with interviews and press releases, it's writing a book! So ....... But all in all, it's a nice little read.

Read-Alikes (Fiction Connection): Coming Home by David Lewis; Joy by Victoria Christopher Murray; Waking Samuel by Daniel Coyle

Recommended Authors (Fantastic Fiction): Lori Copeland, Lori Wick, Tracie Peterson, Wanda E. Brunstetter, Terri Blackstock, Laurine Snelling, Kim Vogel-Sawyer, Cathy Marie Hake, Karen Kingsbury, Beverly Lewis, Dee Henderson, Shelley Shepard Gray, Beth Wiseman, Tamera Alexander, Cindy Woodsmall.