Crossing Over: One Woman's Escape from Amish Life
Garrett lifts the veil from one of the most private, most fascinating Christian sects, the Amish. The fifth of seven children, she grew up in Kalona, Iowa, as a member of the strict Old Order Amish, who owned no motor vehicles and went without electricity and telephones. Unthinkably for an Old Order Amish young woman, she fell in love with an outsider 15 years her senior. Worse, he was divorced, and wedding him was equivalent to adultery in the eyes of the Amish. But leaving the order was her most serious offense, and for it she suffered the severe consequence of being shunned by her home community. Garrett is exceedingly honest, unafraid to criticize what she considers rigid and hypocritical in Amish behavior. Her subsequent life among "the English," as the low German-speaking Amish call outsiders, makes a wonderful tale of self-discovery, as her relationship with her husband slowly blossoms. Moving and life-affirming, the book ends on a hopeful note as her family comes to grudgingly accept her difficult, life-altering decision.June SawyersCopyright &#169; American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.