The Gifted: Christian Fiction Book by Ann Gabhart

    Amish fiction books abound and are very popular these days...but do you know very much about the Shakers?  Similar to the Amish in some ways, but very different in their theologies, Ann Gabhart fills us in on the Shaker religion in an interesting fiction novel.  The Gifted is the fifth book in this series about the Shakers, but each book is stand-alone, so don't hesitate to read this just because you haven't read the first four books.

    From Ann Gabhart:  "Here comes The Gifted, my fifth book set in my Harmony Hill Shaker village. In this story, readers will meet a new Shaker sister – one with a mix of endearing innocence and lively curiosity. Jessamine Brady loves her Shaker sisters and brothers, but she can't stop wondering about the world outside the village. When she stumbles across an injured man in the woods, it's as though he stepped out of one of her fantasies."

    "Tristan Cooper is staying at the nearby Springs Hotel where the upper crust comes to take the waters for various ailments. It's also a great place for young ladies to find the cure for spinsterhood. Tristan's mother has him matched up with a wealthy young woman, but then he meets Jessamine. Will Jessamine exchange the simple Shaker life for the unknown, but enticing excitement of the world? You can click on the Shaker Book link to read more about The Gifted."

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Joy In Our Journey's review (guest review by my friend, Jan):

    How would it feel to be kissed, Jessamine can't  help but wonder.  She has been brought up in the Shaker community since her great grandmother died when she was ten, and the community does not allow marriage or any contact between men and women.  Ann Gabhart has written another intriguing book, The Gifted, about just this situation.  Jessamine is happy in the community, but there is a desire to know what it would be like to be kissed.

     The Shaker community is a safe place; the rules are strict, and  life is structured.  Jessamine has heard about parasols from an other young woman and is very curious to see what they are.  When she and another girl from the community go out into the woods to pick berries, they wander farther than they should to see this wondrous thing. They find a man who has been wounded and take him back to their community to be healed.  Yes, love though forbidden, is in the air. How this situation works out makes a different and entertaining read.

     I enjoyed this book, but was more than a little disturbed by the frequent references to the cult's founder, Mother Ann, as an equal to God, to be prayed to, and her rules were to be obeyed without question. For me, this rather spoiled an otherwise entertaining story.

Traditional Shaker dance/worship

Modern Shaker dance

Mother Ann Lee

    Note from Julieanne:  There are at least two ways of looking at the references in this book to the Shakers' cult founder, Mother Ann.  The first viewpoint, expressed above, is that praying to Mother Ann and God is blasphemy and that the author is intending on encouraging the reader to embrace the Shaker traditions and beliefs.  A second viewpoint of this is that the author is merely alerting us to the deceptive methods that cults have of encouraging their members to believe in concepts that are contrary to the Bible.  I believe the author, Ann Gabhart, is showing us an insight into the Shaker culture and community, without encouraging the reader to hold to those same beliefs, but our reviewer today felt otherwise, and it made her very uncomfortable.  I don't hold to the Shaker beliefs, and am a firm believer in Jesus Christ alone - without Mother Ann!  I didn't feel uncomfortable reading books in this series.  Each reader will need to be alert to these unscriptural references to a falsely lifted up human being in this series of books.

A Shaker giveaway!

The author, Ann Gabhart, is giving away three beautiful Shaker-style items to celebrate the publishing of her new book!  Go to Ann's website to enter the giveaway, which ends on July 31, 2012!

Some additional information about the Shaker religion:

    Members of the United Society of Believers have always held a strange fascination for Americans. Since arriving in New York in 1774, the followers of Mother Ann Lee, believing her to be the second coming of the female Christ, set up utopian communities from Maine to Kentucky founded on hard work, chastity, and an often ecstatic religious observance that gave them the nickname "shaking Quakers."

    Families were separated—the women lived in one area, the men in another, and the children in another house. Their doctrine of “hands to work, hearts to God" ensured that everything they made was of the finest quality, and the Shakers lived in beautifully made houses and buildings, ate extremely well year-round, and made exquisite furniture (besides inventing elegant tools like wood clothespins, flat brooms, and, somewhat less elegantly, the first washing machines). They were obsessively clean and lived under a set of extremely strict rules, including more than a hundred separate instructions about how to eat at a table.

    Because the founder of the religion, Ann Lee, was illiterate and died in 1784, the Shakers were a community that passed down their doctrines and beliefs orally, through the male and female elders of the church. But as the communities grew, the elders who ran the now-thriving farms and businesses were challenged by younger believers who began to receive messages directly from Mother Ann Lee herself, defying their authority. This period, called “Mother Ann's Work," started in the 1830s and spread like wildfire to dozens of Shaker communities. The spiritual communications added new inspiration and vitality to the religion and led members to create the divinely inspired art and music that have captivated generations.

    The Gifted is available July 2012 at your favorite bookseller - from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Julieanne
Joy In Our Journey.com

I received one paperback copy of The Gifted from Baker Publishing Group in exchange for Joy In Our Journey's honest review of this book.  No other compensation was provided.

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