The premise of the book is that a young Amish girl, named Katie, gives birth in secret in the barn in the early morning, prays that God will make this go away and then passes out. She wakes up and a miracle has happened, the baby has disappeared. She goes back to bed hoping that this is the end to it all. Sadly, it is not. The body of the baby is found that morning hidden under blankets and when the police turn up, it is clear that Katie is the main suspect because although she denies having had a baby (she has hidden the pregnancy from everyone), her body gives her away and she is charged with the murder of her infant as all evidence points to the baby being smothered.
Katie's second cousin Ellie, a city lawyer suffering a personal crisis of her own, happens to be visiting their Aunt and she finds herself agreeing to be both counsel and guardian of Katie whilst the trial progresses, necessitating her living within the Amish community.
I liked the career crisis of Ellie coinciding with the personal crisis of Katie, but did not like the twist.
SPOILER do not read on if you intend to read the book.
At the end of the trial when we already have a satisfactory resolution, Katie's mother Sarah mentions in passing to Ellie that she murdered the baby. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for Sarah to have killed her innocent grandchild, whether she felt she would lose another child (i.e. Katie, like she lost her son when her husband ostracized him due to his continuing education) or not, (the reasoning the author gives) as it is both against her religion to do harm to another and with the new grandchild, she would have been gaining a child (and a male one at that) to ease the pain of losing her son to the non-Amish world. It is so far out of the character that his been built up (her wishing to protect and keep her daughter) to have done this, especially as, if this were the case, she would have come forward when Katie was accused of murder.
To me, it felt added to the end for both shock value and extra wordage, rather than a genuine twist. Also, I think it would have made a better twist to use the pregnancy of Ellie being in jeopardy due to her likelihood of catching listeria as Katie did (the reason the jury found her not guilty of smothering her child), but there is no mention of Ellie even worrying about having milked the cows etc. when she goes into hospital scared that she might lose her baby. That would have been far more believable character-wise, would have added extra wordage (if that was what was needed) and tied up the loose ends nicely within the plot in a believable manner.
This error was a shame, as I really enjoyed the book otherwise. I loved the insight into the Amish way of life, the court and medical procedures that would be used in a trial of this nature and even the mentions of paranormal investigations. I would have preferred more of this, including more detail on the apparition of Katie's sister, rather than the way the author decided to go.
An out of character end to an otherwise enjoyable book. 6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment