The Outcast by Jolina Petersheim

This story takes place in an Old Order Mennonite community in Tennessee. The story is told in first person by Rachel, the main character in the story and by her old bishop Amos King, now deceased. This was an unusual way to tell a story and some questionable theology involved, but very effective nonetheless. The story was a page turner. I never put it down till I finished it.


This book purports to be a "modern retelling of The Scarlet Letter." Since I don't remember a whole lot about that classic that I had to read at some point in school I didn't have a whole lot to compare here except public attitude, which is, I believe, a big part of The Scarlet Letter.


The characters here are very believable and all have an issue or story of their own which make them very interesting to the reader.


It involves adultery, cancer, twins, young love, loss and a myriad of other situations but surprisingly it all weaves into a very compelling story and does not lead you to the conclusion that the author had an overactive imagination to come up with so much trouble for everybody. I had that experience with another book I read recently but this one did not have that feeling to it at all.


Since the blurb that Amazon offers on this book is very appropriate to the story, I will not give away any plot by embellishing on it. I will just say that this author is one you will want to watch in the future!


I received a copy of this book from Tyndale for review. I did not receive any compensation for completing the review. All opinions are my own.