This is my first time reading a book by Ann Gabhart, and my first time reading about the Shakers and anything close to the Amish lifestyle. "The Outsider" draws you in from the very beginning with a plot that is hard to predict what will happen. What is great about this book is that it gives you a look inside the Shaker life, while also giving you a view of the war that is going on in the outside world.

The main character, Gabrielle, has been brought to the Shakers by her mother who has lost everything. After living there for years, Gabrielle as become accustomed to the Shaker life and their strange ways. Gabrielle, is different from the rest of the Shakers because of her "gift" to see visions of the future. One night she sees a vision of her friend, Nathan going into a fire. As the fire blazes outside, a doctor from the outside world is brought in to help heal her friend Nathan and fix his legs. As Gabrielle gets to know the doctor, her heart begins to feel drawn to him and for the first time, she starts to question her Shaker existence. Although the Shakers and the war may tare them apart, Gabrielle must decide once and for all between the Shakers and her true love for the doctor.

I really enjoyed getting to know about the Shaker life, and found myself sad at how lost these people were, not knowing that the true and only way is through Christ alone. Its sad to think that there are other cults out there like this today, and that there are a lot of hurting people seeking their help instead of the Savior's.

As sort of a disclaimer, I was sort of surprised by the amount of death and violence during the war scenes. As part of history, though it was very accurate and well written.

Two things I would have liked to see more of were, that of Gabrielle finding Christ in a more special way and really learning what it is like to be a Christian and understanding more about God than what the Shakers had taught her. Another thing that would have been more interesting to know more about was Gabrielle's visions. Was it only because she was with the Shakers that she had them? And why?

Altogether, this was a wonderful book and part of a great new series! Book 2# "The Believer" is coming out in August! ( )

Gabrielle is a member of the religious group, The Shakers. Since a small child, she has been a part of this community and has not experienced the outside world. Then one day an incident brings a doctor from the outside into the community and suddenly Gabrielle's world is shaken. She feels drawn to Dr. Brice Scott yet it means giving up everything she's ever known. However she starts to question the beliefs and practices of the Shakers and wonders if this is truly the right path for her.

Looking at the cover of this book, one might think "Oh, it's another Amish book." Well then the reader is in for a surprise as the story is about another lesser known historical religious group, The Shakers. Gabrielle's story brings to life the daily life of the Shakers and gives the reader a glimpse of what life was like for someone who did not truly belong. It was interesting to see how they dealt with the outside world and how they tried to maintain a closed knit society. The story made it sound like the Shakers were not true Christians. Their beliefs incorporated practices that were not needed to become real believers of Christ. It's sad that they felt that they had to include these in order to live a fulfilled life. It was a heartbreaking way to live with mothers being separated from their children. Doing more research showed that many times it was the husband who originally chose this way of lifestyle and forced the rest of the family into joining. It's a subject well worth spending more time looking into. The story is well written. This is the author's first historical novel and a lot of research was done for the book. I learned a lot from it as I had only the basic understanding of Shakers from history class. I'll be looking forward to reading the next book in this series by Ann Gabhart. ( )