The Reckoning

I was so confident I had read this book years ago, but nothing from it seemed at all familiar, so, for whatever reason, I must have stopped at the second book...

[SPOILERS BELOW]

I will say I was disappointed by this one. For one thing, I hated how there was so much confusion over Daniel calling Katherine "Katie". I don't know why the butler wouldn't have any concept of the possibility that someone from Katherine's old life might try to contact her. Why would he assume Daniel was referring to the impostor? It was too obviously just a way for Daniel to come frustratingly close to Katherine without a reunion actually taking place.

I also was very unsatisfied with the ending. Katherine is perfectly happy living in the mansion and using her show more wealth to help others until she suddenly turns around and decides she's NOT happy living that way, so she ditches the mansion and becomes Mennonite instead. It was so abrupt. And I felt like the book was claiming that it's wrong to be rich or to enjoy nice things. I would have bought her happy medium if she had found herself becoming obsessed with her riches, but that didn't ever seem to be a concern.

I thought there would be more of a love triangle, but it was clear that Justin was never a contender. There wasn't really much substance to their relationship at all. It makes sense to me, though. As if dating Justin was just a part of testing out this new life she has. This isn't really a complaint. I don't mind love triangles, but they are a bit over-used these days.

Combining the last two points, maybe it would have made more sense if Katherine's faith in God wavered and dating Justin was part of that, considering he was so apathetic toward religion. That would have achieved the same end, and been more believable and satisfying, I think. show less

I read through this series again this past week for the first time in about 15 years. I have to say I was much less impressed this go round. The author makes huge leaps in the character of Katie/Katherine with little explanation and much assumption. She makes decisions in the second and third books that don't at all line up with her thoughts and feelings in the first book. This is an author that has definitely improved over time.

In this concluding book of the trilogy, Katherine has embraced her English ancestry, but as much as she likes parts of it, she cannot be fully comfortable in her role as a woman of wealth. She desires a more friendly relationship with her servants than is normally accepted. And there are times she craves some of the plain life she left behind. Author Beverly Lewis has written quite an interesting novel, one in which she cleverly solves Katherine’s conflicts as well as the problems faced by her best friend, Mary. This novel is well written and peopled with delightful characters.

Don't read this review if you don't want to know the ending!

The story itself wasn't that bad, but pretty much a typical romance formula. Young lovers run into problems, part, reunite... Of course this one had an Amish flavor, and I enjoyed reading the speech patterns. My main gripe with the series wasn't the story or it's predicatbility. It is that the story could have been told in a single book, or maybe 2, if the author had fleshed it out some.

(Here's the 'spoiler' part; for those who don't want to know the end...quit reading NOW!) Katie and Daniel do, of course, reunite, but it seemed the story dragged out forever before they got there! It seemed totally out of character for Katie to not see what was up with the stranger the first show more time the butler turned Daniel away. And for NO ONE to realize he was speaking of the REAL Katie Lapp, and not the imposter, was totally unbelievable! Then, when Katie finally DID meet Daniel, her reaction was NOT what I would expect from someone who'd been in love with his memory all those years. I'm not Amish, but Katie was, and I would think that at least some of the 'confession and forgiveness' thing would have rubbed off to the point that she could have accepted him as a friend, if not her mate.

Getting past that, for a 3 book series, the author left way too many things unanswered. Forget that the stepfather and imposter daughter were not prosecuted in the 2nd book. But what about Justin Wirth. Many times the author hinted at the idea that he may have been more interested in Katherine's money than Katherine. We never find out if he really loved her, or if he wanted to marry into her wealth as her 'step'father had marreid her biological mother. How does Katherine turn down his proposal and how does he react? Katie's mother attended her wedding, but what about her 'dat' and her brothers? Is she able to maintain a friendship with Mary, and how does the Bishop react?

As I said, the story itself wasn't really a BAD story...just incomplete, and way too long for the material covere show less

The Reckoning is the third book in Beverly Lewis' Heritage of Lancaster County series. While I loved the first book, and abhorred the second, I have mixed feelings about the third.

The story starts with Katherine becoming accustomed to life at the mansion after her biological mother's death. Just as she is settling in and getting used to things, Daniel, an old boyfriend whom she thought dead shows up on her doorstep begging forgiveness. Its a little more than Katherine can handle and she send him away.

Meanwhile, to fill her time she dates the charming painter Justin and volunteers at a hospice where she makes friends with a young boy dying from terminal cancer. She also hosts a quilting class in her home with several friends and also show more some newer friends, local amish people.

Something is missing from her life though and as the ban on her shunning is partially lifted she returns home to talk with her family and friends and somewhat misses the Amish even though she has found a new religious relationship.

The ending came as quite a surprise for me. While I had a suspicion that it might end up the way it did, I never imagined the destination to be what it was. It was as if Lewis changed her mind literally between paragraphs to a different ending and followed through with it.

While I was pleased to see the development of characters improve in this novel over the second, I have some reservations about the novel. There seemed to be a quite open agenda throughout the entire novel, a theme if you will. While I realize Beverly Lewis' writings are technically classified as Christian fiction, this book was so blatant about its proselytizing it was almost off-putting. While I love reading about the Amish and their culture, the constant references to being saved by Jesus in the Mennonite and regular Christian churches Catherine attends was heavy handed.

Lewis still offers a lot of detail in her writing and a nice history of the Amish. While most of it is written in the 3rd person, the prologue and epilogue are written through Katherine's eyes. It brings a nice change and divide in the novel.

The Reckoning
Published in 1998
281 pages show less

I enjoy reading Amish stories because I enjoy learning about cultures different from my own. This author did not seem to truly appreciate the culture. She was very preachy about why their beliefs were wrong and they should all convert to "true" Christianity. The author seemed so focused on converting her main character, she forgot what else she wanted to to with her. This made the story seem very lost at times.

I really enjoyed this final book. It ended exactly like I wanted it too even thought it took awhile. There were quite a few slow parts, but it didn't really take away much from the story. I really loved reading the religious aspect of it. I love hearing of ones journey with christ even if it is fiction. :)