While I have enjoyed a number of stories set in the Amish culture, The Roll of the Drums is the first book I’ve read by Jan Drexler. It is a story I would classify as a cozy romance although it is also historical fiction set in 1863 and is an interesting exploration of faith being challenged in difficult times. It is book 2 in The Amish of Weaver’s Creek series and I received a free copy of this book from Revell Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.
Amish minister Gideon Fischer, his wife, and four children were left with next to nothing after the Yankee soldiers came through their small community. Then when the army forced him to use his wagon to help carry their supplies, he was caught up in the war and all its violence even though he was a pacifist. Arriving home after several months, his flock had dispersed and his confidence and faith were shattered by the brutality of war he has been exposed to. He was determined to head to Ohio, as far away from the war as possible to start over in a safe place. His wife, Lovinia, was very ill and for her sake, they stop in Weaver Creek to let her rest in the welcoming community there.
Ruby Weaver has always been a bit too strange and independent for an Amish woman and her only friend is her younger sister Elizabeth. She has moved into Elizabeth’s cabin while her husband Reuben is off fighting in the war, helping her with the chores and helping to keep the cabin in shape and the garden going. She, too, is carrying a secret she struggles with and feels she must continue unmarried and is content with that.
When the Fischer family arrive, Ruby becomes fast friends with the dying Lovinia who extracts promises from both Ruby and Gideon that they will marry and raise her children together. This is a promise they both find next to impossible to comply with.
There are secrets and jealousies in the community and as the war threatens their peace once more, Gideon questions his faith and calling. How do they stand up to the raiders and keep the conscience of their beliefs?
This is an interesting look at Amish beliefs in the face of circumstances that would try to force them to turn their backs on the tenents of their faith. It deals with coping with grief for both adults and children and the way that hidden sins fester and destroy peace of mind. It also looks at relationships within families and how war changes people. It is the journey of faith through trials and a seeking for God. I would certainly read more by Jan Drexler and give this 4/5 stars.
1. Please make a list of every possession you consider essential to your life.
I am hosting this Tuesdays’ Tantalizing Teasers which is easy to participate in. It may not appear every week but when it does, it will always be on Tuesday. To participate, show the title, author, and cover, and choose a random (or not) quote to share with other readers (two or three sentences), and leave a comment with the link to your own tantalizing teaser for the day. Here’s my quote from the above book:
Here are some more books I have read in recent months but not written reviews of as of yet. Perhaps you have read some of them or have been meaning to read them. Maybe you’ve never heard of them. See what you think.
Mary Anning was born in Lime Regis, Dorset, UK in 1799. As a toddler, she was struck by lightning and shouldn’t have survived. But she did. She was, however, known to be odd as a result. Born into a working-class family of little substance, from an early age Mary would search the beach looking for interesting specimens of fossils and shells she could sell to tourists and thus augment the family income. As a result, she was often dirty and bedraggled and generally looked down on and talked about.
Elizabeth Philpot’s parents died leaving her older brother, John, a solicitor, in charge of herself and her 3 sisters. After her older sister married and John became engaged, their summer progress was completely with the intent of finding a modest home for Elizabeth, Margaret, and Louise as John’s wife would now be in charge of John’s home. They settled on Lime Regis in Dorset and it was here that her interest in fossils began as did her strong bond with Mary Anning.
At a time when women were not expected to take part in higher education, politics, or science, these two women pioneered a greater understanding of the natural world and made many discoveries which shook the scientific and religious world. It began when Mary discovered what they first thought to be a skeleton of a crocodile which, in itself, raised many questions. Later, it was classified as an ichthyosaurus specimen, and it attracted many scientists and tourists to the area in search of more unusual fossils.
Mary’s first major discovery was bought by a Lord and sold on to a museum where it was credited to him. When confronted with the deception by Elizabeth, he referred to Mary as a “spare part” because she was only a woman. While Mary led many scientists to unusual finds and discovered a wide range of extinct species, she was never allowed to take part in meetings at the Geological Society where some of her discoveries were displayed and discussed nor could she ever publish a paper and yet her diligent work led the way to what were amazing revelations.
I wish there had been a glossary included in the book and drawings of the fascinating fossils the ladies discovered. I was forced to the internet where I found all the information I sought but it would have been nice to have it in the book. At times I wondered whether the title, 
You probably thought from the title that this was going to be about Snoopy but it is not. I’ve always wanted to go to a Murder Mystery Theatre Dinner production and finally got to go to one last Friday night here in Ottawa at Britannia United Church. Conceived by Ottawa playwright Maggie Taylor, whose plays have been performed here before, the evening was a fundraiser and was well attended.
The production starred members of Britannia United including the pastor, Jim Baldwin, and the set was at a remote campsite where Director of Camping for Newbies Sara “Sunbeam” Sutton (played by Jess Carey) is trying to encourage the odd assortment of newbies to get along and have some camp spirit. It isn’t too long before the campers begin to worry that Jonesy, who had been coming up the rear, hadn’t made it to the campsite.
We ate between acts and after dessert, our papers were collected and our solutions read out to the audience by the cast, who didn’t know themselves who had done it until they were handed the scripts for the final act and we all learned who in the audience had guessed correctly about the murder. Other players were Dori Jensen as know-it-all Mia Martel, Debbie Roi as the unpopular Carmen Cordova, Todd Mitchell as space cadet Travis Talbot, Chuck Trewartha as the quiet camper Hunter Hardaker, Jennifer Trewartha as perky Phoebe Parks, and Myles Frosst as social worker Frank Felton.
Today’s mystery is 
Except for the murder of one of the gang members, there is no violence in this book. It is a fairly laid back story mostly set in the small resort town on Camino Island and while there is a fair bit of suspense, both the dealer in stolen property and the amateur sleuth are likeable characters who come through the escapade relatively unscathed. The recovery of the manuscripts is a delightfully complex episode that makes for an unusual resolution to the plot. The characters providing the backdrop to the Santa Rosa community are interesting and diverse despite the literary connection, and the development of Mercer’s character as the story unfolds is totally believable. The ending is surprising and the book is just a really fun read. Classic 
Melanie Willard spoke to our Woman 2 Woman Bible Study (Metropolitan Bible Church, Ottawa) session recently about how to care for people in crisis. She speaks of this with authority because she has been through an amazing, torturous journey that involved drugs, suicide, domestic violence, and cancer. She has written a book about her true story: 
I don’t think you could say I prefer old movies to new movies but I am definitely an old movie buff. The book by Ariel Lawhon, 
So I had to watch the movie. I’m sure I had seen it decades ago on TV but I needed it to be fresh in light of the book and the research on the internet it led me to. The movie is delightful — with a different ending, of course, because there was still much more of the story to unfold. Bergman is in full command of the many facets of this woman who has experienced memory loss and gradually regains snippets; she is desperate when she decides to throw herself into the Seine, gentle and familiar with the dowager empress (Helen Hayes), imperious with members of the former court, frustrated and impatient with General Bounine (played by Brynner), and flirtatious with Prince Paul to whom she was engaged before the revolution. She won 3 awards for best actress: an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and the David di Donatello award for best foreign actress. Brynner is arrogant and manipulative to start, only interested in the fortune, but becomes infatuated and jealous along the way, willing to toss aside his whole agenda for the sake of her love. He won the National Board of Review award for best actor.
The plot is well paced, beginning with Anna distracted and distraught, throwing herself in the Seine and being jailed for attempted suicide. While we are never told if she is or is not truly Grand Duchess Anastasia, as the story moves forward Bergman’s brilliant acting provides many hints that she is indeed who Bounine claims her to be even though from the beginning he is certain she is a fraud and doesn’t care — he can make her into the lost duchess either way. Hayes is brilliant as the forbidding dowager empress who slowly unbends to relive the tender connection she had with her favourite granddaughter and then to accept the seeming inevitable when Anna absconds into the night with Bounine.
Perhaps one of the longest-lasting puzzles of the 20th century, the story of the possibilities of one of Tsar Nicholas II’s daughters surviving the massacre of his family during the Russian revolution brought forth many claimants and much speculation. It captured the imagination of the world and sent archaeologists searching for proof as to whether there could have been a survivor or not. Movies and documentaries were made. Books were published. Court cases ensued. There was a fortune to be claimed. And one claimant steadfastly ascertained her identity. This is the story of Anna Anderson, undoubtedly the best-known claimant of the title, Grand Duchess Anastasia. And it is a fascinating tale.
This is one of those books that sent me searching the internet for more details and factual information. I had been fascinated in the 60s with the story of the discovery of the site of the burial place of the bones of the imperial family and the attempt to destroy them and at the time had read many books about the Tsar, his relatives — King George & Emperor Wilhelm — Rasputin, and Anastasia, but then became distracted with life and somehow missed further developments and research as they unfolded. I did not know about the latest revelations with DNA and photo comparisons nor had I seen any of the videos of interviews with Anna Anderson.
