Did you feel like you were an "alien" to the Amish lifestyle while reading this book? Were you unsettled by the horrendous crime with which Katie is charged?

Did you believe it was a crime?

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Stacey

“The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man." ~ Euripides

Well, yes, as a mother it is always hard to hear about someone, Amish or not, being accused of killing their baby. Yes, I do believe it was a crime (especially given the ending). I think we have this perception of Amish people being so much better than us so that part was hard to deal with more than just the crime itself.

Yes, I did feel alien to the Amish lifestyle as it is not my lifestyle. I kept finding myself thinking I wish we could live that simply in our beliefs sometimes. As a Christian I hope I would focus on the turn the other cheek, but our society is 180 degrees from that, which makes it a very, very hard lifestyle to live sometimes. By sequestering themselves, they have made it easier to live that way. But, alien? Yes, it is alien to me.

Learning about the Amish lifestyle was definitely one of the "perks" of reading this book. I really enjoyed discovering the strength, dedication and hard work it takes to live that lifestyle, especially when you're surrounded by the "English" and a whole other easier lifestyle.

I was unsettled by the crime somewhat....although I guess part of me kept thinking that in the end the baby would have died naturally and nobody would have truly harmed the baby. So while I was reading the book, I never thought of Katie as a murderer. I still thought many of the choices and decisions were inappropriate, but I kept thinking (or maybe it was hoping) that it wasn't truly a crime. I would have been MORE horrified if I had been thinking all along that Katie (or someone) had truly murdered the baby.

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Aliadam is right, I never really thought Katie did it - or at least in her right mind. I do think mental illness is real and sometimes makes us do unthinkable things.

However, I figured in the end someone would have done it and I was right in my prediction.

I knew about the Amish and knew that they led a simple life. But I had no idea to what extent is was until reading this book. I agree it was definitely a "perk". I found myself thinking the same thing "why can't we live this simple". I even said to my DH at one point...let's become Amish. But there are advantages and disadvantages to EVERYTHING, right?

I did like Ellie's character and the fact that she grew an appreciation for that lifestyle though. And not a person who went there to "be saved". (Hope I worded that right)

I did not find it to be a horrendous crime (until the end), I just kept thinking that someone did what they thought was best. Not that is makes it right, but they have a whole different way of thinking than we do.

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Stacey

“The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man." ~ Euripides

I have read alot of different books about the Amish, so most of what is in the book i have known already.
The end left me hanging............was it really a crime? Did her mother smother that baby, or did the baby die from that bacterial disease/infection the Medical examiner talked about while Katie was passed out and her mother wrapped the dead baby and held it for awhile, then in a panic and not wanting her Dh to find it, she hid the baby?? There was a sense of not knowing for sure at the end of the book. Because if you were going to murder a baby, why would you swaddle it and leave it somewhere to be found? If she really wanted to protect Katie, she would have buried the baby and helped her daughter back into the house before anyone knew. I don't know, leaves me wondering.

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"Go on, get outside, get the stink blown off ya!!"

I agree that I wasn't 100% sure at the end how the baby died. It almost made it seem like Sarah was confessing to the murder, but she never said it outright. So I too kept thinking that maybe she just found the baby dead, but did wrap it, etc. to help try to hide it. I know I want to HOPE so...I can't bear to think of them smothering the baby. I think when Sarah was talking to Ellie she said she meant to go back out later and move it or hide it, but didn't get a chance before it was found....or did I imagine that part? Have to go dig the book back out.

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I have the book with me. That is what she said. "The sun came up too quick....I had to get back to the house before Aaron woke up...I thought I'd be able to come back later...."

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Stacey

“The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man." ~ Euripides

Thanks! That's what I thought. I wonder what she intended to do with the body? I guess we'll never know.

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Well, now that we are talking about it.

I think that she was just going to "cover it up" and go along with the it never happened theory. Just ignore it and it didn't happen, right??

But I didn't think that until now.

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Stacey

“The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man." ~ Euripides