Wednesday, November 7, 2012

The Gifted


by Ann Gabhart

Revell Publishers

Jessamine Brady knows her identity only as a young girl in her grandmother's cabin the Kentucky woods until the age of ten, when her grandmother passed away. From there, she is taken to the Shaker village in Harmony Hill. For the next ten years, Jessamine is brought up as a Shaker Sister, loving her brethren equally as taught by the Ministry. Curious about the world around her, Jessamine is often found to be in transgression when her disregard of the strict rules land her in trouble. On one such excursion, she finds a man left for dead in the woods, and she brings him back to her village. In the space of three weeks, Jessamine finds herself questioning the very principles and values that define who she really is. Will Tristan be the answer she seeks? Or will he be the very one that tears her apart from her faith and true salvation with the Believers?

A stunning and fitting end to the Shaker series, (if indeed, this is the last installment), it is a wonderful work in and of itself. While the longest book in the series, it was one I simply did not want to put down. I wanted to stay in the land of Jessamine's mind and innocence a little longer, to see things from her point of view. You will feel as if you are learning all these new things right along side her: her hopes, her dreams, her discoveries of life, the good and the bad. A novel rich in the life of yet another Shaker sister, well written, and drew me like a moth to flame.

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