The Outcast: A Modern Retelling of The Scarlet Letter by Jolina Petersheim

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This book, reminiscent of The Scarlet Letter, gives a fascinating insight into the way of life and beliefs of the Amish and Mennonite orders. The author has a background and personal knowledge of the Amish/Mennonite which resonates in the details of her writing and makes this novel very believable.
Rachel is a member of the Mennonite order and also twin to Leah, two sister of opposing behaviours, where Rachel is headstrong, Leah is abiding. So when an old neighbour writes that his wife has died and he wants to marry Leah so his children have a mother, Leah consents where Rachel would have refused. But Rachel will do anything for her twin so when Leah writes months after her marriage to say she is pregnant and to ask for Rachel’s help, Rachel leaves her Pennsylvania home and heads for Tennessee. Months later it is Rachel who writes home to tell her mother that she herself is pregnant; a very different scenario to Leah’s lawful bearing of child, for Rachel is not married and refuses to say who the father of her child is.
Still a member of the Mennonite order but now living on the outskirts of the community, a woman shamed and ignored by other members, Rachel has but one friend, Judah, the brother of her sister’s husband. He alone defends her sin, saying it is not her sin alone but in the eyes of the other members Rachel’s sin cannot be forgiven until she repents and this Rachel will not do. Nor will Rachel leave the community because Leah is seriously ill, even though Leah’s husband makes his ill feeling to Rachel perfectly clear. Eventually though, Leah’s husband gets his way and Rachel is banished but still fighting. With the help of an ex-Amish woman Rachel finds her feet and a way to stay within the boundaries of the community and help the sister she loves so much.
Rachel is not the only one with a secret though and as events unfold we learn more about the characters and discover that there is more than one with a guilty conscience and just how hard it is to stay within the confines of a strict religious order like that of the Mennonites or Amish.
This does make for fascinating reading, especially if you are curious about these religious orders that are so closed to the modern outside world. Jolina Petersheim brings to the fore her knowledge of such religious orders to bring us an age-old scenario that breaks all the rules and upbringing of those in the orders, add to the mix the secrets which eventually reveal the truth about the father of Rachel’s child and you get an event that is far from common and which protects the male of the species whilst condemning the female. She also shows how despite the facts of the strict upbringing they are still human with human feelings and sometimes it is hard to marry the two.
Rachel is a character to admire; strong and independent, trying to remain true to her beliefs but encountering hypocrisy at all turns. This is a novel which will provoke reaction about religious hypocrisy, however it is also shows the good side of religion and is not prejudiced, merely informative and fair in its depictions.