Amish Paradise

Plain Truth
By Jodi Piccoult
Pocket Books, 1999.

Early one morning, a peaceful Amish farmer finds a dead newborn infant hidden in his barn. Immediately, the once serene property is swarming with police and reporters who quickly suspect the farmer's eighteen year-old daughter of giving birth and killing her own child. Despite the obvious medical evidence against her, Katie stubbornly denies that she was even pregnant let alone able to kill a child. Enter Elli; a distant relative of Katie's who also happens to be an extremely successful attorney from Philadelphia. Ellie quickly moves into Katie's family's home and works to solve the case and clear her client's name. While immersing herself in a culture completely foreign to her, Ellie manages to connect not only with a simpler way of living but also with herself and her past. Ellie and Katie form a close relationship where each woman is helping the other through troubles in their personal lives while fighting towards the common goal of proving Katie's innocence. Both learn a great deal about themselves through their relationship with each other.

I read Plain Truth for my library book club. It grabbed my attention immediately and I had difficulty putting it down when my lunch break ended. The story moves very quickly from the discovery of the body to Katie's hearing and through all of Ellie's research to the dynamic trial and twist ending. It is very interesting to read about the Pennsylvania Dutch and their way of life. I know the author did some very thorough research when writing this novel and I really think (though, my knowledge of the Amish is pretty limited) that she did a great job of portraying their way of thinking and how their views really affected Katie and how she handled her situation. The constant conflicts between Katie and Ellie's feelings about how they should proceed with the trial and life in general are very abundant, almost to the point where it seems a bit repetitive. It seems like every chapter begins with one of the girls deeply hurting the other through misunderstanding and ends with the resolution to their conflict and the conclusion that they are two completely different people. But for the most part its a pretty interesting story that sheds some light on a culture that I, myself am not too familiar with.

Among the people who read this with me, I'd say that it was pretty split as far as how people felt about the ending. Some people thought it was a great way to tie everything up and others were a bit disappointed. I am in the second group. I felt that, even though there was a twist, it was somewhat too late in the story, and I felt that it wasn't as exciting as the rest of the novel had built it up to be. But you'll have to decide that for yourself.