Plain A memoir of Mennonite girlhood

After editing a book of her mother's diaries, The Measure of a Life, author Hostetter shares this memoir of growing up as the tenth of twelve children in a traditional Mennonite household. Although her family was strict and short on overt displays of affection, Hostetter's early memories are filled with fond reminiscences about learning to drive a tractor, being trusted to cook on her own, and excelling at school. Around the time she was meant to confirm her faith, she began to question many Mennonite teachings, from rules about clothing to the idea that all are sinners until they are baptized and "born again." Once Hostetter followed her older siblings to college, she felt free to live life on her own terms, including leaving her teaching position to make cheese. She also questioned why she hadn't married and ultimately realized she was a lesbian, something she never could have fathomed growing up. Hostetter's writing is lovely and evocative of place and emotion. Readers will enjoy sinking into this quietly empowering story of coming into one's own.

Hostetter reflects on her Mennonite upbringing in her candid debut. She grew up in the Mennonite community in Lancaster, Pa., as the 10th of 12 children born to deeply religious parents who followed traditions of simple living, piety, and conservative dress, refraining from "things like going to movies, playing cards, watching television, dancing." In novelistic detail, she describes the strict religious rules and bucolic farming life that characterized her youth: at 10 years old, counting eggs to prepare for market and helping her mother make vegetable soup were part of a typical day. As Hostetter entered her teens, she was expected to get baptized and deepen her commitment to the faith, but she found herself questioning many of its teachings, particularly its seemingly arbitrary positions on who would go to hell. In her late teens, Hostetter felt increasingly alienated from the religious ideals of her youth and left to attend college, later working as a high school English teacher and coming out as gay. The prose is sharp and evocative ("Coming to terms with being a lesbian was a dawning as gradual as morning's first light"), and Hostetter's searching account of wrestling with her faith resonates. The result is an excellent meditation on faith and community. (Dec.)