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Mennonite Daughter: The Story of a Plain Girl Kindle Edition
Follow the author in pigtails as a child and later with a prayer cap, bucking a heavy-handed father and challenging church rules. Feel the terror of being locked behind a cellar door. Observe the horror of feeling defenseless before a conclave of bishops, an event propelling her into a different world.
Fans of coming-of-age stories will delight in one woman’s surprising path toward self-discovery, a self that lets her revel in shiny red shoes.
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication date10 September 2019
- File size19470 KB
Product description
Review
In Mennonite Daughter--Story of a Plain Girl, Marian Beaman invites you into a world gone by with a loving tribute to her Mennonite family. We learn how we may cling to our roots while needing to find our own path, and how our growth can include respect for the past while creating new family traditions. You will be charmed by her depiction of a simple, plain life in a Mennonite community in the fifties, and her gentle shift into modern times.
--Linda Joy Myers, Founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers, author of Don't Call Me Mother and Song of the Plains
About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : B07XL5FPW6
- Language : English
- File size : 19470 KB
- Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 298 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: 1,536,427 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 268 in Mennonite Christianity (Kindle Store)
- 352 in Mennonite Christianity (Books)
- 21,206 in Memoirs (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Award-winning teacher turned story teller, Marian Beaman is enjoying her encore career as a writer. A former college professor, the author records the charms and challenges of growing up plain in mid-twentieth century Pennsylvania in Mennonite Daughter: The Story of a Plain Girl. This memoir tells the story of her transformation from a provincial young woman in a sheltered environment who finds her authentic self. Along the way, she discovers a path toward forgiveness of childhood abuse. She also shows how one’s growth can include respect for the past.
My Checkered Life: A Marriage Memoir takes an intimate look into one couple’s fifty-plus-year marriage. Using a quilt motif, the author stitches together stories that make up the fabric of their daily lives: the clash of cultures, crisis in a travel trailer, surviving a robbery, and enduring financial hardship. Readers can observe how they find common ground through their shared faith and commitment. This sequel includes curated diary entries and treasured recipes. The author blogs regularly at marianbeaman.com
Customer reviews
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Top reviews from Australia
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- Reviewed in Australia on 2 February 2020Verified PurchaseThis memoir is a thoughtful and honest reflection of one woman's experience growing up in the Mennonite faith. I enjoyed learning about Marian's experiences and her own "coming of age" as a young woman. I love learning about people who have lived differently to me - Marian's writing drew me into her life and the lives of those whom she held dear. Thoroughly recommend it!
- Reviewed in Australia on 27 February 2020I do love a book that opens my eyes to a different faith and way of living. I must admit I knew little of the Mennonites and was intrigued with the way the author accepted many of their tenets for plain living, but also admitted to liking pretty clothes. I loved the description of all the wonderful celebratory food and would have loved to be in the family kitchen during the preparations for Thanksgiving. A final parting from her family's church did not mean the author abandoned her beliefs. Rather she found her own platform of faith that just might have had room for some red shoes.
- Reviewed in Australia on 18 November 2019I admit to be totally ignorant of the Mennonite Culture.
This well penned memoir tells of life growing up within the confines of a Mennonite family from Pennsylvania, their customs, dress, food and overall lifestyle.
I found this memoir to be very informative and well written, and it certainly has broadened my knowledge.
Top reviews from other countries
- MacTrishReviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 October 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable true story of a woman who escaped a situation that was stifling her
Verified PurchaseI’ve learned through this book that the Mennonites were a breakaway church of the Anabaptists and shared some similarities with the Amish community who split from them in the 1600s.
The author grew up as a Mennonite in Pennsylvania. As a child, she loved to dress up in bright, colourful clothes and there are pictures of her and her sisters strutting about in fancy hats supplied by her grandmother, Fannie Longenecker, who lived nearby. Fannie supplied the red shoes seen on the cover of the book and lived with her daughter Ruth who bore the same name as Marian Beaman’s mother, but who was referred to as Aunt Ruthie. Aunt Ruthie was a teacher and a positive influence. The author’s parents were strict and her relationship with her father was a difficult one that resulted in physically and emotionally painful punishments that were accepted without comment by her mother.
The book charts the expected behaviour and life of a Mennonite that irked and rankled with the more spirited child. As she grew, perceived hypocrisies troubled her and she noted as a young teacher that the men in charge ‘judged my outward appearance, not my academic competency’ and that some members ‘seemed proud of their humility’.
This book is a wonderful, honest and considered account of life as a Mennonite. The writing is vivid and intelligent and held me in its grip from start to finish. An added bonus at the end is a glossary of her parents’ ‘Made-Up Sayings’ plus an unexpected section of traditional recipes.
Highly recommended.
- RoxBReviewed in the United States on 7 February 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars A Journey in Unshakable Faith for a Spirited Individual
Verified PurchaseAuthor Marian Beaman shares her coming of age story that highlights the support and love of family. From the cover alone, you know this girl is special. Author Beaman provides insights to a child raised within the framework of a Mennonite Community in Lancaster County, PA.
The beginning of Marian’s life journey was between the two houses where she was raised. She sets the stage with her flowing, descriptive words early in her memoir. Her compelling memories unfold in a manner that lets readers walk beside her.
“Each of my family homes provided me with two ways of living to choose from. This memoir tells the of the push and pull of both Longenecker houses, the tensions and strife, countered by harmony and love in each. It reveals the lessons and blessings of each house and the strong characters within them that both shaped my personality and character and set a course for my life choices. It describes my father, who didn’t champion me because I was a daughter, not a son; the aunt and grandmother who served as my role models but who I knew I never wanted to be, although I loved them dearly; and my mother, a woman of the times who valued the home arts but lacked the courage to defend her daughter.
All of them have forged this story: their touch, their lives, and their voices echo forever in my mind and in my heart and soul. Now as an adult in the autumn of life, I look back at the beauty and the promise of a fragile and fleeting way of life that was—and still is—being Mennonite.”
The distance between her two family-homes of a half-mile provided viewpoints that shaped her life. The inspiration of her grandmother and aunt gave Marian an exceptional strength as she balances a strong faith and admirable values.
Learning of the Mennonite community in detail helped me understand the boundaries of living plain. Growing up in the framework of this structure for a spirited child presented challenges. The author presents the internal turmoil faced to break from the strict rules.
The restored pictures, drawings, family recipes, and glimpse inside this world are a lovely surround to this personal journey. I recommend this book to those struggling to find their path in life yet wanting to preserve family and faith values. Learning about this culture and history in this memoir format is something I will remember forever. I extend a virtual hug to the author for telling her story.
- Pat GarciaReviewed in Germany on 18 February 2021
4.0 out of 5 stars Mennonite Daughter: The Story Of A Plain Girl, A Review by Pat Garcia
Verified PurchaseMennonite Daughter: The Story Of A Plain Girl is a memoir. It is a book about the author’s life and tells the story of her resurrection from a blindsided way of living before leaving the home she was raised in–– a Mennonite home. I say resurrection because she rose like a Phoenix from the ashes when she finally left the life that she knew behind her.
I must admit that reading Mennonite Daughter brought back memories of my own childhood. Coming out of a Southern Baptist family steeped in some of the same traditions and ideologies that the Mennonites adhere to, I was surprised that other religions practiced the same rules and habits. In fact, I was quite shocked.
When I read about her first terrible beating by her father, my heart went out to her. In his rage, her father left terrible bruises and swellings on her body. In my own mind, I could see her screaming and crying. Her mother and sisters heard what was happening, but her mother didn’t lift a hand to help her. I related to that strongly because that had happened to me too.
Throughout the book, there were happy times, even though she, as a child, was always a challenge to raise. As I read the book, I thought that could have been because she was the oldest child and was supposed to set the example for the younger girls.
I laughed as she wrote about the Red Light that burned all night at the neighbor’s house and learning about sex. That part was hilarious.
The author tells us about telephone party lines, something entirely unheard of in the western world today. She writes about many other incidents she encountered in life that made me think and compare my own past. I was glad I read it. It made me recapture some of the moments I thought I had forgotten.
The Mennonite Daughter: The Story of a Plain Girl is a well-crafted memoir that is worth reading.
- Robbie CheadleReviewed in the United States on 25 October 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful memoir
Verified PurchaseMy mother calls me a people collector because I am so interested in people and their lives and I have a large circle of real and virtual friends of all ages, cultures, religions and interests. I also love reading about different peoples lives and experiences and I enjoy memoirs so when I saw this book which promised to give insight into the life of a young girl growing up in a Mennonite family I was delighted. This memoir certainly met my expectations and I was completely enthralled by the life of Marian Longenecker Beaman.
The Mennonite faith is not familiar to me so prior to reading this book I looked up a bit about the Mennonites in the USA, their religion and how they live. It was wonderful to learn so much more about the day-to-day life of people of this faith and I discovered there is much to appreciate about their religion and beliefs. As with most religions and cultures, different people apply different interpretations to the teachings of the Bible and the faith and this can sometimes have unintended consequences for their children, especially if the child in question is strong willed with their own views on life. This was the case for young Marian who sadly found herself in frequent conflict with her father which did some damage to their early relationship. I was most admiring of older Marian's ability to gain understanding of her father and his motivations in disciplining her. With this understanding came a measure of forgiveness and an ability to move on with her own life more easily.
Marian paints a vivid depiction of her early life, its joys, pleasures, heartbreaks and disillusionments. I loved the sense of community she experienced and the strong family ties and traditions. These are all described with a love and enthusiasm that makes her anecdotes of family gatherings and celebrations a joy to read.
I believe that like Marian I would chaff under the yoke of such strict traditions with regards to dress and behavior. Marian was a little girl who loved to dress up and wear bright colours. This was encouraged by her mother and female relatives until she became a member of the church. At that point she was expected to adapt to a rigid and conservative dress code including the wearing of a prayer cap. It felt a little unfair to encourage the little girl to dress up and enjoy clothes, hats and shoes and then take it away when she turned 11 years old. I expect that made it a bit harder to tolerate the restrictions.
This is a fulfilling book that leaves the reader satisfied and happy that Marian found love, acceptance and happiness in her life and still managed to maintain her ties with her Mennonite family and relatives.
I recommend this book to lovers of memoirs and learning about different lifestyles and religions.
- AvidReaderTooReviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 November 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars Lasting Family Values
Verified PurchaseI occasionally read memoirs, and “Mennonite Daughter: The Story of a Plain Girl” by Marian Beaman has been a delightful and uplifting read for me. The author maintains a pleasant, highly descriptive “voice” throughout this memoir.
Reading about her loving grandmother, her Aunt Ruthie and other memorable people remains a delight; some parts of her memoir deserves to be read more than once, as are her recipes which appear at the end of her book. Few of us would have had the pleasure of growing up in a place such as rural Lancaster, experiencing everyday life as carefree as Marian, despite the unreasonable punishment she receives from her father, while her mother never comes to her rescue - something which Marian finds difficult to accept, as this “punishment” is only meted out to her, not her siblings.
Nevertheless, this is a memoir which shows us how young Marion rises above this and finally embraces her heritage with honour and gratitude after breaking away from an overly restrictive environment which has a formal, prescribed dress code and ritualistic, religious practices. She follows her heart when it comes to wearing her favourite colour red - I’ll always smile now whenever I see a pair of dazzling red shoes - emerging as a top grade student, successfully forging a career in education and finally marrying someone who accepts her for who she is - still a deeply devoted person but without the pious, restrictive religious garb and ceremonial traditions of the 18th century. A highly recommended read! - Author of “Fauna Park Tales - Flame and Hope: An African Adventure” Gold Medal Award Winner at HarperCollins’ Authonomy September 2013.