I Am Hutterite: The Fascinating True Story of a Young Woman’s Journey to Reclaim Her Heritage
A Fascinating journey into the heart and culture of a reclusive religious community.
I Am Hutterite takes readers into the hidden heart of the little-known Hutterite colony in southern Manitoba where author Mary-Ann Kirkby spent her childhood. When she was ten years old her parents packed up their seven children and a handful of possessions and left the security of the colony to start a new life. Overnight they were thrust into a world they didn’t understand, a world that did not understand them.
Before she left the colony Mary-Ann had never tasted macaroni and cheese or ridden a bike. She had never heard of Walt Disney or rock-and-roll. She was forced to reinvent herself, denying her heritage to fit in with her peers. With great humor, Kirkby describes how she adapted to popular culture; and with raw honesty her family’s deep sense of loss for their community. More than a history lesson, I Am Hutterite is a powerful tale of retracing steps and understanding how our beginnings often define us.
Controversial and acclaimed by the Hutterite community, Kirkby’s book unveils the rich history and traditions of her people, giving us a rare and intimate portrait of an extraordinary way of life.
I have to be honest. I had never heard of Hutterites before. I know of Amish and Mennonite communities around me, but just never have had the opportunity to meet someone who is Hutterite. The religions are very different from what I understand.
I’ve posted before about how I really enjoy learning about different religions and because of that I was excited to read this book. Mary-Ann Kirkby delivered with this book. It is excellent in it’s description of the Hutterite community and how they live their lives. Almost made me wish I could live in a community setting like that. Almost, I don’t think I could give up my newspapers, magazines, and internet. While they don’t shun all modern conveniences, they do try to block out influences from the outside world, hence, no radios. Plus, the problems that her family experienced, I don’t think I could put up with that. She just made this community fascinating to me.
I really enjoyed reading at her family, I felt so sad for her at certain parts, happy for her at others, and just felt like I went along with her on this ride of finding herself. I loved the stories, that started with her mother getting ready for her wedding day, through Mary-Ann’s childhood, to her trying to assimilate into an “English” world.
If anything, I would have liked more! More of everything. More of her family, more experiences after the Hutterie community. I just wanted more. But alas, a book has to come to an end right? I loved the stories she shared with her readers.
If you’d like to take a peak into the Hutterite lifestyle, read this book, you can also check out the video that is posted on her website. I’ve watched the whole thing. It was just as she described in the book, exactly how I visualized it as I was reading along.
ETA – I had to add that Lisa left me a comment about my review and I had to go check out her blog. I thought, did I not just say I couldn’t give up my internet to be Hutterite? And Lisa has a blog? So I headed over there and I love her blog! Whether you’re Hutterite or not, she has a wonderful well written blog! You should go check her out. My whole point of bringing this up is to point out something Lisa has shown me. Things have changed since Mary-Ann Kirkby and her parents left their Hutterite community. Some things stay the same, but like all of us, people change with the times. I noticed that Lisa has beautiful pictures on her blog, when Mary-Ann Kirkby was in her community, photos were frowned upon. Just another example of things changing that I noticed right away. I am seriously just fascinated with the Hutterite community, in a good way! Many of us (at least in the US) live in a place where we don’t even know our neighbors. I miss that. Growing up, I would run to the houses on both sides of us, they were like extended family to us. The Hutterite’s still have that. We could learn a lesson from them. I don’t think the world has gotten any better with people becoming more and more estranged from each other.
I love meeting new people. Have I shared that with you? Thank you so much Lisa for leaving me a comment so I could find your blog!
Thank you so much to Book Sneeze for sending me a copy of I Am Hutterite: The Fascinating True Story of a Young Woman’s Journey to Reclaim Her Heritage
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Excellent review. Thank you! I’m about a quarter into this book and it’s a bit boring so far. She is an excellent author though…I’m was born and raised, and still live, in a Hutterite colony so I’ll keep reading it…check out my blog if you can find the time!
.-= Lisa Decker´s last blog ..FIRST Presents Morning for Dove by Martha Rogers =-.