Plain Truth
Grade : B

When a baby is born and found dead in the barn of the Amish Fisher family in Paradise, Pennsylvania, 18-year-old Katie Fisher is discovered bleeding. Though she denies not only the birth but the murder of the infant, it seems apparent to one and all that she is either deluded or a liar, the latter which seems unbelievable given her strong religious faith. Katie is defended by Ellie Hathaway, a high-powered defense attorney distantly related to the Fisher family. Ellie is going through her own crisis of faith - her faith being the yuppie life-style and a long-term relationship with a man she realizes wants something different from life than she does. To keep Katie out of jail during trial prep, Ellie agrees to keep custody of the girl by living on the Fisher farm. How both are affected by this experience forms the basis for this novel, which features a look inside the Amish way of life most of us will never know.

The most interesting of novels provide the reader with insight into people and places, regardless of whether those places are our own backyard or far off lands. Plain Truth goes one further and delves into not only people and places, but things as well. The Amish lifestyle, with its emphasis on community and how the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, is so very different to those of us in the secular world where personal achievement is very often a goal in and of itself. To be Plain is to be Amish is to be Katie. To be Plain seems to go against everything Ellie has strived for in her own life.

As Ellie works on her defense of Katie, she must battle not only Katie's faith, but how that faith has been interpreted by Katie's family. For it was Katie's family that set the groundwork for the tragedy, and as it is uncovered throughout the story in a series of flashbacks, we come to meet Jacob, the shunned Fisher son, and Adam, the outsider whose impact on Jacob will ultimately have an impact on the entire Fisher family.

While the murder trial sets the backdrop for the book, this is not a courtroom whodunit drama. Instead, the emphasis is on the people in Katie and Ellie's lives as the story progresses. Readers will come to know Katie's father, whose stubborn actions seem to go beyond what the Amish ways require, and Katie's mother Sarah, whose life as an Amish wife is nearly impossible to fathom, although her choices as a mother ring very real. There is also Samuel, the young man most believed Katie would marry eventually, whose faith, not only in the Plain lifestyle, but in Katie, is remarkable. Finally, there is Coop, Ellie's old psychiatrist boyfriend, whom she brings in as an expert, and whose influence is felt far beyond the course of the case.

The juxtaposition of Katie to Ellie illuminates not only the Amish culture, but also how different choices are made for different reasons. Readers are able to familiarize themselves with the Amish way of life and its different system of justice through Ellie's eyes, which makes it an integral part of the narrative. This is no "going native" story, nor is it a condescending one - the author respects both Ellie and Katie too much. Because of that alone, this is a worthwhile read, and yet, like the Amish lifestyle, this book too is much more than the sum of its parts. Much like the quilts sewn throughout the story, Plain Truth provides simple beauty.

Reviewed by Laurie Likes Books
Grade : B
Book Type: Fiction

Sensuality: Subtle

Review Date : May 11, 2000

Publication Date: 2001

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