Mary Alice Hostetter tells an authentic and evocative story about her early years entrenched in strict Mennonite religious traditions and her experiences when, at the age of 18, she decided to leave the community.
In 2008, Mary Alice edited and published The Measure of a Life, a book that chronicled the diaries of her mother, Ruth Martin Hostetter, who recorded details of being a Mennonite wife and mother, living and farming in a tight-knit church community in Gap, Pa., from 1920 to 2000. In Plain, Mary Alice continues writing about farm life, family and its meaning. However, she more deeply probes emotional truths from the past, exploring what her Mennonite upbringing meant to--and for--her own life.
Hostetter grew up the 10th of 12 children. For 18 years, she toed the line, being good, obedient and God-fearing. She conformed and strove to fit in. However, yearnings beyond what she considered the limitations of her patriarchal community--especially watching schoolmates enjoy worldly pleasures--raised questions that lured her away from the traditions and expectations of her birthright.
Twenty-one beautifully captured essays comprise the book. Hostetter digs deep into her childhood working on a farm, tending house and churchgoing; school experiences; rebellions such as sneaking off to movies; early paid jobs like a stint as a local tour guide of the Mennonite and Amish communities; her quest to go to college and become a teacher; breaking many rules of her upbringing in pursuit of cultural activities; changing her wardrobe; frequenting happy hours; and traveling stateside and abroad. Hostetter's journey to a very small town in West Virginia--a sabbatical taken from teaching to write a book--changes her life unexpectedly. Intrigued by welcoming townsfolk, she ends up learning how to make cheese. In many ways, her West Virginia experiences bring her back to her roots, while they also widen the scope of her world as she finally recognizes and embraces being a lesbian.
These moving, tenderly rendered essays straddle the line between Hostetter expressing a fervent desire to leave her upbringing and way of life, while also finding pride and nostalgia for where she came from. The two pathways ultimately merge and come to reflect how Mennonite influences will always infuse Hostetter's being. Readers are the blessed beneficiaries of her early formations and experiences, as without them, she would not have become such a sensitive, perceptive and wise writer. -- Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines
Shelf Talker: Beautifully rendered, tender essays exploring the far-reaching influences of a Mennonite upbringing by a woman who left her community at the age of 18.