I had never read Kelly
Irvin’s books until about a year ago.
After reading one of her Amish themed books I loved how she developed
the characters and how they grew and changed through the story. That’s why I was eager to read Kelly’s newest
book Mountains of Grace.
Mountains of Grace is different from the other Amish themed books that Kelly
Irvin has written. This novel is set
in NW Montana in a community called West Kootenai. I never knew that there were Amish
communities in Montana. From Mountains
of Grace I got the impression that this Amish community, though they
lived separate and different lives than the English people, the community seemed
to be more closely allied with their English neighbors.
I have some mixed feelings
about this book. It wasn’t until about
halfway through that something changed and captured my interest.
I struggled with the two main
characters, Mercy, a 22-year-old single Amish school teacher, and Juliette Knowles,
her English friend and neighbor. The two
young women couldn’t be any different from one another. Mercy seemed quite immature especially in the
scene when they were fleeing their homes because of a fast-approaching
wildfire. Mercy’s response and that of
her younger siblings seemed childish and didn’t demonstrate that they
comprehended the seriousness of the situation.
Juliette, on the other hand, seemed to be a vapid, shallow, mouthy gal
who wanted attention and would flirt with any male who came nearby. I didn’t like either Mercy or Juliette.
It wasn’t until about halfway
through this book I found someone I liked, Spencer, who was a smoke jumper that
was injured at the beginning of the book.
It was his interaction with Mercy that made me pause. Something about Spencer was honest and he
took a liking to Mercy. It was
interesting how their very different characters interacted with one another.
There were a lot of
characters to keep track of in this book, family, friends, and neighbors of
Mercy and Juliette. I liked Tim, the man
who was in love with Juliette. Why he
like her I didn’t understand because Juliette was such a pill. I appreciated his integrity and his willingness
to obey God’s command that he should not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever. There some good examples of strong Christian
faith. I loved some of the prayers
offered by different characters.
I had a hard time
imagining Mercy as a school teacher because of her immaturity and poor
decisions that resulted in her being disciplined by the Amish elders. While it wasn’t made known, I wondered who it
was that told on Mercy. What I did like
about Mercy was her boldness and desire to befriend Spencer who was so
different the Amish men she knew.
I liked the themes of
forgiveness that were lived out by several characters, like Angie, Spencer, Tim. While it may not be easy, God does command us
as believers to forgive those who have hurt and wronged us.
I never fully came to
appreciate Juliette. Her character was
very off-putting. I was glad that she finally
disclosed what had happened to her and what caused her to turn from being a
nice young lady to someone who was not so nice.
I appreciated that she was a good friend to Mercy and even tried to protect
her.
I’m glad I read this book
to the end. It contains some good
examples of forgiveness and mercy and God’s abundant mercy towards us as sinners. It also showed the importance of
communicating with one another, even when it’s hard. It was almost like there were two lines of
stories with the Amish and the English characters and a lot going on with multiple
characters.
Would I recommend this Mountains
of Grace, yes, especially if you are a Kelly Irvin fan or like
Amish-themed novels. It was interesting
to learn about the men that put their lives on the line to help protect life
and property and put out wildfires in treacherous terrain.
I would like to thank Zondervan
Publishers and NetGalley for providing a complimentary copy of Mountains
of Grace by Kelly Irvin.
I was under no obligation to give a favorable review.
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