Book Review of "The Blessed" by Ann Gabhart

The Blessed by Ann H. Gabhart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've enjoyed all of Ann Gabhart's shaker books and couldn't believe I'd missed one ... but I had! So I grabbed a copy and read it in a couple of days. As usual, it was full of the characters who had not always experienced the best things in life, had not always made the right choices, and these characters were living through the consequences of their actions. In short, Ann Gabhart writes real-people-type characters the reader can relate to.

What I love about these Shaker books is that while they deal with a group of people we'd label as a cult today, the author treats them with the dignity and respect they deserve as people trying to do their best with what they know and believe. She never demeans them or makes them into caricatures. They are fully-rounded characters with strengths and weaknesses, beauty and warts. And into the lives of these people, the author weaves a tale of hardship and hope. Well worth reading. 

If you've never read one of Ann's Shaker books, you can start with any of them. They all read as stand-alone novels. Watch for the next one releasing in April of 2019, The Refuge.