The Beloved Christmas Quilt

The Beloved Christmas Quilt by Wanda E. Brunstetter, Jean Brunstetter and Richelle Brunstetter            Audio Book:  12 hours, 12 minutes          Hardback Book:  512 pages   

I enjoy stories about the Amish (must be my ancestral Mennonite genes) but I balk a bit when the book talks about someone going out to the barn to use the phone to call a ride or discusses the purple or blue blouse an Amish woman is wearing.   Now, I am no expert on the Amish culture but I do know from time spent in Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania in particular in the town of Bird in Hand which is the locale of this tale, that the strict Amish women do not wear colors, they dress in the same colors as the men do – black and white.     The local Mennonites wear colors.     I understand there is a sect of the Amish that is a lot looser on such things as using electrical appliances, phones, some even own automobiles rather than the horse drawn carriages, why, they even wear colorful clothing, this sect is known as the Beachy Amish.   So given some of the modern conveniences mentioned throughout the book, I have to question, if the characters are adhering to the Old Order Amish ways, speaking Deutch, still driving buggies but wearing colorful clothing and owning a phone – seems to me it is an either or situation.   Either you adhere completely to the Old Order ways or you adhere to the Beachy persuasion and are allowed to own modern conveniences within limits (no radio, no t.v. – owning computers is o.k.,  it is o.k. to own some power tools and drive a vehicle and so on).     The characters in this story swing somewhere between the two and that from what I understand just isn’t done.    So, I have an issue with that because to me it is distracting to think the story is inaccurate.   It is off putting to me, however, I did complete the story.   The story itself is good, actually 3 stories in one covering 3 generations of the same family telling how the Christmas quilt came to be and the meaning and love attached to it as it is passed down through the generations.     A pleasant generational story that carries on easily from one to the other allowing the reader to see the characters as children, teens, adults, marrying and having families and all the struggles, heartbreak, adapting, hard work and smiles that take them through their lives.        I did like the story but I would like it better if the author clarified her characters are either Old Order or Beachy and stick to one or the other – it makes me do that Elvis lip curl every time I come across an inconsistent bit.