An Unseemly Wife

August 25, 2014
This lilting, image-filled first novel by poet E.B. Moore, a poet and retired sculptor, shifts seamlessly among time periods, and between narrative and letters. The present is set in 1867, on an immigrant wagon train journey from Pennsylvania toward the wilds of Idaho. The not-so-distant past comprises the seasons before, when Amish wife and mother Ruth Holtz must choose to take that journey with her beloved husband, Aaron, and their four children, despite knowing that according to the community’s Ordnung, Plain People stay separate. But Aaron’s determination to give the “littles” a chance at wider horizons compels her to make the “unseemly” choice of going with him. Moore’s lyrical writing reveals Plain ways and sensitively depicts the Holtz family’s determined efforts to find their place among the diverse wagon train trekkers. Soulful letters back home to her brother further illuminate Ruth’s slow shifting away from separateness amid births, accidents, illness, healings, and death. When misunderstanding and tragedy threaten Aaron’s dreams, Ruth must make dramatic decisions the Plain community would disapprove of. The conclusion of this slowly unfolding novel is both heart-wrenching and satisfying. Agent: Alice Tasman, Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency.

In her debut novel, Moore draws on her great-grandmother's life story to explore the challenges of the Amish lifestyle and a journey west.Aaron and Ruth Holtz are Amish farmers in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with four children and another on the way. At home, they often speak German and a hereditary fear of persecution still plagues them-after all, Ruth's Anabaptist grandfather was tortured in the old country. In the fall of 1867, two Americans come to see Aaron, who's reputed to sell the best horses around. (Ruth calls the strangers "English," her term for anyone of Anglo-Saxon descent.) They're heading to Idaho and convince Aaron that he and his family should join them. Contradicting the community elders, Aaron insists that his family's departure isn't "breaking" with the Fold but "expanding" it. As the weeks pass and the Holtzes join a larger Conestoga wagon train, it becomes harder for them to preserve their traditions. For instance, their new acquaintance, Hortence, snatches up Ruth's newborn baby and baptizes him while she's away. The wagons also travel on the Sabbath, and after a fire, Aaron must have his singed beard trimmed-two more religious affronts. Things go from bad to worse when thieves steal their animals and a fever rages through the camp. Job-like, Ruth questions God when faced with wrenching losses. Overall, Moore's tale of hardship and survival takes up classic Western themes but adds in Amish heritage as an intriguing twist. Ruth's close third-person perspective provides the soul of the novel; it's full of warm, descriptive language, quaint terminology (such as "littles" for children) and fresh, folksy metaphors ("West. The word flapped in the kitchen, like the grackle she'd caught in their milk-house"). Flashbacks return incessantly to Ruth and Aaron's pre-trip preparations and these, along with frequent fragmentary and verb-free sentences, break up the flow of the present-day action. However, they also allow Moore to jump right into the wagon journey without tiresome preliminaries. By contrast, Ruth's letters to her brother, Dan'l, are a highlight throughout.A worthwhile literary contribution to the popular Amish-fiction subgenre. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.