Published posthumously, Annie Jacobsen's story is a wonderfully written and moving book that illuminates some of the history of the Mennonite people of Canada and their way of life.
The story revolves around Lexi, a young Mennonite girl from Saskatchewan who moves from a impoverished family home ruled by a strict and domineering father, to the liberal and wayward household of Dr. Gerald Oliver in Waterloo, Ontario.
Lexi's taste of freedom away from the Mennonite culture is tempered by the emotional chaos she undergoes learning about the world beyond her childhood. As she becomes embroiled in the marital problems of the Olivers, Lexi must learn about the facts of life quickly in order to survive.
When she is drawn back to the family to care for her ailing mother, Lexi discovers her brother's old journals and learns more of her family's desperate move to Canada and the personal tragedy of her mother's life. Lexi finds that maturity comes from within as she struggles to find her voice and her way toward adulthood.
