Sunday Synopsis

 

The Amish Wife by Gregg Olsen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A pregnant Amish woman, Ida Stutzman, died in a barn fire in 1977. Her death was ruled an accident. Twelve years later, her son Danny died, most likely by the hand of his father Eli Stutzman, a man once married to Ida. Greg Olsen wrote a book about "Little Boy Blue," as Danny was known, called Abandoned Prayers.

When Eli Stutzman left the Amish, rumors abounded that he was gay and had relationships with other Amish men as well as the sheriff of his Ohio town. He left a trail of dead in his path when he left the Amish. But author Greg Olsen always believed that Eli's crimes began with his wife's death.

Olsen returned to Amish country where he had at least one person on his side: Ida's brother Daniel Gingerich, also a member of the Swartzentruber Amish community. Through dozens of interviews with aging witnesses and old family letters that were finally shared with him, Olsen gets to the truth.

I found this book well researched but a little repetitive. The details of the night of Ida's death were hashed and rehashed numerous times with rarely few new details added. I think there would have been a more concise way to present the information. The book was a little dryer than most of Olsen's books because it was not written in typical story format; however, it was interesting.

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