Buried Secrets. Don’t know about you, but the title makes me think of some archaeological mystery. I could almost see Amelia Peabody with her parasol standing over workers, demanding they be more careful. “Emerson, I think this poor mummy was shot! That’s not possible! They didn’t have guns. Great, Scott! This isn’t a mummy at all—not a proper one!”
Okay, so that sounds more like her husband than dear Peabody, and well… then, of course, that leaves us bereft of the mystery I never read.
Except I did.
Only, instead of an abandoned tomb outside of Cairo, Rachel Good uncovers the secrets to Emma’s past.
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My review:
Buried Secrets is one of the best-named books I’ve ever read. The title alone contains more subtleties than you suspect until you reach that last page. Rachel Good wrote a well-layered story of love, loss, growth, forgiveness, and redemption. She drew me into characters who weren’t your typical Amish folks and made me care about even the ones who made me want to slap them. That’s pretty impressive.
This book includes a lot you don’t expect from Amish fiction and most of it in a very good way. One of the primary characters didn’t grow up Amish. Let’s face it. You don’t see that every day. Another character did something so heinous, you’d never expect it of someone a part of a group known for “non-violence.” The characters are consistent, even when that consistency fits outside the normal expectations for the Amish. Unlike historical fiction where they often attribute modern ideals and ideas to historical characters, Buried Secrets shows people who keep themselves separate from “the world” still being impacted by that world. And that’s important to see.
And one of the best parts? LOVE that cover. I mean, look at it! They blended the Amish objection to being photographed with the modern preference for people on covers and did it without making that girl too made up and polished OR too raw and unappealing (because on covers “plain” photography can look rather amateurish. It’s just a beautiful cover–even more so than the other book I saw by this author, A Change of Heart. After reading this one, I suspect I know what that’s about! And, I will probably buy the book and read it.
As Amish fiction goes, I really loved Buried Secrets.
In the interest of full disclosure, however, sometimes showing that intrusion of modern life into a world that eschews most of that modern sometimes felt incongruous. I don’t know that they are. I want to be very careful not to say that Ms. Good is “wrong” about any of it, but a few things jerked me out of the story. The reference to the babies’ nursery… I just never picture the Amish with nurseries! Even if the author meant the bedroom the children would sleep in, I just see them calling it a bedroom or something like that. Nursery conjures up the idea of a rather trendy, “not plain,” thing.
She made references to not dating and having a girlfriend—again, they felt removed from what I’m accustomed to in Amish fiction. And again, I refuse to say she’s “wrong” about it. However, that’s one problem with very specific genre fiction. They tend to create expectations.
Revised:
However, since discovering that some Old Order Amish DO have “nurseries” and it is common to “date” and have “girlfriends,” I can’t help but wonder if perhaps I SHOULD be jerked out of the story. I mean, if my understanding is severely outdated, isn’t it an author’s job to educate me? For example, the time period for one of my books called recipes “receipts.” Some people were bothered by that. They thought I’d been caught by the spellcheck bug or something. I was just being accurate to the time period. And so is Ms. Good. So, I’m revising my opinion on this one. I think that’s a pretty cool thing–learning something new that challenges your expectations!
On the other hand, a few of the Amish-isms got a little old. Okay, only one that really made a lasting impact now that I’m removed from the story a bit. I know that the Amish word for baby is boppli. And if I didn’t, by the time I got done reading this book, I would never be able to forget it. In speech, using that word makes so much sense, but in narrative, it really became a bit burdensome. It’s a bit nit-picky of me, but since it annoyed me, I thought I’d throw it out there for those who are also bothered by such things.
There was one thing though…
The thing that bothered me the most about the book were certain bits of repetitiveness. Sometimes the author would state something, and right away, state it again. I couldn’t tell if she rewrote it one way and then the other, only to forget to remove one or if she just wanted to make sure we really understood what she wanted us to take away from it. And honestly, this was big enough for me that she almost lost a star over it.
Buried Secrets is just a really great story with interesting characters and a rather unique plot for Amish fiction. If it were not Amish, most of my “complaints” would be moot. However, the big plot twist would not have had the same impact. Now… do you think we could talk her into an Amish archaeologist in Cairo… with a kappe and buggy?
Thanks so much for hosting me, Chautona! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your review, and you gave me some things to think about — so I appreciate that as well. Good luck with your own writing!
Thanks! And thanks for teaching me more about the Amish. If you didn’t see, I added a revision to my review. 🙂
I have many Amish friends that I do social things with all of the time. One thing we can’t do is say, “The Amish do or don’t….” because all Amish are different. They can’t be generalized. Some of my friends have nurseries and some do not- although they are all Old Order Amish. They decorate them just as the English do. Some of the very strict Amish would not. All communities are different and rules within church districts vary. Emma is correct when she says they either speak English or Dutch, they don’t mix Dutch words in when they are speaking English. But I do know that authors sprinkle the Dutch words in for the reader’s sake and some publishers ever request it. I found Rachel Good’s book very authentic compared to some others I have read. I enjoyed your review and insights!
That is excellent, and you know, the more I think of it, as much as it jerked me out of the story because it’s not what I’m accustomed to, I think it’s good that it did. Because this helps show just how much things have changed. This gives an accurate view of it. I think I’ll be revising my review to reflect this. I suspected that it was me rather than her (hence why I said I wasn’t saying she was wrong). But perhaps we should be jerked out of misinformation and shown accuracy, no?
Mary, It’s so true. We can’t pigeonhole the Amish because they’re individuals, and each group is different as well. I found out as I got to know Amish, I’ve learned just how true that is. So glad you stopped by.
Just so you know, I believe you’re right about “nurseries”, but they do talk about dating and girlfriends. In fact, in some communities, they’ll have a date with a different person every week (at least the popular ones will) until they finally settle down with one person. Not that I approve, that’s just the way it is. I agree with you about the use of “Amish” words. It seems like a lot of those authors pick out some words they think are cute and use them a lot just to try to give atmosphere. As someone who knows a lot of Amish and former Amish, I know they don’t mix languages like that. When they talk English, they talk English, usually very well. Their “Dutch” language has a lot of English words mixed in.
That’s really fascinating. I guess for me, it was a lot like using the words “cool” or “snarky” in Madeline. They may have been accurate in how I used them, but they felt anachronous. Every time I saw them, it jerked me right out of the story.
Hi, Emma (You have the same name as my heroine, which makes me smile.)
So glad you stopped by. You’re right about not mixing the languages. Publishers do ask us to use some words to add “flavor,” but you wouldn’t actually find that happening in a real conversation.
So it’s the fault of the publishers! I’ll have to say, that is something that really irritates me about Amish fiction, and one of the biggest reasons I don’t read much of it.
Until now, I hadn’t identified that it was one of the things that pushed me off, too. It creates a fakeness. That’s why, even in Wynnewood when I could have used SOOOOOOo many cool words from Old English, I MADE myself stick to names only–and even that, more place names and insults (scynthaltha for example). It made more sense to do it that way than a bunch of words that jerked people out of the story all the time. I think in dialogue, you can pull it off better than in narrative, though.
I really love your reviews Chautona, no I think Buried Secrets might be my choice
Thanks! I find it difficult to share what I loved and balance that with what might bother another reader. It’s also hard to how what jarred me without making it sound like it SHOULD bother others.
Hi, Andrea,
Thanks for stopping by! I agree that Chautona does a great job with her reviews. It was so much fun to read her intro to the book. (Peabody is one of my favorite characters, so I loved that part!) She really knows how to grab your interest and hold it throughout.
I would want Buried Secrets. 🙂
I think, based upon what I read about the first book, I will like Buried more, but I am going to read that first one. I think it’s kind of cool that it doesn’t sound like the lessons learned in book 1 were instant and long-lasting. Which is kind of how that is, right?
So glad you were here, Susan. Good luck with the drawing & I hope you enjoy the book!
After reading your review I’m interested in reading Buried Secrets. ?
I’m glad! I haven’t read a lot of Amish fiction in the past 10 years, but it’s quite different from anything I read before that for sure.
Hi, Eileen,
So glad you were able to stop by. I hope you’ll have a chance to read Buried Secrets.