The Refuge by Ann H. Gabhart

From the back cover: When Darcie and Walter Goodwin hear of a new cholera epidemic sweeping the area, they join the Shakers whose villages seem immune to the disease. It's meant to be a temporary stay, but Walter is killed in a riverboat accident. With no family and no money, Darcie has little choice but to stay with the Shakers. To complicate matters, she is expecting a baby conceived before she and her husband came to the Shaker village. Marital relationships are considered sinful in this celibate community, putting Darcie in a unique--and lonely--position. Can the arrival of widower Flynn Keller and his headstrong daughter offer Darcie the hope of happiness . . . and family?

My review:

Flynn Keller is a widower with a young daughter Leatrice. They live with his father-in-law, Silas, also a widower. Silas makes the mistake of marrying a gold-digging woman he doesn't know very well so that his granddaughter will have a woman's influence. And the men? They need someone to cook for them. The story gets extremely interesting from that point on. Flynn realizes Silas's wife has her sights on Flynn, too. He decides to sleep in the barn to avoid her. Eventually, he takes Leatrice to the Shakers temporarily so that she can learn to read. But this arrangement also gets Leatrice away from the bad female role model.

Ann Gabhart is a master writer, and this book is my favorite so far. I've enjoyed her Shaker books because I have visited Shakertown in central Kentucky and studied Shaker beliefs. Each character has a different reason for being with the Shakers as a resident or visitor. Every one of them comes alive, pulling you into the story so that it's hard to put the book down.

The reader learns a lot about Shaker customs. They would take in anyone in need. But all are expected to conform to the Shaker routine and beliefs. There are several "sisters," as the Shakers call all the women, who have come to Harmony Hill solely because they have no way to take care of themselves.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book compliments of the author and Revell Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

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