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A Mending at the Edge (Change and Cherish Historical Series #3) | 
 enlarge | Author: Jane Kirkpatrick
Publisher: WaterBrook Press
Category: Book
List Price: $13.99
Buy New: $3.95
You Save: $10.04 (72%)
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Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 61518
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 1578569796
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781578569793
ASIN: 1578569796
Publication Date: April 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New!!! bce This is a Hardcover!!!
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Product Description
“Of all the things I left in Willapa, hope is what I missed the most.”
So begins this story of one woman’s restoration from personal grief to the meaning of community. Based on the life of German-American Emma Wagner Giesy, the only woman sent to the Oregon Territory in the 1850s to help found a communal society, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick shows how landscape, relationships, spirituality and artistry poignantly reflect a woman’s desire to weave a unique and meaningful legacy from the threads of an ordinary life. While set in the historical past, it’s a story for our own time answering the question: Can threads of an isolated life weave a legacy of purpose in community?
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 A Delightful, Satisfying Story October 20, 2008
"Of all the things I left in Willapa, hope is what I missed the most."
In the third of the "Change and Cherish" series, Jane Kirkpatrick continues the story based on Emma Wagner Giesy, the only woman sent to the Oregon Territory in the 1850s to help found a communal society.
Jane's writing is a delight to read, a patchwork quilt rich with metaphors, as she tells Emma's story of obstacles, loss, and conflict to find personal growth and satisfaction in giving and serving others. A Mending at the Edge is a wonderful conclusion to a woman's story of strength and perseverance.
I enjoyed it very much!
A wonderful ending September 7, 2008
A Mending at the Edge was a wonderful ending to a moving series. The Change and Cherish series, like all of Jane's books/series, was beautifully written. I didn't want it to end.
 A woman of strengh and courage and yes, hope September 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A Mending at the Edge, I now realize is a series beginning with A Clearing in the Wild and followed by A Tendering in the Storm. Although I read the last first, it did not detract from the story for the author has skillfully woven in the past events pertinent to this story. Set in 19th century Oregon, the story is based on the true life of a woman named Emma who finds herself estranged from an abusive husband and living in a commune that both restricts and protects her. I loved Emma's independence, her strong will, and her compassionate heart, seen often in the story, but I especially liked how she befriended another woman who came into the commune for a short time with her children. She, too, had the heart of a lioness, the strength of will to overcome that which she could not change, one being her dwarfism, and to bear it all without complaining. A woman's lot in Emma's day would be unthinkable to most women today and many of us would not, if shoved back into those times of female oppression, be able, as Emma did, to carve out a life of our own. Emma thought she'd left hope behind, but, in truth, she never really ever lost it. Eunice Boeve, author of Ride a Shadowed Trail www.euniceboeve.net
The intriguing conclusion to Jane Kirkpatrick's historical "Change and Cherish" series July 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A MENDING AT THE EDGE satisfyingly concludes Jane Kirkpatrick's Change and Cherish trilogy, based on the true-life story of Emma Wagner Giesy, a strong-willed woman who seeks to find her place in a restrictive Christian colony in Oregon during the mid-1800s.
If you haven't read the first two installments, stop here and begin with book one, A CLEARING IN THE WILD. These novels are much richer as a series than they are as stand-alones.
In A CLEARING IN THE WILD, we're introduced to Emma, a teenage girl in the Missouri Bethelites community who rebels against gender roles and longs for adventure. She wangles her way to accompany her husband, Christian Giesy, on a trip west to explore possible new locations for the colony --- historically, the only woman to help found a communal society in this time period, Kirkpatrick tells us.
The second novel in the series, A TENDERING IN THE STORM, is written from two points of view --- Louisa Keil's and Emma's. It finds the feisty Emma living in the Washington Territory with Christian and little ones Andy and Kate. Readers will enjoy seeing Emma's gifts unfold and watching her grow as a woman of faith and as a mother who deeply cares for her children. Her mistakes, however, will cost her dearly.
A MENDING AT THE EDGE finds Emma and her four young kids back with the repressive Bethel colony, after escaping from her abusive second husband Jack. Although offering her shelter and work at the colony, its mercurial and autocratic leader, Wilhelm Keil, is clear that Emma must do what she can to reconcile with Jack.
Kirkpatrick weaves information about women and divorce during this time period into the storyline, and continues her exploration of gender roles as she has throughout the series. Divorce, we discover, while not impossible, would likely result in Emma's dismissal from the colony. Divorced women of that time in Oregon also lost custody of their children, the author tells us.
However, as Emma labors in the colony and her work is credited towards the community for goods she wishes to acquire, Jack shows up and threatens to use his privileges as her husband to claim goods for himself that she has earned. And shockingly enough, the community does not protest, as he is her lawful husband. For the modern reader, Emma's situation and those of other characters introduced later in the story provide a startling realization of how women's rights were not protected in this era, and how little recourse females had if they were abused by their husbands. Kirkpatrick is a clinical social worker, as well as a novelist, which may explain her knowledgeable grasp of this plot thread.
Things smooth out a bit when Jack leaves, and Emma is free to press for the building of a home for herself and her family. However, to remain in the community, Emma finds that she must give up more than she ever dreamed. Will her sacrifice be worth the pain it will cause? Readers may find her decision shocking, but the author casts Emma's actions in the context of her time period, which aids understanding.
Kirkpatrick paints an intriguing portrait of a woman who chafes at the conventional and longs to live an extraordinary life. Emma's creativity is repeatedly stifled, but she finds ways to use conventional means (crafts, quilting) to express her gifts in unusual ways. Her impetuousness often has consequences, especially her unfortunate marriage to Jack, but she has matured since book one and learned patience and tact. These things help smooth her path as she finds a way to become a part of the colony yet remain true to herself. Emma also learns that even as she grieves the loss of family members she loves, she is able to reach out to others in need and help them heal.
I appreciated how Kirkpatrick helps the reader at every turn to understand the story, from the cast of characters at the beginning (an extensive number by book three) to the rich historical details, for which she includes a glossary of terms and German words used by the colony.
Readers fascinated with Emma's story will find information in the author's notes about the Western colony founded by German Americans as it is remembered today. Kirkpatrick notes that it is possible to visit the novel's historical village of Aurora (population 600) and the Colony Museum today. She has also written a nonfiction book about the colony, its quilts, music, food and culture that will be published in the fall of 2008.
Fans of the Change and Cherish series will appreciate A MENDING AT THE EDGE and the forthcoming nonfiction title, which provide more windows into this fascinating and sometimes shockingly restrictive community and this time period of the Old West.
--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby
Historical Fiction June 22, 2008
Jane Kirkpatrick has done it again! This is a wonderful story woven into Oregon history and is a joy to read. The characters come alive and stay in your heart long after the last page is read.
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