Book Review: I Am Hutterite by Mary-Ann Kirkby

In this memoir, Kirkby describes growing up in a reclusive, religious Hutterite community in Canada. She enjoys her childhood and the community around her, until her parents decide to leave their close-knit communal life, causing Kirkby to reevaluate her security and identity in light of a sometimes hostile outside world.

Before reading this book, I knew nothing about the Hutterite community, but Kirkby's detailed descriptions made this communal life come alive. Her journey to embrace her history as an integral part of her identity is representative of the journey we each take in varying degrees--to make sense of our past and to determine how that past will inform our present and future. At times her use of the Hutterite language seems awkward and interrupts the flow of the text, but overall, I found the book enjoyable.

This book was provided by Thomas Nelson, but the opinions are mine.