Rosemary Elizabeth is escaping with her mother, brother and baby sister from her abusive father in Kentucky in 1862. Her mother brings then to the Shaker Community of Pleasant Hill then leaves. Struggling to adjust to the stringent perfection and hard work demanded by the Shakers, she questions everything that is going on around her. Her brother is slowly withdrawing from her due to the enforced separation of the sexes the Shakers believe in, and her baby sister is being raised in the nursery. Then she finds herself being attracted to a young man in the community, who she is not allowed to speak to. As time goes on, she deals with Confederate and Union Soldiers passing through and is set upon by Morgan's Raiders while coming back from a trip to town to sell butter and cheese. The book vividly describes daily life in the Shaker Community and Shaker beliefs. An afterword gives additional background on Shaker history and Morgan's Raiders. Imperfections: A Novel by Lynda Durrant. Clarion Books, 2008.
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