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The Outsider Penelope Williamson 9780446604772 Books

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The Outsider Penelope Williamson 9780446604772 Books

When I was 15 I swiped my mother's hard back edition of Penelope Williamson's Heart Of The West. It was my first introduction to a romance type book. I had been reading Louis L'Amour since I was in 5th grade and my love for westerns was epic. So HotW caught me, hook, line, sinker. I've reread it 100 times.

So, how did I get to The Outsider? I ordered HotW for my kindle and it recommended this one. I had my doubts, but went ahead and purchased it. It says it takes about 9 hours to read it- I finished it in 6. It was SO addicting, so GOOD.

Coming from the Louis L'Amour background, I'm a sucker for a book about a gunslinger. And this book sucks you right into the world of Rachel and how she throws Johnny Cain's world upside down. I cheered, I cursed outloud and was completely enthralled.

There was some things I didn't care about (read characters) but overall I loved it. It will be one I re-read, multiple times.


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The Outsider Penelope Williamson 9780446604772 Books Reviews

This is a mesmerizing story of the characters that made the American West The tricksters and sociopaths, the religious fanatics and disciplined desperados. It is also Williamson's best book and one of the top Historic Romance novels of all time.

A great history and an analysis of the driven people that settled our western frontier, The Outsider illustrates the way religious groups define their limits in an attempt to purify themselves and become "good", yet how that purification inevitably becomes the arm of evil because it excludes some of what God has made. It shows the human impulse to self preservation and how it can destroy the thing it seeks to preserve or, conversely, find something new, something life-giving and outside the realm of what could be previously imagined.
A forbidden love between a God fearing Amish woman and a tainted sinful soulless "outsider". How they try to change each other, fail and somehow manage to sort of meet in the middle, but still at a great cost.

It's an epic romance both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time that continuously pulls at your heartstrings. And the beauty is, it's written without the need for graphic sex.

Why not 5 stars? As mentioned by one other commenter before, we have POVs of almost every character in the book accept that of the hero. Or there is, if a few lines towards the end is enough for you. I think the author intends to keep the hero's character as mysterious as possible, thus referring to him as "the outsider" throughout the book without letting the readers into his mind and his thoughts.

Apart from that I would recommend this book to everybody from teenagers to the elderly readers, even to those who are not particularly a romance fans. It's full of interesting insight on the "straight and narrow" path of an Amish (Plain People) life and the trials and tribulations of a hard life of sheep farmers. And of course a great, great love story. For those who wonder whether it has HEA ending... don't' worry.
I've been reading westerns lately and can highly recommend Ellen O'Connell's books as well as Carla Kelly's westerns. When I began searching for other books to read, Penelope Williamson's "The Outsider" invariably came up either through the romance discussion groups or other reviewers' recommended western books. If you google the top 100 western romance books on the internet or on the GR lists, this book will come up. There's even a movie based on this book and it's available on .

Now to cut to the chase This book is very well written, has lots of action and angst - backstories of the primary characters and minor characters are slowly revealed throughout the book. But, there are pages after pages where very little action occurs. Yes, the plot is building and we are getting tidbits of information to keep us somewhat interested, but I actually thought about setting the book aside at about the halfway point and moving on to another book. I stuck it out and was glad I did.

Rachel Yoder is an Amish widow and mother of a young son, Benjo, who has a huge issue with stuttering. She loved her husband Ben, and continues to miss him even as she remembers the good times having known him her entire life. She's a capable woman who raises sheep on her ranch - her woollies as she calls them. Although life isn't easy, she has help from the greater Amish community including her and Ben's particular long time friend Noah - a very stiff-necked, starchy religious leader in the Amish community - who is also a widower and head over heels for Rachel.

Into this world, a gunslinger by the name of Johnny Cain comes crashing - nearly dead of gunshot wounds. When he stumbles onto Rachel's ranch, she takes him in and calls the town doctor, Lucas. I found Lucas to be one of the most interesting characters in the book, but his backstory won't be revealed until far into the book. There are other interesting characters, including one of the town whores, a beautiful lady named Marilee and then there's the big shot cattleman, known as the Baron, who runs roughshod over all those who are in his way, including Rachel and other Amish families. Other characters include the Baron's son, Quinten Hunter, a half-breed Indian who struggles with the values of his father, but isn't strong enough to stand up on his own.

As Johnny slowly recuperates and is able to assist Rachel on her ranch, the two eventually become very close which results in lots of frustration among her Amish friends. Rachel is a strong woman who is very solidly Amish but has probably always been a bit of a nonconformist in her own way although it might not appear so during much of the book. However, we are given some insight into Rachel's character through the eyes of her seemingly downcast mother on a couple of occasions. This streak in Rachel might enable her to make choices she might not have otherwise made as the story progresses.

*Spoiler*
Johnny Cain has a deep dark past, which again, isn't fully revealed until toward the end of the book. Once this reveal takes place, the reader will better understand the coldness in his eyes and why he has chosen to live out his life in the manner he has. Some parts of this book are not easy to read - parts related to Johnny's past and also a couple of violent happenings within the book, including one particularly violent rape of a prostitute as well as a horrific beating of a young Amish man.
**End of Spoiler**

At the end of the day, I enjoyed the characters enough to wonder if Ms. Williamson might not have written other books based on Dr. Lucas Henry or Young Quentin Hunter. I'll be checking into other books by this author.
When I was 15 I swiped my mother's hard back edition of Penelope Williamson's Heart Of The West. It was my first introduction to a romance type book. I had been reading Louis L'Amour since I was in 5th grade and my love for westerns was epic. So HotW caught me, hook, line, sinker. I've reread it 100 times.

So, how did I get to The Outsider? I ordered HotW for my kindle and it recommended this one. I had my doubts, but went ahead and purchased it. It says it takes about 9 hours to read it- I finished it in 6. It was SO addicting, so GOOD.

Coming from the Louis L'Amour background, I'm a sucker for a book about a gunslinger. And this book sucks you right into the world of Rachel and how she throws Johnny Cain's world upside down. I cheered, I cursed outloud and was completely enthralled.

There was some things I didn't care about (read characters) but overall I loved it. It will be one I re-read, multiple times.