Beautiful The mom's group I belong to read this for our book club last month. It was a beautifully written piece with amazing details. Your felt as if you were in the story along with the charachters.
Delightful This book was quite delightful. It reminded me of Little House on the Prairie but with a local flair. Being from the Waynesboro area I could visualize the areas they were talking about and I thought the little drawings were a nice touch. I hope there will be a sequel so I can find out what happens to these characters.
A timetravel into the beginnings of a nation. A rare glimpse into the austere life and culture of early German Baptist settlers in Pennsylvania's Cumberland Valley where every minute of almost every day is geared toward a family's longterm survival. This carefully researched and accurate historical novel follows a year in the life of a real familyfrom spring of 1812 to spring of 1813whose farmstead is now lovingly restored and open to the public as the Renfrew Museum in Waynesboro Pennsylvania. Through times of both great tragedy and great joy the family's values of faith hard work self sufficiency and personal responsibility offer stark contrast to the dependency of much of contemporary American culture. An absorbing and fascinating read that places our own lives in far greater perspective.
A Beautifully Woven Story Marie Lanser Beck and Maxine Beck have given their community a beautiful gift with the novel The Royers of Renfrew A Family Tapestry. The authors recreate with historical accuracy and vivid scenes a year in the daily life of Daniel Royer and his family eastern Pennsylvanian settlers who confronted harsh realities of pioneer life in 1812. Much of the story is told through the eyes of nine year old Susan enhanced by delicate sketches of Maxine Beck. Personalities of all ten Royer children and their parents come to life as vivid scenes let us peek back in time. The father a strong religious man of German ancestry runs the farm and mill as a welloiled clock teaching his children the trades of farming tannery and gristmill operations. His wife Catherine instructs their daughters in the running of a household. On snowy days she joins her little girls by the fireside to make scherenschnitte snowflakes. Easily interpreted German words or phrases add an authenticity to the tone. We laugh at girls giggling teasing and smile at boys roughhousing in the too small cabin but when we see a simple chore threaten two of the children's lives we anxiously turn pages. This tender pulling together of each of the twelve Royers weaves into a beautiful family tapestry one which not only preserves early history for the community of Waynesboro Pa. but makes many of us nostalgic for the former values of work religion and family. I eagerly await the next book in this series.
A Glimpse of Life in the 1800's As readers we are given a glimpse of life on a Pennsylvania German farm in the 1800'sa simpler timeperhaps in some waysnone of the daily stress that encompasses so many lives today. But as we soon see in this delightful story everyone in this large family has a job to do. As the patriarch Daniel Renfrew is a stern man with strong religious beliefs. He expects his family to do their part and indeed everyone pitches in willingly to do their share. Daniel's wife Catherine works equally as hard as her husband and yet she finds little stolen moments when her husband and the boys are gone to let the girls have a little fun and some shared moments of quiet time. I grew attached to the Royers and continued to think about them even as I was finished with this marvelous story! An endearing story of childhood friendships sibling rivalries and neighbors helping neighbors.
Praise from Hagerstown Magazine A gentle tale the book was written originally for children . . . but it can draw in any reader. Finishing it leaves one wanting more most fitting as there will be a sequel.
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