The Quiet in the Land

TThe story of a Mennonite family torn apart by unspoken anger and community pressure to conform, The Quiet in the Land speaks of universal human experiences: Love and betrayal, anger and repentance, forgiveness and healing. In a family shaped by its traditional culture, anger remains unspoken, but simmering just beneath the surface of relationships. When finally it erupts, the resulting act of violence changes the family landscape for generations to come. All of Christiana township knows the history of the Hostetlers and every other family that has lived there for generations. Sam and Emma Hostetler come from different branches of Mennonite church. Their marriage deepened a family rift that started a generation earlier, when Emma's parents left the Amish church, and will touch even their grandchildren. In a community where identity is based on family and church, Sam and Emma's two sons never fit anywhere. While the oldest boy, Vernon, tried to meet every expectation of a good Mennonite son, younger brother Don broke with the family and left home to define himself. The Quiet in the Land begins when Don comes back to the family farm after a failed marriage, without a home, family or job. His father has died, his mother is in a nursing home, and it's up to big brother Vernon to take him in. When two sisters, Thelma and Irene Showalter, arrive to clean house for the brothers, tensions grow. Finally, desperately afraid of losing his tentative hold on home, Don strikes out in anger at the person who can least defend herself. In traditional fashion, the violence is hidden, but divides the family into the next generation. After years apart, the power of love and family ties draw the brothers together again, with explosive results. Only then -- after the old wounds are exposed and feelings expressed -- does healing finally begin. Ultimately, repentance and forgiveness will dissolve both hatred and self-hatred hatred, leaving nothing but love shining through.