Shaker Books In Order

Publication Order of Shaker Books

The Shaker series is a well known novel series comprising of beautiful, historical, and romantic books, which are written by one of the bestselling American novelists named Ann Gabhart. This series is comprised of 6 novels and 1 novella in total, which were released between the years 2008 and 2015. Author Gabhart has set the stories of this series during the 1800s. Each of the books features a different set of principal characters, around whom the whole romantic setup revolves. Author Gabhart has featured the beautiful community of the Shaker Village, located in Harmony Hill near the town of Harrodsburg, Kentucky. The people in the Shaker community live a happy and content life among their brethren and sisters. But, their lives and thoughts begin to change when the strangers begin to intrude each of their lives. In each of the stories, author Gabhart has tried to depict the love story of a Shaker sister. The female characters appear to be strong women, who find love in places where they had never thought of. The first book published in the series is entitled ‘The Outsider’. It was released in the year 2008 by the Revell publication. The main character introduced by author Gabhart in this novel is Gabrielle Hope. At the start of the book, Garbielle Hope is introduced as a content lady, who had devoted her life in the service of her community. Gabrielle had no intention of getting into a relationship and was pretty much satisfied with her life. However, her life was turned upside down when she found love from outside unexpectedly. She joined the Shaker community in Harmony Hill with her mother for the first time in 1807. There, she was promised devotion and stability. Even Gabrielle embraced it with all her heart. Soon, a local doctor is required to be brought into the community from outside.

After his arrival in the town, he begins to set a number of events’ chain in motion that challenges the loyalty of Gabrielle towards the Shaker community people. Gabrielle continues to fall deeper and deeper in love with the local doctor. Finally, she realizes that she has fallen so deep into the forbidden love of the worldly man that she must choose between him and her devotion for the Shakers. The choice seems to be a difficult one for Gabrielle Hope, but she knows that it is very important for her to make one. The sudden change of events makes her wonder whether she is really happy in the chaste and simple community. The arrival of love in her life makes her wanting to have a life of her own. But, Gabrielle finds it very difficult to abandon her sisters and brothers for a life full of love. Eventually, Gabrielle looks for a solution which will be towards the betterment of both her community and her own life. For describing the characters and the community, author Gabhart carried out a detailed research about the living conditions and lifestyles of a Shaker community. She was lucky that she lived nearby one such restored village, which is located around 30 miles from her place of residence in Kentucky. As per the description of author Gabhart, the Shakers is a practiced celibacy and a religious community that emphasizes on keeping the men and women separate in the day-to-day activities.

The people of Shakers focus primarily on concentrating their energy to perfect their lives with worship and work. From Gabrielle’s point of view, author Gabhart has given an inside view of the nitty gritty world of a Shaker community. Gabrielle has been living in the village since she was a small child. Her experiences as she grows up give a glimpse of the inside world of the community as well as how she sees the outside world. Author Gabhart has done a fantastic job sharing the fascinating details about the community through this compelling story. Other than Gabrielle Hope, the other prominent characters of the story include Brice Scott and Sister Mercy. Brice Scott is the doctor who arrives in the Shaker village from outside to look after a hurting child. He becomes fascinated by the way of living of the villagers and seems intrigued to learn more about the sect. He also starts to fall for the beauty of Gabrielle Hope. Sister Mercy seems to have the answers to each and every question that Gabrielle asks her. As the story proceeds further, more fascinating and intriguing details are shared by the author, which make it even more worthy to read.

The next novel written and published in the series by author Gabhart is titled as ‘The Believer’. It was also released by the Revell Company publication in 2009. The central characters described by author Gabhart in the story of this book are Elizabeth Duncan and Ethan. At the beginning of the story, Elizabeth Duncan is shown as having nowhere to go to in her desperate times. After the death of her parents, she is left with being in charge of the upbringing of her younger siblings. And Elizabeth does not seem to have many options. Later, she comes to know that a community located in the neighboring county helps raise orphans. This community is none other than the Shakers. Hoping to get some help, Elizabeth Duncan decides to present herself to at Harmony Hill with her siblings. While staying in the community, Elizabeth hears about some strange beliefs about the community’s people and is also made to work a lot. In spite of the hard work and the strange beliefs, she feels relieved that she has a place to stay and some food to eat. Particularly, she feels happy for her sister & brother. However, Elizabeth Duncan’s life begins to become complicated when she feels attracted towards a fellow Believer in a strong way. This Believer is the young and handsome Ethan. He has never had any feeling for any other females living in Shaker community, other than as sisters. But, he finds it extremely difficult to hide the feelings that he has developed for Elizabeth Duncan. Ethan fears that if the word gets out in the community about their feelings for each other, Elizabeth might be forced to leave. And he cannot see this happen at any cost. Now, Ethan wonders whether he will be kept from stumbling by the interference of others in this matter or will his love for Elizabeth Duncan change the course of both their lives forever. With the help of this story, author Gabhart has tried to explore devotion and love once again in a new way. She has depicted the development of a romantic relationship between the two characters in the quiet community of Shaker, where it is forbidden to fall in love with the fellow brothers & sisters.