Mary-Ann Kirkby Livres

Mary-Ann Kirkby takes readers into the hidden heart of the little-known Hutterite colony in southern Manitoba where she spent her childhood. When she was ten years old her parents packed up their seven children and left the security of the colony to start a new life. With great humor, Kirkby describes how she adapted to popular culture; and with raw honesty, her family's deep sense of loss for their community. This is a powerful tale of retracing steps and understanding how our beginnings often define us.

In 1969, Mary-Ann Kirkby’s parents did the unthinkable. They left a Hutterite colony near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, with seven children and little else, to start a new life. Overnight, the family was thrust into a society they did not understand and which knew little of their unique culture. The transition was overwhelming. More than 40,000 Hutterites live on 400 colonies throughout the U.S. and Canada’s Prairie provinces. Spiritual cousins to the Mennonites and the Amish, this 500-year-old culture with European roots has been in North America since the late 1800s, yet few outsiders know anything about its customs or traditions. I Am Hutterite takes you inside Fairholme Colony, where Kirkby spent the first ten years of her life. Her detailed portrait of Hutterian people opens a window on a closedcommunity and reveals a way of life that seems extraordinary to the outside world.