Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen

"Mennonite in a Little Black Dress" by Rhoda Janzen is a memoir of going home to her  Mennonite community. 

"Not long after Rhoda Janzen turned forty, her world turned upside down. It was bad enough that her husband of fifteen years left her for Bob, a guy he met on Gay.com, but that same week a car accident left her injured. Needing a place to rest and pick up the pieces of her life, Rhoda packed her bags, crossed the country, and returned to her quirky Mennonite family's home, where she was welcomed back with open arms and offbeat advice. (Rhoda's good-natured mother suggested she get over her heartbreak by dating her first cousin—he owned a tractor, see.)

Written with wry humor and huge personality—and tackling faith, love, family, and aging—Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is an immensely moving memoir of healing, certain to touch anyone who has ever had to look homeward in order to move ahead."

From the first page, this book took me home, with Rhoda. I went to a Mennonite High School and reading the pages of Janzen's book was like thumbing through my high school year book. The Kroeker's, the Wiebe's, the Janzen's - who were known as the Jantzen's  in our area. The names were familiar and the food. Awww, the food prepared in our Mennonite High School cafeteria - Rhoda being a true Mennonite woman can cook! And cooking is a way to relax. 

Not being a Mennonite (my parent's raised me in a Southern Baptist Church) and not having a similar last name - mine was Doane, I didn't always fit in. I remember going through the cafeteria lunch line and the cooks speaking in German. Being a self conscience adolescence - I always knew they must be talking about me!!! Now I realize they probably didn't even care about what I was up to, but then - it was always excruciating!

"Mennonite in a Little Black Dress" is a tongue in cheek memoir that is funny and acceptable because it's written by someone that lived this life intimately. But if your looking for a book that embraces the Mennonite faith and carries it on, this is not it.

I greatly enjoyed it. Until I got to chapter 10 and there, it slowed down for me. The author has left the Mennonite faith and I got bogged down in the direction she went with this. However, I also realize as a memoir, this is where she was at that time in her life. I did read on. I also got bogged down in the chapter on Mennonite history. (but I did in high school, too!)  It's sad to me that so many people that become enmeshed into academia seem to leave their faith. 

Janzen's description of her mother reminded me so much of many of the Mennonite women I have known in my life. Delightful women. : )

I do realize the book is really about her relationship with her ex-husband, her accident, her life but I enjoyed the stories of the community she came from so much that those are the sections that stand out to me and stay in my mind.

I love the way she wrote of her mom. I especially love that even though Rhoda has left the Mennonite Faith, she is not embarrassed by it - nor does she seem to be embarrassed by her mother or her family. That's refreshing.

In regards to her ex-husband, I think so many women have no idea their relationship is so abusive until they can look at it in hind-site. Which is what happens with Janzen.

Rhoda Janzen holds a PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was the University of California Poet Laureate in 1994 and 1997. She teaches English and creative writing at Hope College in Holland, Michigan.  You can find her web site HERE.