Grainview: A novel about a teacher's experience on a Hutterite colony

Hutterite colonies dot the Canadian prairie landscape like grain elevators. Where did they come from? What do the people called Hutterites believe?;Accalia McConnell was a bright, feisty, newly graduated teacher. Her first teaching assignment was on an Alberta Hutterite colony. As her first seven years of teaching unfold, "Caley" is continuously confronted with new challenges, contradictions, and compromises necessitated when two divergent cultures collide in one small classroom.;The Hutterian life is ostensibly based on the biblical interpretations of their erstwhile leader, Jakob Hutter, who seized on the biblical passage: "all things common". This simple communal life has defied probability and flourished over their four hundred year history. However, in contemporary society the technological advances threaten one of the basic tenets of Hutterian life: isolation. When the Hutterites emigrated to the West it was negotiated that colony members were to be educated in local curricula. This price of admission presented the dilemma of maintaining traditional ways in the face of modern advancements. The flashpoint for this cultural collision is the classroom of Caley McConnell.;As the anecdotal stories of education in the schoolhouse unfold, Caley is forced to continuously balance the myriad of viewpoints surrounding her: those of the superintendent, the preacher, Daniel the domineering farm boss, the illegitimate child, runaways and Caley's own set of values. These stories intertwine numerous challenges that inexorably lead to a breaking point. In searching for an understanding of Hutterian culture, Caley ultimately discovers herself.