Martyrs and Chickens: Confessions of a Granola Mennonite

by Kirsten Eve Beachy

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

230 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2025

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and well-written memoir. I appreciated the testimony to Menno Simons, references to "Martyrs Mirror", and accounts of the other ancestors of modern Mennonites. Although I did not grow up Mennonite, I identified with Beachy's description of her mother, reminding me of my own parents and upbringing. Her description of wild morels fried in butter made my mouth water. I especially enjoyed the first ten chapters of this book, including Beachy's struggle to identify with and emulate her martyred ancestors. See her "Granola Mennonite Dream Scorecard" on page 205. If, unlike me, you are a woman who has born a child, or you raise chickens, you would like this book even more.

Some nuggets of wisdom:
"Something shifts when you eat together...Preheat the oven to 350 degrees."
"My mismatched twins reminded me that we live in strange and precious, remarkably flawed, miraculously functional, ultimately terminal bodies... I learned all over again how to read the news. Every child drowned, lost, injured, left in a car, bereft of medical care, orphaned by bombs, or torn from their parents becomes a particular child. My own."
"Our children are not for martyrdom...Our children are for joy."
"Simple...is life without television....we took it for granted that TV rotted your brain."
"When it comes to faith, I'm happy to leave the details feathery...But works! Friends, this world needs so much work, and we Mennonites are here to do it."

[Ryan Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an honest and touching self-exploration in the contexts of Mennonite heritage, farm life, and family belonging. I can relate to many of the essays and I appreciate Beachy’s openness and reflection.

[Shirley Showalter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recognized myself as a partial "Grandola Mennonite" when I read the final chapter of this book called “Simple.” It offers a scorecard of pluses and minuses for foods, gifts, tithing, housing, and employment. You don’t have to be a Mennonite to enjoy the humor in this taxonomy, and if you are seriously frugal, you might rank higher than many, if not most, Mennonites.

The title of the book, combining martyrs with chickens, hints at the many arresting juxtapositions found from beginning to end. The author takes us on a tour of her Mennonite life from the the “corn day” on a visit to her husband’s childhood farm to the dreams the young couple has for their own lives. There’s passion in her voice as she describes her desire to be a writer closely tied to land: “I want to join the young green wood of my life to old wood, to build something sturdy, something that holds up over time.” Hence the martyrs, the chickens, and eventually, after a struggle with infertility, the twin daughters, one of whom was born with Down Syndrome.

Frankly, I wasn’t sure I would like a book with this title, but I found myself admiring the author’s honesty, grit, and determination to craft her own kind of life, connected to family and faith, but not determined by them. The voice is quiet on the surface but fierce underneath. The humor bites your ankles as you recognize both satire and praise song.

[Margo Jantzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martyrs and Chickens by Kirsten Eve Beachy is a beautifully layered and often humorous collection that weaves Anabaptist heritage, personal reflection, and the oddities of everyday life into compelling essays. Beachy's voice is sharp, tender, and refreshingly original—each piece invites both laughter and thoughtful pause. I truly hope an audiobook is in the works; her storytelling would shine even more when heard aloud.

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays detailing snapshots of Kirsten Beachy's life. The collection is eclectic, but it is very well-written. She weaves in connections to her studies on the Martyrs Mirror. Her connections to home, her relationship to animals, her journey with desiring, and achieving parenthood were the richest for me.