Zoom Bookclub - Quaker Reading
Join us as we explore some novels, historical fiction and related storylines (not all fictional) that include a Quaker component.
The Bookclub is a collaboration between several Quaker Meetings, but ALL are welcome. Just send an email to ByberryQuakers@gmail.com requesting the log-in to the bookclub.
The Bookclub will meet on the 2nd Monday of each month. Our next meeting is July 6th at 7:00PM.
July's Book Club Selection:
"A quintessential American heroine, Eliza Birdwell is a wonderful blend of would-be austerity, practicality, and gentle humor when it comes to keeping her faith and caring for her family and community. Her husband, Jess, shares Eliza's love of people and peaceful ways but, unlike Eliza, also displays a fondness for a fast horse and a lively tune. With their children, they must negotiate their way through a world that constantly confronts them-sometimes with candor, sometimes with violence-and tests the strength of their beliefs. Whether it's a gift parcel arriving on their doorstep or Confederate soldiers approaching their land, the Birdwells embrace life with emotion, conviction, and a love for one another that seems to conquer all.
The Friendly Persuasion has charmed generations of readers as one of our classic tales of the American Midwest." (Source: GoodReads)
FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS:
Considerations are:
Silent Friends - A Quaker Quilt - Margaret Lacey
The Invention of Wings - Sue Monk Kidd
Hannah Coulter - Wendell Berry (Rec by Parker Palmer - not sure if there's a Quaker theme)
Friendly Persuasion - Jessamyn West (1850 to 1950ish - American Quaker farming family)
Falling to Heaven - Jeanne Peterson (2 Quaker Americans trek into Tibet)
The Witch's Advocate - Richard Maule (Quaker who advocates for Salem witches)
Mary Dyer Illuminated - (One of the four Quaker Martyrs hanged in Boston in mid-1600s)
World of Trouble: A Philadelphia Quaker Family's Journey Through the American Revolution (Story of Drinker Family in Phila)
Kendall Sparrow - Barbara Leutke (1650 - Fictionalized telling of Elizabeth Fletcher and her convincement by George Fox)
The Cure for Dreaming - Cat Winters (story about a young woman and her efforts in the suffrage movement)
Seneca Falls Inheritance (One in a series of murder mysteries - this one takes place during the SF Convention).
Through Gold Eagle (Part of the Seneca Falls Series - Story of John Brown, his funders, attack on Harper's Ferry).
The Kitchen House ( In this gripping novel, a dark secret threatens to expose the best and worst in everyone tied to the estate at a thriving plantation in Virginia in the decades before the Civil War).
Glory Over Everything (A heart racing story about a man’s treacherous journey through the twists and turns of the Underground Railroad on a mission to save the boy he swore to protect).
Future books may just come from this 2019 article
Most of the books should be available from a public library or other online source. Should you wish to purchase, please consider FGC Quaker Books and then some of the online used books stores, such as:
Pendle Hill Books
FGC Quaker Books
ThriftBooks
AbeBooks
Books Requiring Additional Research
Flight of the Sparrow
PREVIOUS BOOK SELECTIONS:
MAY's BOOK CLUB SELECTION
[The Last Runaway - Tracy Chevalier]
Our first selection was: "The Last Runaway" by Tracy Chevalier. Chevalier sprang to fame with "The Girl with the Peal Earring", and has written 10 other best-sellers since that first novel. "Tracy Chevalier makes her first fictional foray into the American past in The Last Runaway, bringing to life the Underground Railroad and illuminating the principles, passions and realities that fueled this extraordinary freedom movement" (Source: Goodreads.com).
Some discussion points may come from this link on her website -- https://www.tchevalier.com/reading-group-guide
JUNE'S BOOK CLUB SELECTION
"The Invention of Wings is voiced by two verbally powerful narrators: Sarah Grimké, who is inspired by the real-life abolitionist and feminist of the same name, and Hetty Handful, who is the child of your imagination. The Invention of Wings is about several simultaneous struggles for freedom."
"Are you looking to improve your knowledge of slavery in America within a non-academic setting? Sue Monk Kidd's latest novel, The Invention of Wings, offers just that with detailed depictions of the South and North during the early 19th century. Find out who would like this novel and why it is a worthwhile read with the help of this companion review. Kidd has selected two real women from America's history and fictionalized them as protagonists in her third novel.
Sarah Grimké comes from a wealthy white family and struggles with the justifications of slavery from the young age of 11. She befriends a slave named Handful who was presented to her as a gift, and together they form convictions and strive for freedom. Readers gain an insider's view of slavery, the abolitionist movement, and women's rights in The Invention of Wings. The New York Times bestselling author Sue Monk Kidd does not disappoint with her latest piece of historical fiction, and you can read what the critics have to say in this comprehensive review. The Invention of Wings offers an ideal balance of emotional moments and action to entice any reader, while offering educational appeal within an engaging story of two historical women." (Source: GoodReads.com)
About Sue Monk Kidd: "Sue Monk Kidd's debut novel, The Secret Life of Bees, spent more than one hundred weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, has sold more than six million copies in the United States, was turned into both an award-winning major motion picture and a musical, and has been translated into thirty-six languages. Her second novel, The Mermaid Chair, was a number one New York Times bestseller and was adapted into a television movie. Her third novel, The Invention of Wings, an Oprah's Book Club 2.0 pick, was also a number one New York Times bestseller.
Her latest novel, The Book of Longings, will be available April 21, 2020.
She is the author of several acclaimed memoirs, including The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, her groundbreaking work on religion and feminism, as well as the New York Times bestseller Traveling with Pomegranates, written with her daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor. She lives in North Carolina." (Source: Amazon)
Susan Vorwerk, 6/14/2020