The Friendly Persuasion Book

This is one of my very favorite books, so there will only be reasons why here. . . .rather than a well-thought out analysis/review. . .

The Birdwells are Quakers (1830-1910ish), and Eliza (the mother) is a Quaker preacher. Jess (Dad) has grown up in the religion, but lives in it as a born-in does (I'm a born-in in my quirky faith, too. . .and we can tend toward . . . .casual? easy? smorgasbord?). The book is truly an assembly of short stories West published through the years, and in 1940 she pulled them into novel form, and I love each story. . . .I love it that they don't go in chronological order, but they go in order of character explication . . .why each one is who he/she is and why they choose what they choose.

There is humor, pathos, family love, and the best love scene EVER! (Mattie & Gard as he goes off to fight in the Civil War. . .her bare feet, dirty from a hell-bent-for-leather run to catch him, perched tippy-toe style on his shiny new war boots so she can tell him. . . .oh well. You read it and you'll see. . . .) Horse racing on the way to church, deep considerations of their pacifist religion as the Civil War rubs up against their very home, doctrines of non-slavery while they have two black servants (?) helping on their home place. An organ happens, when music is not a positive thing for Quakers, apparently. . .

But one of my favorite chapters is The Vase. . . so profoundly describes men and women living together and seeing*feeling*expressing*hearing life so differently - even when they are head over heels in love and trying to be empathetic (in fact, that may create its own levels of complexity!). And the last chapter. . .oh, my. I love this book.

I read this book as a 12-year old because my mother loved it, and loved the movie, which we saw a number of times. But reading the book this many decades later, my receptors for her words sit deeper and the room for her profundity now has place within me it never had in my 12-years old self. Interestingly, have never read any other of Jessamyn West's other works, so have now begun to collect those I cannot find in the usual places.

I'm interested in the thoughts of others out there that might have read some of her books and to which you'd recommend I read first in my further quest of her works. . . .

5 stars, By Sugar! (Jess's favorite expletive)