5 Puritan Women: Portraits of Faith and Love. Jenny-Lyn de Klerk. 2023. [February] 161 pages. [Source: Review copy]
First sentence: Have you ever had an emotional or intellectual epiphany so significant that it changed your way of being for years to come? When I first pulled a book by a puritan woman off some library stacks, I was not ready for what I would find.
The Five Puritan Women being introduced to contemporary readers are Agnes Beaumont, Lucy Hutchinson, Mary Rich (Countess of Warwick), Anne Bradstreet, and Lady Brilliana Harley. Jenny-Lyn de Klerk has chosen to focus on these five women, but not just to give mini-history lessons. She's using these women's stories to focus in on five spiritual disciplines that she feels are beneficial. For example, with Agnes Beaumont's story, she's telling Agnes' story AND emphasizing how Agnes' use of memorization as a spiritual discipline or aide proved most beneficial in her life.
These stories are--for the most part--unexpected and fascinating. These stories are sometimes--though not always--packed with adventures and misadventures.
Before reading this one, I had only ever heard of Anne Bradstreet. Her story might be the most 'normal' or 'typical.' of the bunch. Though her story is no less touching.
I found this an interesting read. I loved learning more about all these women. As I just mentioned, most were unfamiliar to me. Yet even though they were strangers, I soon found myself absorbed in their stories. Absorbed is a good word. There was nothing 'technical' or 'boring' or 'dull' about their lives or the presentation of their lives.
I would recommend this one to those that enjoy biography but also those that like the role modeling of doctrine in practice.
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