From Publishers Weekly
Ann Lee (1736-1784) was an illiterate who left no records of her own, making the biographer's task a challenge. Francis has culled this entertaining profile from public records of Lee's many incarcerations for disorderly conduct (those early Shakers were a loud bunch) and her followers' glowing recollections. Francis dispels some myths about Lee, including the notion that she "founded" the Shaker movement, which had been going for 11 years before she converted in 1758. In 1770, she had a vision in which she saw herself as a Messiah figure, and thereafter assumed spiritual leadership, bringing a small flock of believers to America in 1774. Francis does a fine job of placing early Shakerism within the larger context of the Revolutionary War and gives long-overdue attention to the historical import of the "Dark Day" of 1780. Francis is a fine writer who vividly conjures the religious and social worlds of the 18th century, though his allusions to popular 20th-century entertainments (Monty Python, Stephen King and the movie Groundhog Day) are more distracting than illustrative. The lack of citations of any kind is troublesome in a biography where so much of the "primary" source material was penned long after Lee's death; occasional glitches on Francis's part (e.g., calling the Anglican revivalist George Whitefield a Methodist) also undermine reader confidence. Despite these flaws, this is unquestionably the best and most absorbing biography of the irrepressible Shaker leader. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Kirkus, 4/15/01
"An elegantly written life of the enigmatic and powerfully charismatic Shaker prophet...a splendid account..."
Book Description
Ann Lee was one of the most extraordinary and mysterious women in the history of Western culture. From humble origins in Manchester, England, this illiterate daughter of a blacksmith became a visionary religious leader who was thought by her followers to be the second incarnation of Christ. She brought the Shaking Quakers, or Shakers, to America on the eve of the revolution. When she died at age 48, she left behind a religious movement that was to have thousands of followers and to become our most successful and important utopian community.
About the Author
Richard Francis, a former Council of Learned Societies Fellow at Harvard, is a novelist, broadcaster, and academic, who has taught American literature and creative writing. His books include Transcendental Utopias and the novels Fat Hen and Taking Apart the Poco Poco. He lives in England.
Ann the Word: The Story of Ann Lee, Female Messiah, Mother of the Shakers, the Woman Clothed with the Sun FROM THE PUBLISHER
Ann Lee was one of the most extraordinary and mysterious women in the history of Western culture. From humble origins in Manchester, England, this illiterate daughter of a blacksmith became a visionary religious leader who was thought by her followers to be the second incarnation of Christ. She brought the Shaking Quakers, or Shakers, to America on the eve of the revolution. When she died at age 48, she left behind a religious movement that was to have thousands of followers and to become our most successful and important utopian community.
Author Biography: Richard Francis, a former Council of Learned Societies Fellow at Harvard, is a novelist, broadcaster, and academic, who has taught American literature and creative writing. His books include Transcendental Utopias and the novels Fat Hen and Taking Apart the Poco Poco. He lives in England.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Ann Lee (1736-1784) was an illiterate who left no records of her own, making the biographer's task a challenge. Francis has culled this entertaining profile from public records of Lee's many incarcerations for disorderly conduct (those early Shakers were a loud bunch) and her followers' glowing recollections. Francis dispels some myths about Lee, including the notion that she "founded" the Shaker movement, which had been going for 11 years before she converted in 1758. In 1770, she had a vision in which she saw herself as a Messiah figure, and thereafter assumed spiritual leadership, bringing a small flock of believers to America in 1774. Francis does a fine job of placing early Shakerism within the larger context of the Revolutionary War and gives long-overdue attention to the historical import of the "Dark Day" of 1780. Francis is a fine writer who vividly conjures the religious and social worlds of the 18th century, though his allusions to popular 20th-century entertainments (Monty Python, Stephen King and the movie Groundhog Day) are more distracting than illustrative. The lack of citations of any kind is troublesome in a biography where so much of the "primary" source material was penned long after Lee's death; occasional glitches on Francis's part (e.g., calling the Anglican revivalist George Whitefield a Methodist) also undermine reader confidence. Despite these flaws, this is unquestionably the best and most absorbing biography of the irrepressible Shaker leader. (May) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
An elegantly written life of the enigmatic and powerfully charismatic Shaker prophet. The image most have of the people called Shakers is compounded of an aesthetic appreciation of their elegantly austere furniture, distinctive architecture, and the music of their dancing (as remade by Aaron Copland and others), along with a respect for the integrity of their experiment in communal living, and a puzzlement at the evident attraction of their celibate discipline. It's a view drawn for the most part from the later-developed Shakerism of the 19th century, organized in small communities from Maine to Indiana. But the Shakerism that came to America in the days of the Revolution was quite a different thing, largely the creation of a blacksmith's daughter named Ann Lee. Her remarkable achievement was to transform the enthusiastic Quakerism she had adopted in preindustrial Manchester into a strange and compelling vision of God's new dispensation—a new Christianity—with herself joining Jesus at its center as a mediator of grace. Novelist Francis (Taking Apart the Poco Poco, 1995) provides a full (the first full biography ever written, in fact), faithful, and immensely enjoyable account of the vicissitudes of Mother Ann and her disciples as they take the Shaker gospel from upstate New York to New England, meeting resistance and escalating violence along the way. The religious landscape of backwoods New England—a roiling mix of orthodox Calvinists, Baptists, Seekers, Perfectionists, New Light revivalists, and others—is vividly rendered, as is the unique personality of Mother Ann herself. The wife of a blacksmith, Ann lost all four of her children in infancy. Putting her Shakersin the place of her lost children, and Jesus in her estranged husband's stead, she created a remythologized Christianity that found a feminine dimension in the Godhead itself and replaced sexual ecstasy with dervish-like ecstatic dancing and speaking in tongues. Francis is sensitive to the psychosocial dynamics of Shaker leaders and followers alike, as well as to the small tragedies of broken lives and broken families that created both converts and violent enemies of the Shaker faith. A splendid account, highly recommended to all readers interested in early American history, women's studies, or the history of religion.
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