📖 Publication Day Review ~ The Stockwell Letters by Jacqueline Friedland

 

Spark Press
August 2023

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

Shortly before her twenty-fourth birthday, Ann’s abolitionist activism was put on hold due to a mysterious illness. Her husband, the famous abolitionist Wendell Phillips, forbade Ann from any anti-slavery outings in an attempt to preserve her health. However, when escaped slave Anthony Burns is caught in Boston, Ann is determined to help him regardless of the cost.

Especially focused on women in the nineteenth century who wished to make social change despite the barriers put in front of them, The Stockwell Letters takes a close look at the antebellum South and the challenges faced by abolitionists in fighting against slavery.

📖 My Review..

Ann and Wendell Phillips were active abolitionists in nineteenth century America and their involvement in anti-slavery forms the basis for this interesting historical novel which also looks at the case of escaped slave, Anthony Burns and the way in which he was sent back to Virginia having made it to the free state of Massachusetts, settling for a short time in Boston. This case attracted much attention at the time and in using factual evidence in combination with well written historical fiction a story emerges which sheds light on this shameful time in history.

The Stockwell Letters is a well researched and thought-provoking story about something I knew very little about which therefore offered me the opportunity to learn more about what life was like in America during the middle part of the nineteenth century and the inhumane treatment of slaves who found themselves on the wrong side of humanity. I felt such sympathy for Anthony Burns and only hoped that his life became easier. Ann and Wendell Phillips are equally fascinating characters who I enjoyed getting to know over the course of the story. The other characters who flit into, and out of, the story also add their own contribution to the overall strength of the narrative.

The Stockwell Letters is one of those well written historical novels which stays with you long after the last page is turned.

About the Author

Jacqueline Friedland is the USA Today best-selling and multi-award-winning author of He Gets That From Me, That's Not a Thing, and Trouble the Water. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and NYU Law School, she practiced briefly as a commercial litigator in Manhattan and taught Legal Writing and Lawyering Skills at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law. She returned to school after not too long in the legal world, earning her Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Jacqueline regularly reviews fiction for trade publications and appears as a guest lecturer. When not writing, she loves to exercise, watch movies with her family, listen to music, make lists, and dream about exotic vacations. She lives in Westchester, New York, with her husband, four children, and two very lovable dogs.

Twitter @jbfriedland #TheStockwellLetters

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