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The Seventeenth Century
Religion
This is a story of love across a divide.
Shropshire in 1662. Seventeen-year-old Will is the son of a wealthy
merchant while young Susanna is the daughter of a weaver. The
difference in social status would be enough in itself but Susanna
and all her family are Quakers and religion proves an even greater
barrier.
This is a time when the Quakers are hated and feared. They refuse
to swear oaths and this means that they cannot take an oath of
allegiance to the King. They also believe that all are equal.
Many think that this tenet could lead to the destruction of society
and severe laws are passed against the Quakers.
Will meets Susanna and learns about her faith. He attends some
Quaker meetings and is drawn to their religion. Gradually he falls
in love with Susanna and becomes a Quaker himself. This draws
him into conflict with his father who wants to apprentice him
to a rich silk merchant. What will the youth eventually decide?
On one hand he has the chance of a life of security, wealth and
comfort. On the other the love of Susanna, but also persecution
and danger.
This book brings out the harshness of the laws of the time. Quaker
meetings are ruthlessly broken up and the Quakers imprisoned in
filthy, disease-ridden jails. Even the children are sent for a
night to the Bridewell. Gentle Susanna has to spend a morning
in the stocks and endure rotten vegetables and even horses' dung
being thrown at her.
The fate of the Quakers is at the heart of the book but there
is still much domestic detail -- particularly about the process
of printing.
No Shame, No Fear is a tribute to the early Quakers with
their quiet convictions and their patience in the face of dreadful
persecution but it also raises some searching questions. Would
a certain amount of compromise really have been such a bad thing?
Did the Quakers have to take such a firm stand all the time? It
is for the readers to make up their own minds.
Young adult
This is the sequel to No Shame, No Fear. Estranged from his father Will is now working in a Friend's bookshop in London. He writes to Susanna and tells her that he is saving hs money and will soon be travelling back to Shropshire so that they can be married. Then he will take her back to London with her.
Then the plague breaks out and Will leaves it too late. He is trapped in London when it is ordered that a certificate of health is needed before one can leave the city. Things become even worse. The family he is staying with and working for all catch the plague and die. Will is accused of 'causing an affray' and imperisoned in Newgate where he catches the plague and would have died if a wealthy member of the Friends had not paid his fine, taken him into his own home and nursed him well again. Then Susanna, who is worried because she has not heard from him for some time, makes her own way to London. She finds him with the wealthy family and there is a misunderstanding when she thinks he is attracted to the eldest daughter of the house.
But that is cleared up and, restored to health once more, Will finds another job in a bookshop. He is finally able to marry Susanna and all seems well. Then the Great Fire breaks out and Will and Susanna are both tested again.
Told in the first person by Will and Susanna who both write their own accounts in alternating chapters. Ann Turnbull manages to capture the Friends' mode of speech very well -- as well as their way of life.
But once again I was doubtful about the lengths the Friends would go to in order to defend their principles. Will and two other Friends are thrown into Newgate where Will becomes gravely ill and the other two die. And these deaths are completely unecessary because they could all have been freed if they agreed tro pay a fine. Martydom or a dreadful waste?
I am glad that Will and his father are reconciled at the end.
An unusual look at the Great Plague and Fire of London.
Young adult
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