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"The Wordy Shipmates" by Sarah Vowell (2008) - Riverhead Books (NY)


Jevne

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I am currently reading "The Wordy Shipmates" by Vowell (2008). I picked it up in the bargain bin on a whim, because the book jacket mentioned the "Mayflower", as in the Pilgrim's ship, and I have ancestors who sailed to the new world on the Mayflower, among other ships, during the great emigration of the 1620s - 1690s. Vowell's book actually reveals more about those folks who sailed on the Arbella in 1630 to form the Massachussetts Bay Colony, mentioning such as Gov. Winthrop and Roger Wiliams. Within her historical account of the times, which is based on actual church records, personal journals, and letters, Vowell manages to weave commentary on the relevance of the words and actions of the key players to our modern day society. She presents the Pilgrims, Puritans, etc. as the type of people that you just love to hate. It is obvious that she has a measure of affection for Williams, whom she presents as a rebel, who was not afraid to point out that the Magistrates were hypocrites for imposing church law on the citizens of Salem, when it was the control of the church that they had left their homeland to escape in the first place. So, far an interesting read . . .

 

Jevne

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Sounds right up my alley, I'll have to check it out! I have an ancestor who was put in stockades by the Puritans for 5 days in Massachusetts for petitioning for non-Puritan men (non church members) to have the right to vote, and I enjoy books that portray them in a more flawed way than as the 'founding gods' angle that so many take.

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This is a book I would enjoy! As a Masschusetts native with ancestors from England, I often seek out books about my family, who came to America about 14 years after the Mayflower...they were part of a group referred to as The Men of Kent. Thanks for the recommendation, I'll be on the lookout for it!

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