Except for Me and Thee: A Companion to the Friendly Persuasion
List Price: $8.50
This is a companion book for The Friendly Persuasion. Both books are in my humble opinion 'just perfect'. They 'speak' to me. I laughed, I welled up. I KNEW these characters. I recently saw the old movie. It was excellent. The books are even better.
From Dust Cover
A COMPANION TO: THE FRIENDLY PERSUASION
These further adventures of Jess and Eliza Birdwell, the beloved hero and heroine of The Friendly Persuasion, are cause for celebration to the millions who have met them in Jessamyn West's memorable book or in it enduring film, of which Miss West was co-author. Now their world comes vibrantly alive once more in Except for Me and Thee.
Here are those gallant Quakers, young and in love, meeting the challenges of nature and man as the growing family travels westward, then encountering the bitterness and savagery that explode into the Civil War, later guiding their children through the confusing aftermath, and , finally, looking at their world with bittersweet maturity. For all its fascinating differences, their world confronts dilemmas strikingly contemporary - youthful rebellion, racial intolerance, social inequity, and warfare's misery. To each, Miss West brings deep and meaningful insights.
And she brings more in the many moments of spirited comedy and gentle humor that are equally a part of living and so natural to this appealing couple and their family.
Here, then, are full measures of joy and sadness, tenderness and brutality, hope and despair - a sweeping spectrum of human experience ranging continuously through this compelling story. Its beauty and wisdom, merged into the swift narrative, bear the hallmark of its distinguished author. It's readers will be delighted, will be moved, and will long remember Except for Me and Thee.
A sweet story
Not until page 198 I realized what was the time frame of the book. I knew it was yesteryear, but was unable to pinpoint it till more than halfway through it.
I was curious about this author because Jessamyn West lived in the Napa Valley. As I had never read anything by her (or knew anything about her), I decided this was the right thing to do.
This is a simple story, I believe a sequel, about the lives of Quakers in the early to mid 1800s. There's pioneering, race relations issues, faith, following what is right despite what your church says, and much more. Not a very dramatic novel, but cute enough. I had a hard time with the "thee", and would translate it to "you" in my head to understant the sentences better.
Two things I liked:
"George Harmon, like Talbot Birdwell, put horse-radish in his cider, hardening into vinegar, to discourage his hired men from sampling it. But the cider had already begun to bead, and George Harmon had yet to add the horse-radish. So the girls fetched a cut-glass pitcherful up from the cellar, set out tumblers, and prepared to entertain as stylishly as if they were Episcopalians".
I imagine that "begun to bead" means that the cider started to ferment, making little bubbles, or beads, on the surface.
"But if you think a thought often enough, sooner or later it will get said"
This is so true.
List Price: $8.50
Description
Customer Reviews
Flat out, my favorite book to dateThis is a companion book for The Friendly Persuasion. Both books are in my humble opinion 'just perfect'. They 'speak' to me. I laughed, I welled up. I KNEW these characters. I recently saw the old movie. It was excellent. The books are even better.
From Dust Cover
A COMPANION TO: THE FRIENDLY PERSUASION
These further adventures of Jess and Eliza Birdwell, the beloved hero and heroine of The Friendly Persuasion, are cause for celebration to the millions who have met them in Jessamyn West's memorable book or in it enduring film, of which Miss West was co-author. Now their world comes vibrantly alive once more in Except for Me and Thee.
Here are those gallant Quakers, young and in love, meeting the challenges of nature and man as the growing family travels westward, then encountering the bitterness and savagery that explode into the Civil War, later guiding their children through the confusing aftermath, and , finally, looking at their world with bittersweet maturity. For all its fascinating differences, their world confronts dilemmas strikingly contemporary - youthful rebellion, racial intolerance, social inequity, and warfare's misery. To each, Miss West brings deep and meaningful insights.
And she brings more in the many moments of spirited comedy and gentle humor that are equally a part of living and so natural to this appealing couple and their family.
Here, then, are full measures of joy and sadness, tenderness and brutality, hope and despair - a sweeping spectrum of human experience ranging continuously through this compelling story. Its beauty and wisdom, merged into the swift narrative, bear the hallmark of its distinguished author. It's readers will be delighted, will be moved, and will long remember Except for Me and Thee.
A sweet story
Not until page 198 I realized what was the time frame of the book. I knew it was yesteryear, but was unable to pinpoint it till more than halfway through it.
I was curious about this author because Jessamyn West lived in the Napa Valley. As I had never read anything by her (or knew anything about her), I decided this was the right thing to do.
This is a simple story, I believe a sequel, about the lives of Quakers in the early to mid 1800s. There's pioneering, race relations issues, faith, following what is right despite what your church says, and much more. Not a very dramatic novel, but cute enough. I had a hard time with the "thee", and would translate it to "you" in my head to understant the sentences better.
Two things I liked:
"George Harmon, like Talbot Birdwell, put horse-radish in his cider, hardening into vinegar, to discourage his hired men from sampling it. But the cider had already begun to bead, and George Harmon had yet to add the horse-radish. So the girls fetched a cut-glass pitcherful up from the cellar, set out tumblers, and prepared to entertain as stylishly as if they were Episcopalians".
I imagine that "begun to bead" means that the cider started to ferment, making little bubbles, or beads, on the surface.
"But if you think a thought often enough, sooner or later it will get said"
This is so true.