Very interesting read. Can be a bit hard to follow sometimes when it's jumping around in time but otherwise I really enjoyed it. Makes you think about how lucky we are to be born now instead of in the Puritan era! Non-fiction. ( )

This biography of Anne Hutchison relies heavily on the transcript of her trial for heresy in Boston in 1637. Hutchison was an advocate of the "covenant of grace" or "free grace" theory as opposed to the "convenant of works" advocated by most of the Puritan clergy. Wikipedia has a good explanation of the ins-and-outs of the controversy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Hutchinson), so I'm not going to go into it here.

Suffice it to say, that this is a well-constructed story of a woman who refused to be silenced and bravely stood up against the misogynistic, narrow-minded authority of colonial Massachusetts led by Governor Winthrop. LaPlante interestingly claims that Hutchison was the midwife to the birth of Harvard University, as it was in reaction to her influence that the clergy of Boston decided that a University was necessary to train future clergy in proper doctrine.

It's a timely book for the current political scene. ( )

Eve LaPlante actually manages to make early American bickering about doctrine interesting and pertinent. Whether one is saved by grace or by works, comes down to whether one can experience God herself, or must have God interpreted for her by the male hierarchy. Anne Hutchinson insists on her won personal experience of God, and is thrown out of Massachusetts for it. She moves on to help found Rhode Island, the first state truly founded on religious freedom. A captivating read! ( )

Themes: gender roles, religion, separation of church and state, individual freedom versus community
Setting: Massachusetts 1638 or so

Anne Hutchinson was a terrible threat to the Puritan fathers of Boston. She discussed scriptures. And she was a woman. That's really about it. She also didn't agree with them, but I think even if she had, the idea that a woman was perfectly capable of reading, writing, reasoning, and preaching was going to make them very uncomfortable, no matter what else she did.

This is a biography of Hutchinson and a story of the time and place she lived in. It includes a bit about the religious controversies involved and talks a lot about the other players in the case. She was eventually brought to trial, more than once, and charged with “traducing the ministers.” John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, conducted the trial himself and made it his mission to get her punished for her behavior. He won, eventually, and Hutchinson and her family were forced to move to Rhode Island and then to Long Island where Hutchinson died.

Hutchinson is an interesting subject, but something about this book just couldn't hold my interest. At one point I skipped ahead 100 pages and I really hadn't missed anything. I didn't enjoy this book very much. But I won't anti-recommend this book, if you know what I mean, because I think for the right reader, this would be a good book. Just not for me. 2 stars ( )

Okay biography. Hutchinson was quite fascinating. The biographer pushed too hard on her concept of "Jezebel," though. ( )