Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
39th out of 58 books
—
53 voters
The Minister's Wooing
From the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a domestic comedy that examines slavery, Protestant theology, and gender differences in early America. First published in 1859, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s third novel is set in eighteenth-century Newport, Rhode Island, a community known for its engagement in both religious piety and the slave trade. Mary Scudder lives in a modest farmhous...more
Paperback, 349 pages
Published
August 1st 1999
by Penguin Classics
(first published 1859)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
273)
This one is definately in the top ten for me. I love this book and will continue to reread it throughout my life, when I need to feel connected and valued and not alone as a women and mother. Stowe is magical in her ability to elevate the ordinary woman in this tale. Stowe gives the power to the woman and her brave ability to be personal. She reminds us that "where theorists and philosophers tread with sublime arrurance, women often follow with bleeding footsteps - women are always turning from...more
3 likes · like · see review
view all 3 comments
This historical fiction (published in 1859 but set in 18th century Newport, Rhode Island) mixes invented characters with real personages such as the abolitionist Puritan minister Samuel Hopkins and Aaron Burr. Stowe has a biting, sardonic wit, which is timeless, but her beatific protagonist Mary Scudder is too perfect to be enjoyed, somewhat like Jane Austen's Fanny Price, and the many self-consciously metafictional "dear reader" asides are a little wearing. The story of a young woman tortured b...more
1 like · like · see review
I first read this book about the time I was newly engaged, and is about as close to a romance novel as I could possibly enjoy. It is a very thoughtful narrative on theology (predestination vs need for evangelism), the evils of slavery, 18th century New England culture, and romance. It gives great insight into the expectations put on women in that culture. I loved this book and reread it every few years to remind myself that women like Beecher Stowe are brilliant company and cause me to want to t...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I read this book for a class, and I wrote a paper on it, so given the research I've done, I think it helped me like the book more than I would have otherwise. It's kind of a long book, but it really has some interesting insights into early feminism and religious ideas. I love Stowe, so I can't help but like her books. My overall recommendation: Modern readers might not love the book.
Good. I would have liked it more if I didn't have to rush through it over the course of a week, but it was good. Not deadly dull like some of my other readings for American Lit. Discuss-able themes on religion and conversion and abolitionism and New England life. Fun, if very stock, characters.
However, nobody seems to know about this book. It's not even on the Gutenberg Project. Everything is on Gutenberg. Except this.
However, nobody seems to know about this book. It's not even on the Gutenberg Project. Everything is on Gutenberg. Except this.
Not near as intense as her more popular Uncle Tom's Cabin. However, I'd say this book is vastly underrated. Stowe's examination into the problems of Calvinism, slavery, and the role of women in American society are insightful. Stowe offers one of the very few sympathetic critiques of Puritanism. Since Uncle Tom's Cabin was so intense I figured this book would be as well. While not as radical, Stowe still manages to "stick it to the man" and be rather unconventional in the process. Beware of the...more
A real rah rah book for the ladies. If your woman ego needs a boost this book is for you. There is some good marriage advice but overall the characters are just too unreal to be enjoyable or moving.
I would give it three and half stars.
Stowe has a way of making life seem musical and writing about it in a way that is not too cheesey. I liked that.
Stowe has a way of making life seem musical and writing about it in a way that is not too cheesey. I liked that.
Really tried to like tried and tried but just couldn't get into it
I really enjoyed the Minister's Wooing. The plot was predictable, but so sweetly done. Stowe has a sly sense of humor that I like, and she provides wonderful descriptions of the place of religion in daily life in the post Revolutionary Era. She was also remarkably generous about the salvation of Catholics.
It was a very good book by a talented woman writer from the 1800s. The descriptions were spot-on and funny in many places. The issues it discusses are still current today. An enjoyable book.
READ THIS! READ THIS! READ THIS! I will add a review in the near future, but until then, read this!
May 21, 2013
Anzhela Torosyan
marked it as to-read
May 17, 2013
RacheL
marked it as to-read
May 10, 2013
Emily Harring
marked it as to-read
May 07, 2013
Shivani Srivastava
marked it as to-read
Apr 28, 2013
Irene Mercx
marked it as to-read
Apr 23, 2013
Terra
added it
Apr 20, 2013
Cello322
marked it as to-read
Apr 10, 2013
Lisa
marked it as to-read
Mar 26, 2013
Sarah Embaby
marked it as to-read
Mar 21, 2013
Dorotea Rossi
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist, whose novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) attacked the cruelty of slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential, even in Britain. It made the political issues of the 1850s regarding slavery tangible to millions, energizing anti-slavery forces in the American North. It anger...more
More about Harriet Beecher Stowe...
Share This Book
8 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“Love is very beautiful, but very, very sad.”
—
6 people liked it
“We never know how we love til we try to unlove!”
—
5 people liked it
More quotes…
