Old Wives Tales: Twenty–first century lessons from the lives of sixteenth century women

by Clare Heath-Whyte

In the eighteenth century God used men such as John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards to bring spiritual revival to both Britain and America – but what about the women in their lives? What was it like to live and work with such dynamic and demanding men?
While looking through the lens of history, Clare Heath–Whyte draws out lessons for today, via the honest portraits of these seven unique women.From godliness to bitterness, hostility to courage, the lives of these extraordinary women point us to a faithful God, even in the midst of the most difficult of life’s scenarios.

Genres: Christian, Biography, Historical, Womens

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Clare Heath-Whyte is a popular speaker and author of Old Wives Tales and First Wives Club . Clare is Vaughan Robert's sister and is married to David who is a vicar who writes groovy tunes and they have two children. She lives in Morden, South London.

Reviews

[Rachel]

Felt the same about this assortment as I did about the 19th-century collection, also by Clare Heath-Whyte. The lives of these women were complex, humblingly hard and often surprising (the Wesleys endured a poltergeist they called Jeffrey?!?!)

But I really chafe against the moralising approach, especially when it's based on such cursory presentations of these women's lives. We get a lot of pithy judgements about their characters, rather than forming our own opinions. A more restrained and more detailed biography of each would be better: 'show, don't tell'.

I appreciate the effort to turn our hearts to Scripture at the end of each chapter, but the mini Bible studies invite us to pass unfair judgement on these past sisters, using just scraps of information. Woe on us if we think we can sift them like this from a distance. My own life wouldn't sustain such scrutiny.

[Bianca]

I enjoyed reading Old Wives' Tales, though I ultimately found it to be a mixed experience, landing somewhere between 2.5 and 3 stars for me (I've rounded up to 3).

The title is a little misleading. Not all of these women were "old wives" in the sense we understand the phrase today—several died tragically young. Likewise, the subtitle promises "Twenty-first century lessons from the lives of sixteenth century women," but I found that the most valuable lessons came from reading the women's stories carefully and drawing my own conclusions, rather than from the author's applications at the end of each chapter.

The women themselves lived through extraordinary hardship—poverty, illness, repeated pregnancies, the loss of children, separation from their husbands, persecution, and uncertainty. Their resilience is humbling, and I appreciated that the author chose to include women who were far from flawless rather than presenting idealised heroines. History is more interesting when people are allowed to be human.

Where the book didn't quite work for me was in its interpretive approach. At times the author seemed too willing to tell the reader what to think about these women rather than allowing their lives to speak for themselves. Statements such as describing Sarah Edwards as the true embodiment of the Proverbs 31 woman felt more like personal conclusions than conclusions the reader was invited to reach independently. I would have preferred a little more restraint and a little less moralising.

I also came away feeling that I learned more about the husbands than the wives themselves. That is perhaps inevitable given the available historical sources, but I had hoped for richer portraits of the women whose names are on the cover. Several chapters felt more like condensed biographies than opportunities to truly know the women behind these well-known Christian men.

That said, the book did spark my curiosity. I found myself wanting to learn more about several of these women beyond these brief sketches, which is perhaps one of the book's greatest strengths. If it serves as an introduction that encourages further reading, then it has accomplished something worthwhile.

Overall, this is an accessible and thought-provoking introduction to several remarkable eighteenth-century Christian women. I just wish it trusted both its subjects and its readers a little more.

[Sophia]

Last year, I read her First Wives Club: 21st century Lessons from the lives of Sixteenth Century Women so I kept right on going with the mini bios of Christian wives of 18th century with Old Wives Tales. Old Wives Tales introduces seven woman and shows the personality of each including their vulnerabilities of flaws along with their amazing strengths and works.


Most of the women were married to famous Christian leaders of the time and a few were famous in their own right. They came from all strata of society both in England and America. Clare Heath-White pairs a dominant character trait with each woman and verses with questions for further thought. The book is great for ladies' book studies or for personal study. I liked the inclusion of the footnote index at the back offering the sources and chance for further reading if I wished. All around lovely read for quick bios of Christian women that I can recommend.

[Josh Miller]

Although there are books written about one of these women (Susannah Wesley), the others not so much. The author does an excellent job peeling back history and allowing us to peer into their lives - both the good & the not-so-good.

Most of us have read books (or know a fair amount) from or about their famous husbands (Wesley, Whitefield, Newton), but few of us know about the women behind the man. I highly recommend this short book about these women!

[Christina Eastwood]

Very well written and inspiring.

[Lizette Vega]

I have to say, I am disappointed in this book. The title, "Old Wives Tales" and the books description, do not deliver on its promise for content. The phrase Old Wives Tales gives the reader the impression of sayings or information that may or may not be true. I understand the title is a play on the saying, but it is a horrible error, in my opinion. Instead, the book contains seven, mini biographical sketches on the wives of famous preachers.

Likewise, the description also states that there are lessons to be learned from seven woman who were married to difficult men. All in all, the biographies rely heavily on the husband's biography, which is understandable, but it lessons the information about the women.

Lastly, the "lessons learned" are a stretch using Bible verses (like 1 Corinthians 12, which discusses spiritual gifts, and the church body) that do not apply to the lives of the women noted. Furthermore, the sketches of Susanna Wesley (who did not become a believer of Christ until the end of her life, prayed for and to deceased people, and had experiences with the occult), and her two daughter-in-laws were not truly examples of women to follow.

[Robin]

I started reading this book expecting all the wives to be sensational Godly women. I was wrong, but in a good way. This book is about normal everyday women in the 1700's with alot of the same struggles I face and includes both examples of women that could overcome these struggles as well as some who could not.

[Myra-Grace]

A great read. Learned a lot about famous preachers of the past & the women in their lives that I haven’t known prior to reading this book. Love how there are lessons to takeaway from the life story of each lady.

Susanna Wesley - like her, we should prioritise the development of faith over gifts & potential. This will be evident in the amount of time & money we spend - either in the development of faith or gifts.

Sally Wesley - like her, we should be willing to see the best in everybody and to be willing to excuse the fault of the others. But we should also learn from her mistakes and understand that willingness to see the best in others should never come at the expense of discipline and stray into plain indulgence - especially in parenting.

Molly Wesley - we should take caution from her life to learn to respond to rough circumstances with acceptance, contentment & joy instead of begrudgingly blaming everyone & everything around us for the harsh circumstances we’re faced with.

Elizabeth Whitefield - like her, we should learn to be wives who wholeheartedly encourage & support our husbands to take courage in the work of God and to stand firm in the faith, unwavering. We should also learn from her to look to God & view our lives here from an eternal perspective, instead of demanding from others to satisfy our temporal longings in this life & growing bitter when we don’t get what we want.

Sarah Edwards - like her, we should adapt to the challenges of life with an unerring trust in God’s goodness. We should take caution from her life and strive to live lives above reproach.

Selina, Countess of Huntingdon - like her, we should be intentional in spreading the gospel to all, regardless of social status. How she made use of her circumstances and every opportunity to glorify God is admirable.

Mary Newton - perhaps the most relatable as I, too, am just an ordinary woman. But even ordinary women can be a great support to God’s work. How we carry ourselves & the words we speak & our actions may carry far more weight than we would like to believe. May we, like Mary, always help, rather than hinder, the work of God.

[Sandy Reenders]

I loved the inspirational nature of these stories- the unimaginable hardship these women endured and how I have no basis to complain. Yet it took me literal years to read this because the writing is just meh

Some notes

40% died in childhood- grief and pain everyday experiences
The difficulties of living a godly life in an ungodly world were similar to our own

Susana Wesley:
-Decided as a child to never spend more time in a day at leisure than in devotion to God
-Found Gods mercy in her impossible circumstances, saying it was easier to find contentment without riches than with them
-9 out of 19 children didn’t survive infancy, she was often pregnant, grieving, and in pain from illness
-Their own congregation set fire to their house twice, and harassed them so much a child died as a result. They did horrific things to their animals and crops. Makes me think how people blame social media for political divisions today, when 200 years ago people knew one another truly and were still completely unspeakably horrible

One family was so poor they could not afford furniture

John Newton seems to have quit slaving not due to conviction but due to health issues

[Zorina Shepard]

We often hear about the men God used throughout church history, but not always about the women who were part of their stories. The spiritual revival that God brought to America and Britain in the 18th century was influenced by men such as Edwards, Whitefield, and the Wesleys. In this book, the author gives a candid portrait of the 18th-century women who were connected to these men.

There is no romanticizing these women. The author is honest about their struggles, mistakes, and trials. We not only learn from the things they did well, but also from the areas where they fell short. One of the women connected with these influential men was actually difficult to like, while others I deeply admired for their courage and perseverance.

These women faced difficult life circumstances, and their stories ultimately point us to our extraordinary God. I found this book to be wonderfully candid, encouraging, thought-provoking, and applicable. At the end of each chapter, there were reflection questions and Bible passages for further meditation, which I found incredibly helpful.

*I received a copy of this book for my honest thoughts.

[Sarah Loft]

A book that will encourage, inspire and challenge you. I read it as part of a bookclub and it made for great discussion. Each story causes you to reflect on your own life in different ways and is followed by a short passage of scripture to reflect on and several questions to provide additional reflection if you wish (I highly recommend it!)

The stories are real and include some excerpts from real letters and journals. This provided a real point of connection and authenticity (although I personally found the Old English in the excepts challenging to read at times - it has never been one of my strengths unfortunately, however I know others who love it!)

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

[geekoutonreading : Tiffany]

As a Christian, you may have heard some famous names from the eighteenth century: men such as John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, and John Newton.

You may not have heard of the women behind these men, their wives.

Through hardships such as poverty, loss of children, being apart from their husbands, and so much more, the author takes us on a trip back to the eighteenth century to see how these women leaned on their faith, or not.

At the end of each chapter are some lessons we can learn from these women, and further Bible study and questions.

Sometimes it seemed sort of like a Cliff's notes version of events. But, it was a fast read and it did lead to me looking deeper into some of the lives mentioned.

*Thank you to 10 of Those and 10Publishing for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own.*

[Patience Jones]

Well-written and historically accurate, this book is never dry, and does not shy away from the faults which, being fallen humans, these women had. The book really is not just biographies, but lessons, leaving me inspired to try to imitate the good and but not the bad, as well as increasing my knowledge about church history.

I think how much I enjoyed this book can be gauged from the fact that, having finished it, I immediately ordered two more books by Clare Heath-Whyte!

[Rachel]

I thoroughly enjoyed these easy-to-read stories of sixteenth century Christian women and their famous husbands. I liked that the stories wove together and there was light, historical commentary about church history, too.
I did not use the questions at the end of the chapters. At times the authors interjections or commentary about these women seemed too forward. Yet, I enjoyed the many quotes from the women’s own, or their husband’s, journals.

[Lexi Zuo]

What a precious collection of biographies of famous Christian’s wives in the 18th century! Some were encouraging examples and others were warnings against sin. Love the way Clare writes! I would recommend any of her books!

[Ruth]

I enjoyed this look at the lives of 18th century women, though a number were from the same family. The study guide, which i only half used, would probably work well for a small groups study. But i think i would be keen for more application of the stories to modern day situations.

[Anne-laure]

A book I recommend all Christian women to read.

[Mrs E]

Excellent easy to read and very interesting book about the lives these women led.

[Mikaela Dursma]

This was a quick and fascinating read!

[Maggie]

This gave great insight into the lives of these famous people.

[Kelly]

Another interesting book about the wives of famous Christian men. I enjoyed reading it, but couldn't relate as much to these women.

[Evelyn]

Interesting look at seven women, who married either important or famous Christian men, in the 1700s.

[Dana]

Quite enjoyed these biogrpahical chapters on Christian women from the 18th century!

[Chantel Seukaran]

I started reading this book thinking it would make me feel a bit inadequate because I expected to read about super godly woman! However these woman were relatable, some godly, some not, sharing in the same struggles if not more. All in all, it made me think at times "I wish I could be more like her" At those times what made those woman so remarkable was their christlikeness.