American Priestess: The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem (Hardcover)

by Jane Fletcher Geniesse (Author)
Key Phrases: baby nursing home, colony boys, colony store, American Colony, Lake View, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Anna Øglende Spafford's life was a classic 19th-century epic, related perceptively by Geniesse. Born in Norway in 1842, she came to the United States as a child, buried her father on the Minnesota prairie, then married evangelical lawyer Horatio Spafford in Chicago. Somewhat unhinged by the Great Chicago Fire, bankruptcy and a shipwreck that drowned four of their daughters, the couple founded a Protestant sect called the Saints; hounded by creditors, they absconded to Jerusalem in 1881 with a handful of followers to await the Second Coming. With Horatio's death, Anna tightened her grip on her American Colony cult, abolished marriage and reshuffled couples into chaste affinities. Then she turned her sect into a business empire, including a profitable hotel, farms, bakeries and Jerusalem's first telephone company, all staffed by Swedish converts. Whew! There are neither villains nor saints in this story, notes Geniesse (Passionate Nomad), setting her sprightly account against the era's Christian Zionism and millennial hysterias. Geniesse paints her charismatic heroine as part ur-feminist survivor, part totalitarian despot. (June 17)
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From Booklist
Geniesse documents the extraordinary life of Anna Spafford, nineteenth-century American expatriate and cofounder, along with her husband, Horatio Spafford, of an evangelical sect dubbed The Overcomers. Shortly after the Great Chicago Fire, a series of personal tragedies and financial difficulties motivated the couple, together with a small band of followers, to leave the U.S. and settle in Jerusalem. While awaiting the Second Coming, the Spaffords founded a utopian religious colony that eventually evolved into a successful business enterprise, with the famed American Colony Hotel as the surviving crown jewel of their financial empire. After Horatio’s death, Anna assumed leadership of the American Colony, establishing a series of controversial dictates including the abolition of marriage. Set against the backdrop of an evolving Middle East, this book provides a vivid portrait of both a woman and a region on the cusp of transformation. --Margaret Flanagan

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Nan A. Talese; 1 edition (June 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385519265
• ISBN-13: 978-0385519267
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #565,788 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an incredible story beautifully written. I began two hours ago and cannot out it down., July 10, 2008

By	a friend (Connecticut United States) - See all my reviews

For anyone with mid-western ancestors, this phenomenal religious and protestant work ethic mentality makes me ever more curious about my great grandparents and their beliefs and life style. It's simply fascinating. From the Chicago fire, to the strong belief in retuning all Jews to Palestine and converting them to Christianity ---an incredible piece of our past. And so very exciting to discover.

For anyone who was taken by "the devil and the white city", this is a must read!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars American Priestess, August 6, 2008

By	Norman T. Baldwin (kents hill, maine. usa) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Adding to Furman Baldwin's commentary on "American Priestess" by Jane Fletcher Geniesse, I too am a 3rd generation descendant of the first wave of members who joined Anna Spaford's American Colony in Jerusalem. Our fathers, Furman and Norman,were sons of Reverend Edward F. Baldwin who with four of his children became early members. Also my mother was 9 years old when her parent and siblings from Nas, Sweden joined the "Overcomers" in 1891.

Like cousin Furman,I learned more about our family background from the book than from our parents and all who knew them, combined.

The story at times shocking, is meticulously researched as to characters and covers decades of fascinating social, economic and historic background from the mid 1800's to modern times. The author's deft use of language is a refreshing force to expand one's vocabulary.

Without sharing much credit for many positive accomplishments of the American Colony, founder/leader Anna kept tight reins on the colonists by revealing to them her divine guidance undergirded by faith, ego and nepotism. The saga is a revealation of the depth and breadth of human potential for good and evil.

If after reading the book, I'd be pleased to hear from any other descendants of the colonists with new informatioin to add. Norman T. Baldwin ([e-mail]).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing What One Learns About By Reading, September 5, 2008

By	Mary Rence (San Clemente, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Here is an extraordinary story about an international group of people who immigrated to Jerusalem to await the Second Coming led by Anna and Horatio Spafford beginning in 1881. The American Colony as they were known settled in a compound situated in the Old City in the Arab Quarter between the Damascus Gate and Herod's Gate. Jane Geniesse writes with fairness about the leader, charismatic Anna Spafford, who was appalling in many ways but also the positive force in developing welcome and lasting social services for any of the local people in need. (Of course much can be accomplished with mostly unpaid workers who are dependent on their leader for food, shelter and salvation.)
This was like reading three books: Immigration to America, tough times in Chicago and Protestant Evangelism (and dipping into the till); The growth of The American Colony with its vague religious ideas; and The Middle East spanning the two world wars. Her research on the Spaffords, their descendents,the civil, military and religious personalities who lived through the political turmoil of the region resulted in a broad portrait of that era.
The American Colony Hotel on the grounds of the compound continues to be a favored setting for celebrities,spies, diplomats,journalists, tourists and politicians. Until her death in June, 2008, Valentine Vesper, the granddaughter-in-law of the Spaffords and proprietor, lived there. Be sure to go on-line to tour this beautiful hotel.