Customer Reviews

Fire & Roses: The Burning of the Charlestown Convent, 1834

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book tells a truly engrossing story of the events that led up to the burning of the Ursuline convent in Charlestown, just outside of Boston, by an angry mob. Professor Schultz insightfully examines the many different issues of religious intolerance, ethnic predjudice, and economic class struggles that culminated in a night of violence. She has developed a cast of wonderfully complex and interesting characters. The portraits she has painted of Mary Anne Moffett, Bishop Fenwick, Rebecca Reed, and John Buzzell are vivid and compelling.

Having been raised Catholic, and having attended Catholic schools (with the Sisters of Notre Dame in grammar school, and the Xavarian Brothers in high school), I was amazed by the ignorance about Catholic religious life on the part of the Protestants. I was also shocked that, so soon after the American Revolution, an act of religious intolerance so dramatic as the burning of the convent could have occurred right here in Boston (the refuge of Puritan victims of religious intolerance).

But, at the same time, this is not simply a shameful episode in history...as the author notes, it has resonance in our own time. Reading this book made me stop and think about my attitudes toward people whom I do not fully understand through my own ignorance. My initial disbelief that nineteenth-century Protestants would ascribe such bizzare activities to Catholics does not seem so strange when I think of my own ignorant reaction to the Mormons' restrictions on caffine and alchohol, and the Christian Scientists' reluctance to seek medical attention. As an outsider, these practices seem odd to me, and I am unable to place them in the whole context of the sect's belief system. Combine that kind of ignorance with the ethnic and class issues brewing in nineteenth century Boston, and it begins to make sense that an event like the convent burning could have happened...and sadly continues to happen today.

An interesting read. I picked it up expecting it to be a semi-mystery in a nonfiction setting, and got a nonfiction book (my fault for not reading the jacket!). The author is a Professor of English at Salem State College in Salem, MA; she's also written on fear and religion in two other texts. She did a lot of digging into the various letters, court records, and news archives to find supporting evidence to lay out the story of the history and events that led to the eventual destruction (arson, semi-riot) of the Ursuline convent and school in Charlestown, MA in 1834. It's an interesting look into convent education of young women (many of them non-Catholics; it was de rigeur for wealthy Unitarian and Episcopalian parents to send their daughters for convent education, and the Ursulines had a rich history and system for providing it, despite any number of setbacks in Boston), and the functioning of a cloistered religious order.

I'm a non-Christian-- not that it matters, but I read lots of things about lots of different Faiths-- and couldn't put the book down. Racism against Irish and Catholics in Boston in the 19th century was a very real, very unpleasant thing in that time. Schultz' book was a very interesting read, laid out like a novel-- but with academic footnotes. There are parts that were lacking in closure, in many cases because the information trail simply stops-- not Schultz' fault, but worth noting. Picked it up as a leftover from the Dyer Library's book sale in Saco, Maine. Worth it! A good read. The Justice system in the U.S. may not be perfect, but it's come a long way since 1834 in Boston. Being a Boston-area native, this is not a proud point in the region's history-- but absolutely worth learning about-- and from.

I found Fire and Roses and fully engaging read. As a native Bostonian, I was completely swept up in the historical events that took place in the mid-eighteen hundreds in my very own backyard! Fire and Roses, a captivating account of the burning of the Ursuline Convent in Charlestown, MA, is must read. I give my utmost praise to Nancy Schultz, who not only proves to be a historical mastermind of the 19th century but also a brilliant storyteller.

Schultz's account is fast-paced, well-written, and for the most part, fairly well researched. There are some significant gaps in Schultz's research which I can't account for at all, since the sources are extant. Some of the sources she uses (such as the Whitney account) are almost entirely specious, or at least highly questionable. There are other (short) portions of the book which seem to be entirely fictional, such as the highly detailed account of Miss Harrison's escape from the convent.
Apart from these qualms, the book is for the most part well researched. It is a wonderful read, and can be enjoyed by Catholic and non-Catholic, historian and non-historian.

I found this book -- to use a word that has become hackneyed -- awesome. The research is incredible in its depth, and the writing is elegant. In the best tradition of my favorite historian, Barbara Tuchman, Nancy Lusignan Schultz never loses sight of the story -- and a compelling one it is. The burning of the Ursuline convent was an act of almost unbelievable savagery -- and it is hard to think that ultimately every one of the arsonists got away with the crime -- the ringleader living his life out in New Hampshire as a pillar of the community.

I got this book for a class on the "American religious experience," I would not have chose to read this for pleasure.

Fire and Roses is a meticulously researched, stylishly written account of one of Boston's notorious Catholic-Protestant clashes, which resulted in the burning of an Ursuline convent. Lusignan Schultz tells the story with an emphasis on character, especially that of Mother St. George, or Mary Anne Moffett, the Prioress of the convent. The story is part history, part mystery and part pure scholarship. The fluidity of the writing keeps the pages turning right up to the end. The only disappointment is that the book ends with an unsolved mystery--in no way the author's fault, but leaving the reader feeling a tiny bit cheated. Noneless, I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Boston area history, Catholic-Protestant relations in America or just a darn good read.

A WELL CRAFTED HISTORICAL READ! I WAS ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH THE EVENTS SURROUNDING THE TRAGEDY AT THE URSULINE CONVENT BUT WAS STRUCK MOST BY SCHULTZ'S POWER OF TRANSPORTING THE READER BACK TO THAT TIME, THAT CONVENT, TO THE UNSPEAKABLE ATROICITY INFLICTED BY THE HANDS OF THE ARSONISTS. SCHULTZ'S DECISION TO BRING THIS HISTORICALLY RELEVANT STORY TO THE MASSES IS BOTH BRILLIANT & INSPIRING!

The author tells us what happened, but also lets us know that there is a fair amount of mystery and the unknown surrounding some of what happened. I liked the fact that Schultz told readers when there were conflicts about information, and what different sources had to say about what information was available. And she left us with a mystery. What DID happen to Mary Anne Moffatt? I'd like to know - even if I found her to be overbearing and annoying.

Fire and Roses is a meticulously researched, stylishly written account of one of Boston's notorious Catholic-Protestant clashes, which resulted in the burning of an Ursuline convent. Lusignan Schultz tells the story with an emphasis on character, especially that of Mother St. George, or Mary Anne Moffett, the Prioress of the convent. The story is part history, part mystery and part pure scholarship. The fluidity of the writing keeps the pages turning right up to the end. The only disappointment is that the book ends with an unsolved mystery--in no way the author's fault, but leaving the reader feeling a tiny bit cheated. Nonetheless, I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Boston area history, Catholic-Protestant relations in America or just a darn good read.