The Friendly Persuasion [Paperback]

Jessamyn West (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003

A quintessential American heroine, Eliza Birdwell is a wonderful blend of would-be austerity, practicality, and gentle humor when it comes to keeping her faith and caring for her family and community. Her husband, Jess, shares Eliza's love of people and peaceful ways but, unlike Eliza, also displays a fondness for a fast horse and a lively tune. With their children, they must negotiate their way through a world that constantly confronts them-sometimes with candor, sometimes with violence-and tests the strength of their beliefs. Whether it's a gift parcel arriving on their doorstep or Confederate soldiers approaching their land, the Birdwells embrace life with emotion, conviction, and a love for one another that seems to conquer all.
The Friendly Persuasion has charmed generations of readers as one of our classic tales of the American Midwest.

Editorial Reviews

Review

PRAISE FOR JESSAMYN WEST AND THE FRIENDLY PERSUASION
"You will laugh out loud and cry . . . A testament . . . to that faith in humankind that has made the American dream."-The Philadelphia Inquirer

"West writes gracefully, occasionally poetically, in a voice both innocent and brave."-The Washington Post

From the Back Cover

A S a n F r a n c i s c o C h r o n i c l e western 100 Best Book of the Twentieth Century


A quintessential American heroine, Eliza Birdwell is a wonderful blend of would-be austerity, practicality, and gentle humor when it comes to keeping her faith and caring for her family and community. Her husband, Jess, shares Eliza's love of people and peaceful
ways but, unlike Eliza, he displays a fondness for a fast horse and a lively tune. With their children, they must negotiate their way through the Civil War, a time that constantly confronts them and tests the strength of their beliefs. Whether it's a gift parcel arriving on their doorstep or Confederate soldiers approaching their land, the Birdwells embrace life with emotion, conviction, and a love for one another that seems to conquer all.
Jessamyn West's first novel and a classic tale of the American Midwest, The Friendly Persuasion will charm generations of readers, as it has in the past, for years to come.


"West writes gracefully...poetically, in a voice both innocent and brave."-The Washington Post

Jessamyn West (1902-1984) was born in Indiana to Quaker parents and lived most of her life in California. Her work appeared in Harper's, Mademoiselle, Kenyon Review, and the New Yorker among other publications. Her other books include Massacre at Fall Creek and The Collected Stories of Jessamyn West.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 015602909X
• ISBN-13: 978-0156029094
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #365,878 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars delightful, March 18, 2001

By 

Orrin C. Judd "brothersjudddotcom" (Hanover, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Friendly Persuasion (Perfect Paperback)

This is a perfectly delightful collection of stories about a family of Quakers, the Birdwells, in Civil War-era Indiana. For the most part, they center around the ongoing but largely unspoken battle between the somewhat free-spirited husband, Jess, who likes singing and horse racing and the like, and his more serious wife, Eliza. The themes dealt with are mostly minor, though the difficulty of remaining pacifist in the midst of war is treated, and, of course, became the core issue in the excellent Gary Cooper film version of the book.

The real value of the book lies in its implicit rebuke to one of the central conceits of the modern age, that simply because rather restrictive religious beliefs were central to peoples' lives in that earlier America, their existences must necessarily have been dour and joyless. This prejudice is silly on its face, contrary as it is to everything we know about human nature, and Jessamyn West's stories, with their devout, but playful, Quaker characters, are a terrific antidote. Though the Birdwells' lives are proscribed by rules and social conventions which may strike us as odd, they are also filled with joy and love and a sense of community, both the physical and the spiritual community, which any one of us would envy.

GRADE : B+

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A quietly funny and touching book., August 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Friendly Persuasion (Perfect Paperback)

Friendly Persuasion is a group of short stories following an Indianan Quaker couple and their family through their adult lives. Jess, the father is a nurseryman and Eliza, his wife, a Quaker clergy. Jess keeps life lively with comeuppances and an attraction to new conveniences such as gas lighting and running water in the home. The opening story "Music on the Muscatuck" was particularly funny. Well written vignettes with clear characterization. Published in 1940 and still in print. An old-fashioned, "classic" sleeper.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Timeless Stories, May 25, 2011

By 

laraf123 "laraf123" (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Friendly Persuasion (Paperback)

Beautiful and elegant short stories which transported me to another time and place. A well-loved favorite on my bookshelf.