Customer Reviews

The Stamp of Glory: A Novel of the Abolitionist Movement

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

 

 

The Stamp of Glory is a novel about the abolitionist movement. As fiction its first aim is to tell a good yarn, to entertain and stimulate its readers. I hope youšll find The Stamp of Glory an excellent read. (The best news of my holiday season was that my 13-year-old son sat down and read it cover to cover. You canšt pay a 13-year-old, even an avid reader, to read his fatheršs books.)

I also hope The Stamp of Glory adds to your understanding of the great fight against slavery. I donšt mean the Civil War--I mean the 30 years of argument and protest that aroused the conscience of our nation. Most people donšt know much about it, I find, and thatšs a pity. I consider abolition the most important movement in American history, and also the most interesting, full of drama and tragic irony. The movement sprang out of Christian revival, so it has many insights to lend Christians who want their faith to make a difference today. Politics, protest, violence, race, the question of how łChristian˛ America can be and should be--these topics are all front and center.

The Stamp of Glory is the first of four books in my River of Freedom series. Subsequent books will cover woman suffrage, prohibition, and civil rights. Put together, these books are meant to chronicle the ways in which faith interacts with social justice.

When aging Alabama planter Martin Nichols dies, his will contains a shocking revelation: due to religious scruples he has set his slaves free. This last act ruins the financial viability of the plantation for his four children, scattering them in all directions. Ambitious middle son, Thomas Nichols, abandons the South for New York City, where he finds success and religious faith, but is haunted by a secret relationship in his past. Left behind in Alabama are his brother Martin, who loses the plantation and turns to alcohol for solace; his sister, Cecilia, who marries into high society; and young Brady, who grows up parentless and headstrong. Freed slave Catherine Nichols also leaves Alabama, heading north to find a better life for her young son. The Stamp Of Glory is the compelling story of the Nichols family played out against an historical backdrop of such events as the Nat Turner Rebellion and the Pottawatomie Massacre, as well as such noted figures as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Through Thomas we encounter activist preacher Charles Finney and a tiny, courageous band of abolitionists, whose faith has convinced them that slavery is sin, and who give their lives to bring repentance and healing to America. The Stamp Of Glory is a novel of wrenching disappointment, stubborn faith, and unexpected redemption. As Thomas and the rest of his family find their way to a difficult but deeper peace, so we see America brought to a shining and yet dreadful resolution to the curse of slavery. Superbly crafted, engaging reading.

I like this historical novel. It makes the point that society is slow to accept needed moral and cultural reform, then often only through major struggle. It also makes the valid point that individual reformers sometimes have to deal with failings in their own lives. But it presents these truths in the form of an entertaining novel, not a lecture. For over twenty years I have read intermittently in Abolitionists' history, biography and published letters. When a friend called my attention to this book I soon ordered a copy and have just completed it. The author has a special gift for metaphors and similes, perhaps a bit too earthy at times for my taste. The main character in the book, Thomas Nichols, and his clan are fictional characters. Most of the other characters are historical figures. Stafford concentrates on some of the major events in abolitionist history and particularly emphasizes the Evangelical and political wings of the movement. Lewis Tappan, a lifelong Evangelical business man, philanthropist and reformer appears to be his hero. Tappan has long been one of mine as well. (However, I have a special penchant for the Quaker bachelor, abolitionist and poet, John Greenleaf Whittier, who is only a briefly appearing minor figure in this book.) Stafford correctly reveals that some of the Evangelical abolitionists' leaders strayed from religious orthodoxy in later life, partly due to disillusionment with the compromise with slavery by large elements in the church. Yet, elements of the Evangelical churches provided most of the troops for the movement. As bad as slavery was, it is the opinion of this reviewer that our own times, particularly legalized abortion of the preborn, is worse and less exusable for either the church or society.

The Stamp of Glory is Tim Stafford's finely researched novel about the abolitionist movement in America, covering the years 1824-1863. Starting with the startling portrait of slavery in the deep South, Stafford traces the lives of those in the Nichols family, along the way painting a fine historical portrait of the issues, divisions, fights (verbal or - as in the case of John Brown and his sons - physical), events (such as the slave revolt led by Nat Turner), prominent people (like Garrison, the Tappans, or Frederic Douglas), and victories of slavery abolition in 19th century America. The bonus of this book is that it is a novel - read for entertainment - yet the reader receives history lessons for free. Stafford obviously did his homework for this and the result is a realistic rendering of abolition in America. Chapter titles contain topics and dates to help keep the reader oriented. Stafford's work allows the reader to feel that s/he is sharing in the experience.

Tim Stafford has written the truly historical novel. He transports you into an era bursting with profound spiritual and social battles, with brother against brother, Christian against Christian, injustice, bigotry, hatred, violence, in other words an era not unlike our own. Here is a story of the events preceding the Civil War from the perspective of a family from the deep south, and from an educated slave who is granted her freedom, but who remains a slave to injustice, as her former master remains a slave to his guilt.

The book offers compelling story-telling, and builds to a page-turning climax. Highly recommended.

I don't want to fault Mr. Stafford on his book. Overall, it was well done, well researched, and very accurate. I found the whole premise very believeable, and there were characters I was able to care about, mainly Catherine, Thomas Nichols, and Tommy. I had a very hard time finishing this book, though, and that is extremely unusual for me. While I appreciate how much was occuring during the time span of Stamp of Glory, and the very important political and religious figures that were relevant to the story line, there was just too much going on between chapters on main characters. I went long stretches wondering where Catherine and Tommy were, and spent long minutes skimming through speeches and sermons. Toward the latter part of the book, Catherine and Tommy disappear altogether until he is grown. There were too many characters I didn't care anything about, too many speeches and sermons, that (although I'm sure are very important and relevant) bored me to tears. Toward the end I didn't find the novel gripping -- I found myself skimming entire chapters looking for anything of interest. My dislike for Thomas Nichols merely grew throughout the book, and then resolution wasn't particularly redeeming for me.

I guess I just expected more. I started my historical fiction reading with authors like Gilbert Morris, and next to those, this book just doesn't cut it. It's okay for a read if you need something to do, but I can't reccommend it otherwise. Sorry.