Title: Anne Bradstreet
Author: D.B. Kellogg
Pages: 156
Published: 2010 Thomas Nelson
Read For: a Review for BookSneeze
My Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Not knowing much (if anything) about Anne Bradstreet, and being in the mood for a quick biography, requesting this book in exchange for a review seemed liked a good idea. Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan wife, mother, and daughter, but she was also an educated, published poet (her first book of poetry was published in 1650.) I am guessing that there isn't much, historically, known about Anne, because this small book is focused much more on the world she lived in: customs, politics, religion. There seems to be more details about her husband and father than her, which makes sense for the time period.
Occasionally a few pages would be devoted to relating a specific sermon that Anne most likely would have been familiar with, and while relevant to church history, I found myself skimming in order to find out more about Anne in particular. Details about how the early Puritans lived helped to create a frame of reference for thinking about Anne Bradstreet's life and poetry. While this wasn't the most engaging book to read, (even as compared to other nonfiction historical accounts and biographies,) it was quick and filled with many facts that add to an understanding of Puritans and the time and places in which they lived. I loved this quote of Anne's, "When I come into Heaven, I shall understand perfectly what [the Lord] hath done for me, and then shall I be able to praise him as I ought." Now that's perspective.
In college, I took a semester of American Literature and focused heavily on Bradstreet, whose work left much to discuss. As you mention, Bradstreet is someone about whom we know little -- and that just makes her more fascinating!
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