Anne of the Fens by Gretchen Gibbs

If you google the name Baugh and Madison County, Kentucky, you will easily discover the history of my family.  We can trace the Baughs back as far as the 1500s.  I've often looked at my family tree and, thought about the stories they could each tell over the course of all that time.

Well, Gretchen Gibbs must have had a similar thought because she has begun writing fiction histories about the women she descends from in her Bradford Chronicles.

The first of her books, The Book of Maggie Bradstreet took place in 1692 during the witch trials in Salem and in the Puritan settlement of Andover, Massachusetts, where Maggie lived.  I found it to be a compelling story, so when I saw that Gibbs had written the second volume, I couldn't wait to read it.

Anne of the Fens takes place much earlier, beginning in May 1627 in the town of Boston, Lincolnshire, England.  Anne Dudley may be a Puritan, but she is also a curious 15 year old who is beginning to feel strong feelings towards the opposite sex.  As fugitives for refusing to pay the tax King Charles I is demanding to finance his war with Spain, Anne and her family have been living in Tattershall Castle, where her father is a Steward for the Earl there, and away from their own home.  It's an arrangement Anne rather likes.

One Sunday morning, on the way to church, Anne inadvertently catches a bit of a May Fair production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and decides she must find out how their story ends.  When she questions her tutor, Simon Bradstreet, first about Catholicism and then Shakespeare, Anne is surprised by his responses, giving her a broad hint as to where Shakespeare's work is kept in the castle.

Unable to resist, Anne goes in search of it and discovers a secret room, with shelf after shelf of decidedly unpuritanical books, not just Shakespeare.  On a return visit, she senses someone has been in the room recently, and discovers who it is when her father asks her to take food to a fugitive hidden there.  The fugitive, John Holland, is a Puritan hiding from the Sheriff for writing and posting a tract about not paying the King's new tax. Anne finds herself more attracted to him now than she had been to Simon and looks forward to her nightly visits.

Trouble soon erupts, though, when Anne's spiteful younger sister Sarah posts a paper Simon had written to Anne about religious tolerance on the back of one of John Holland's tracts.  Soon the Sheriff shows up with warrants, and Anne decides she must help John Holland escape.  This is a decision that could ruin not just her reputation, but that of her family as well.  On the run, Anne soon begins to suspect that John may not be the kind of man she thinks he is when he leaves her in the fens in the middle of the night to make her way back to the castle alone.

Anne certainly learns some harsh lessons about human behavior in this novel, but one of the underlying storylines shows her budding interest in reading and writing poetry.  It is an interest she takes very seriously, eventually becoming the first woman poet in the United States.

I really enjoyed reading The Book of Maggie Bradstreet, so I was looking forward to Anne of the Fens and I wasn't disappointed.  It was a little disjunctive in the beginning since Maggie Bradstreet was Anne Dudley Bradstreet's great granddaughter, so the two books weren't read in a linear way, but I quickly got past that since both books stand on their own.

Anne of the Fens is an engaging story that follows Anne's journey from a young romantic to a mature woman in the midst of trying times.  The story is well written and well researched.  I found the descriptions of life in the early 1600s to be believable and, in fact, if you ever wondered what it was like to live in a castle back then, they are quite informative, and I can guarantee that some descriptions will certainly tickle your sense of smell.

But Anne's story is also relevant for today's reader.  As she becomes more and more aware of her awakening sexual feelings and makes decisions based on romantic notions, Anne inevitable makes the mistakes of youth that can sometimes have disastrous results.

Be sure to read the "Afterword" in which Gibbs relates what happened to the people included in her story and what their lives were like. The setting, England in the early part of the 17th century was a time of turmoil and religious intolerance.  Most of what was happening isn't really included in Anne's story, but there is enough for the reader to understand the contentious nature of the relationship between the Puritans and the government.  Be sure to read this as well as a brief History of the Times that Gibbs includes for more information.  There is also a poem by Anne, one that is begun in the story and finished later.  The language may sound a little old fashioned, but the meaning is still easily grasped.

Anyone who enjoys a love story surrounded by history will enjoy reading Anne of the Fens.  Who know, it might even inspire some of you to look into your own family history.

This book is recommended for readers age 12+
This book was an EARC received from NetGalley

The Book of Maggie Bradstreet by Gretchen Gibbs

It is 1692 and in Andover, Massachusetts, Maggie Bradstreet has received a blank book with many pages to fill up with her thoughts for her 13th birthday.  Maggie, whose father, Dudley Bradstreet, is the magistrate, has been fortunate enough to have learned to read and write beyond what most girls learn at the time.  Still, Maggie would like to have continued with school like her older brother Dudley Jr. is allowed to do.  And unfortunately, Maggie isn't quite as good at needlework, cooking or other household jobs expected of girls and women.

Maggie would much rather go off with her friends - Polly Bridges, whose father is a blacksmith and tends to drink away his profits and is considered not a fit friend for Maggie by her parents; Hannah  Dane, granddaughter of Reverend Francis Dane; and Sarah Abbot, the first to bring the news to Maggie and Hannah that witchcraft is no longer only in Salem but has come to Andover.  And so on May 29, 1692, Maggie, Hannah and Sarah walk the distance to Goody Carrier's house to see her arrested for being a witch, changing life in Andover for everyone.

Like the citizens of Salem, where a witchcraft frenzy was already in full sway, Andover was a Puritan settlement and now the same kind of witchcraft frenzy is stirred up in the Meeting House there, fueled by the afternoon sermons of Rev. Thomas Barnard.  Rev. Dane attempted to be the voice of reason but fear drives people's feeling and before long, arrests are made, including Polly Bridges' mother, an arrest that nearly destroys the family.

Throughout all this, Maggie can only watch and worry.  But she stands by her friend Polly as much as possible.  And because her father is the magistrate, it is his job to write the arrest warrants for all the witchcraft arrests that follow Goody Carrier's that fateful summer and fall of 1692.  But there comes a point when he can no longer go against his conscience and when he refuses to write any more warrants, Maggie, her parents and brother are forced to flee Andover and hide out in New Hampshire, leaving behind Maggie's beloved dog, Tobey.  Tobey pays a heavy price when it is rumored that he has been bewitched by Maggie's Uncle John Bradstreet, as does everyone who is accused of being a witch, a wizard or bewitched by one of them.

At the back of the book, Gretchen Gibbs explains how The Book of Maggie Bradstreet came about. Her parents were both interested in family history and it was her father discovered they were related to Dudley Bradstreet, the magistrate, and how he refused to write any more warrants.  Maggie's diary is, however, historical fiction based on real events and real people, most of whom appear in this book.  Much of the information about the accused and their trials that Maggie details in her fictional diary was obtained from records of the time found at the Historical Societies of Andover.

I found Maggie Bradstreet to be a believable character, because she is far from perfect, even in Puritan society and  one that kids would really be able to relate to.  Because her diary is kept in a secret place, she is honest about her crush on Polly's cousin Tyler, how she feels towards other people, and through her writing, you can see how she begins to develop her own skepticism about witchcraft based on what she sees and hears.

I found The Book of Maggie Bradstreet to be an engaging, thought provoking novel, one that is eminently readable.  I think it also resonates in today's world because it shows how easily people can be swayed to believe even the most unlikely things about their former friends and neighbors.  Which is scary stuff, when you think about it.

I personally like reading books about this period of American history, for much the same reason as Gibbs.  I, too, have family that witnessed but were not involved in the witchcraft accusations, trials and hanging in Salem, MA.  Gibbs enough background information about that, so the story would appeal even to a reader not familiar with the Witch Trials.  She also gives lots of detailed information about what life was life for the Puritans on a daily basis, and the influence their religion had one them, but not so much that it bogs down the story.    

The Book of Maggie Bradstreet includes a map and information about what happened to the people involved in the Witch Trials of Andover.  This book is a nice companion to Elizabeth George Speare's novel The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which takes place a few years before the Salem Witch Trials, but shows how witchcraft was in the air even then.  Maggie Bradstreet is a nice addition to any classroom, home school, or personal library.

This book is recommended for readers 12+
This book was received as an eARC from Net Galley