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Bathsheba Spooner: A Novel
In March 1778, Joshua Spooner, a wealthy gentleman farmer in Brookfield, Massachusetts, was beaten to death and his body stuffed down his own well. Four people were prosecuted for the two British soldiers, a young Continental soldier named Ezra Ross, and Spooner's wife, Bathsheba, who was charged with instigating the murder. She was thirty-two years old and five months pregnant with Ezra Ross’s son. Beautiful, intelligent, high-spirited, and witty, Bathsheba Spooner was the mother of three young children and in her own words felt "an utter aversion" for her husband, who was known to be an abusive drunk. As daughter of the state's most feared and despised Loyalist, she bore the brunt of the political, cultural, and gender prejudices of her vehemently patriotic state. Supported by her prison confessor, she petitioned for a stay of execution to deliver her baby, but her fate rested upon the will of the Massachusetts Council, elected by a patriotic legislature. Newspapers described the Spooner case as "the most extraordinary crime ever perpetrated in New England," and the story continues to attract the attention of readers and students of history to this day.
292 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 21, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 23, 2021
Did the crime fit the punishment?
The story of Bathsheba Spooner certainly is one that can be viewed from different perspectives. Would Bathsheba been given the death penalty in today’s time? Was she truly a battered woman, or did she have a skewed vision of what marriage was?
New England, heavily shaped by Puritanical “virtues,” appeared to have a certain distain for women who were strong or spoke their mind. Take, for example, the Salem Witch Trials. Many women who were accused and sentenced to death were prominent women or independent-thinking. The only different between the witch trials and Bathsheba’s trial was the fact that she actually did plot murder, whereas the accusations about the so-called ‘witches’ were fabricated.
Point being, if Bathsheba’s story had taken place 100 years later, would the outcome of her trial and punishment be the same? 200 years later? Did Spooner’s abuse to his wife cause her enough psychological harm for her to believe this truly was the only way out?
This particular narrative of Bathsheba Spooner reads mostly like a nonfiction piece trying to disguise itself as a fiction novel. I believe Ms. Navas could have done the story better justice to have submitted the story as a nonfiction piece, with commentary afterwards as to how she believed Bathsheba’s point of view would have been. She is clearly very talented at writing nonfiction articles, but trying to turn the story into fiction left too many gaps for the book to flow smoothly.
So, 4 stars for the topic of the book
3 stars for the way the book read - I think it could have been a 5 if written in a non-fiction voice.
The story of Bathsheba Spooner certainly is one that can be viewed from different perspectives. Would Bathsheba been given the death penalty in today’s time? Was she truly a battered woman, or did she have a skewed vision of what marriage was?
New England, heavily shaped by Puritanical “virtues,” appeared to have a certain distain for women who were strong or spoke their mind. Take, for example, the Salem Witch Trials. Many women who were accused and sentenced to death were prominent women or independent-thinking. The only different between the witch trials and Bathsheba’s trial was the fact that she actually did plot murder, whereas the accusations about the so-called ‘witches’ were fabricated.
Point being, if Bathsheba’s story had taken place 100 years later, would the outcome of her trial and punishment be the same? 200 years later? Did Spooner’s abuse to his wife cause her enough psychological harm for her to believe this truly was the only way out?
This particular narrative of Bathsheba Spooner reads mostly like a nonfiction piece trying to disguise itself as a fiction novel. I believe Ms. Navas could have done the story better justice to have submitted the story as a nonfiction piece, with commentary afterwards as to how she believed Bathsheba’s point of view would have been. She is clearly very talented at writing nonfiction articles, but trying to turn the story into fiction left too many gaps for the book to flow smoothly.
So, 4 stars for the topic of the book
3 stars for the way the book read - I think it could have been a 5 if written in a non-fiction voice.
July 6, 2020
Compelling story
The story itself is compelling, but it reads as though it still needs a good editor. I’d love to see the dialogue reworked a bit, at least.
The story itself is compelling, but it reads as though it still needs a good editor. I’d love to see the dialogue reworked a bit, at least.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews