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Eliza Birdwell #1
The Friendly Persuasion
Jess and Eliza Birdwell are parents of an extraordinary American family. Their commitment to "the friendly persuasion" forms the firm, steady basis for their turbulent life together. Jess' weakness for fast horses, Eliza's stubborn devotion to her celebrated goose, the wild misadventures of their children, and the terrible threat of war
243 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1945
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About the author
Jessamyn West
65 books39 followersMary Jessamyn West was an American Quaker (originally from Indiana) who wrote numerous stories and novels, notably The Friendly Persuasion (1945).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 164 reviews
November 3, 2018
"The Friendly Persuasion" tells about an Indiana Quaker family in the late 19th Century in fourteen stories. The individual stories were first published in magazines, then gathered together as a book in 1945. Jess and Eliza Birdwell--a nurseryman and a Quaker preacher--live on a family farm with their brood of children. Jessamyn West based the main characters on her grandparents and great-grandparents. Some of the stories are humorous, and others are sentimental and full of wisdom. The writing is lovely with an old-fashioned charm.
May 4, 2020
This is one of my very favorite books, so there will only be reasons why here. . . .rather than a well-thought out analysis/review. . .
The Birdwells are Quakers (1830-1910ish), and Eliza (the mother) is a Quaker preacher. Jess (Dad) has grown up in the religion, but lives in it as a born-in does (I'm a born-in in my quirky faith, too. . .and we can tend toward . . . .casual? easy? smorgasbord?). The book is truly an assembly of short stories West published through the years, and in 1940 she pulled them into novel form, and I love each story. . . .I love it that they don't go in chronological order, but they go in order of character explication . . .why each one is who he/she is and why they choose what they choose.
There is humor, pathos, family love, and the best love scene EVER! (Mattie & Gard as he goes off to fight in the Civil War. . .her bare feet, dirty from a hell-bent-for-leather run to catch him, perched tippy-toe style on his shiny new war boots so she can tell him. . . .oh well. You read it and you'll see. . . .) Horse racing on the way to church, deep considerations of their pacifist religion as the Civil War rubs up against their very home, doctrines of non-slavery while they have two black servants (?) helping on their home place. An organ happens, when music is not a positive thing for Quakers, apparently. . .
But one of my favorite chapters is The Vase. . . so profoundly describes men and women living together and seeing*feeling*expressing*hearing life so differently - even when they are head over heels in love and trying to be empathetic (in fact, that may create its own levels of complexity!). And the last chapter. . .oh, my. I love this book.
I read this book as a 12-year old because my mother loved it, and loved the movie, which we saw a number of times. But reading the book this many decades later, my receptors for her words sit deeper and the room for her profundity now has place within me it never had in my 12-years old self. Interestingly, have never read any other of Jessamyn West's other works, so have now begun to collect those I cannot find in the usual places.
I'm interested in the thoughts of others out there that might have read some of her books and to which you'd recommend I read first in my further quest of her works. . . .
5 stars, By Sugar! (Jess's favorite expletive)
The Birdwells are Quakers (1830-1910ish), and Eliza (the mother) is a Quaker preacher. Jess (Dad) has grown up in the religion, but lives in it as a born-in does (I'm a born-in in my quirky faith, too. . .and we can tend toward . . . .casual? easy? smorgasbord?). The book is truly an assembly of short stories West published through the years, and in 1940 she pulled them into novel form, and I love each story. . . .I love it that they don't go in chronological order, but they go in order of character explication . . .why each one is who he/she is and why they choose what they choose.
There is humor, pathos, family love, and the best love scene EVER! (Mattie & Gard as he goes off to fight in the Civil War. . .her bare feet, dirty from a hell-bent-for-leather run to catch him, perched tippy-toe style on his shiny new war boots so she can tell him. . . .oh well. You read it and you'll see. . . .) Horse racing on the way to church, deep considerations of their pacifist religion as the Civil War rubs up against their very home, doctrines of non-slavery while they have two black servants (?) helping on their home place. An organ happens, when music is not a positive thing for Quakers, apparently. . .
But one of my favorite chapters is The Vase. . . so profoundly describes men and women living together and seeing*feeling*expressing*hearing life so differently - even when they are head over heels in love and trying to be empathetic (in fact, that may create its own levels of complexity!). And the last chapter. . .oh, my. I love this book.
I read this book as a 12-year old because my mother loved it, and loved the movie, which we saw a number of times. But reading the book this many decades later, my receptors for her words sit deeper and the room for her profundity now has place within me it never had in my 12-years old self. Interestingly, have never read any other of Jessamyn West's other works, so have now begun to collect those I cannot find in the usual places.
I'm interested in the thoughts of others out there that might have read some of her books and to which you'd recommend I read first in my further quest of her works. . . .
5 stars, By Sugar! (Jess's favorite expletive)
July 28, 2015
I don't believe I've ever read a book quite like this before. It was funny, it was fresh, it was sweet, but it was very strange. On one hand, it puzzled me. On the other, it struck a chord deep inside me and I absolutely loved it. I still don't know what to think.
The Friendly Persuasion is the story of the Birdwell family; Jess, his wife Eliza, and their six children. It was much different than I expected; I thought it would be a lot about the Civil War, but it turned out that was only a tiny part of the story which was over almost as soon as it began. A lot of what is happening outside of the Birdwell's own homestead is very vague; in fact, the whole book is pretty vague. I really would like to know what Jessamyn West was thinking of when she wrote this! There were parts that seemed totally irrelevant, and others that put me in mind of a very special, near place that could only be called home.
The beginning of the book was amusing, about the Birdwell family's everyday perks and small adventures. Some of Jess and Eliza's exchanges are priceless! It got a little tedious towards the middle (or maybe I was just distracted by so many other things!) and it wasn't until almost the end that I really started loving it and thinking, wow. This book is something special. The characters, though odd, are refreshingly simple and real. There were some weird parts near the end where I thought, "um...what exactly was that for?" but all in all, I'll say this is one good book. Make of it what you will. :-)
Some of my favorite parts...
"I ain't so far from those days not to know a man plowed the earth then with his heart as well as his hands. I ain't always been ingrain carpets and celery vases, Mattie, and thee's not to forget it."
He walked downstairs slowly. A party for him was like a thunderstorm -- a fine sight to see, and music to the ears, but nothing to be caught plumb in the heart of.
"From now on, Eliza, I don't figure there's a thing asked of me but to love my fellow men."
My rating: 8 1/2
The Friendly Persuasion is the story of the Birdwell family; Jess, his wife Eliza, and their six children. It was much different than I expected; I thought it would be a lot about the Civil War, but it turned out that was only a tiny part of the story which was over almost as soon as it began. A lot of what is happening outside of the Birdwell's own homestead is very vague; in fact, the whole book is pretty vague. I really would like to know what Jessamyn West was thinking of when she wrote this! There were parts that seemed totally irrelevant, and others that put me in mind of a very special, near place that could only be called home.
The beginning of the book was amusing, about the Birdwell family's everyday perks and small adventures. Some of Jess and Eliza's exchanges are priceless! It got a little tedious towards the middle (or maybe I was just distracted by so many other things!) and it wasn't until almost the end that I really started loving it and thinking, wow. This book is something special. The characters, though odd, are refreshingly simple and real. There were some weird parts near the end where I thought, "um...what exactly was that for?" but all in all, I'll say this is one good book. Make of it what you will. :-)
Some of my favorite parts...
"I ain't so far from those days not to know a man plowed the earth then with his heart as well as his hands. I ain't always been ingrain carpets and celery vases, Mattie, and thee's not to forget it."
He walked downstairs slowly. A party for him was like a thunderstorm -- a fine sight to see, and music to the ears, but nothing to be caught plumb in the heart of.
"From now on, Eliza, I don't figure there's a thing asked of me but to love my fellow men."
My rating: 8 1/2
January 7, 2013
“No, it wasn’t Eliza’s preaching nor any outward lack the eye could see that troubled Jess. It was music. Jess pined for music, though it would hard to say how he’d come by any such longing. To the Quakers music was a popish dido, a sop to the senses, a hurdle waiting to trip man in his upward struggle. They kept it out of their Meeting Houses and out of their homes, too.”
Jessamyn West wrote this novel about an Indiana Quaker family almost 75 years ago. Beginning in the 1860′s, we follow this delightful family through the child-rearing days, the Civil War, and the family gatherings years later when the children are grown with little ones of their own.
I chose this as my Indiana pick for the 52 Books Around the USA Challenge, and it was surprisingly good. My own husband’s ancestors were Quakers that settled in southern Indiana, so it was doubly exciting to me to read about a family that might have been similar to those I was researching. I have seen bullet holes resulting from Morgan’s raid, where the Confederates reached up into Indiana during the Civil War. And although the Society of Friends were pacifists, many young Quaker men enlisted in the Union Army, to do their duty and to fight against slavery, much to the chagrin of their families. I so enjoyed West’s take on the war in the context of the Birdwell family – it really made history (and those bullet holes) come alive.
This novel made me laugh and sympathize and charmed me in a way few books can. This was a wonderful read!
Jessamyn West wrote this novel about an Indiana Quaker family almost 75 years ago. Beginning in the 1860′s, we follow this delightful family through the child-rearing days, the Civil War, and the family gatherings years later when the children are grown with little ones of their own.
I chose this as my Indiana pick for the 52 Books Around the USA Challenge, and it was surprisingly good. My own husband’s ancestors were Quakers that settled in southern Indiana, so it was doubly exciting to me to read about a family that might have been similar to those I was researching. I have seen bullet holes resulting from Morgan’s raid, where the Confederates reached up into Indiana during the Civil War. And although the Society of Friends were pacifists, many young Quaker men enlisted in the Union Army, to do their duty and to fight against slavery, much to the chagrin of their families. I so enjoyed West’s take on the war in the context of the Birdwell family – it really made history (and those bullet holes) come alive.
This novel made me laugh and sympathize and charmed me in a way few books can. This was a wonderful read!
August 5, 2008
It is my sincere hope that someday soon the Library of America will produce a volume of the Collected Works of Jessamymn West. Until then, readers will have to make do with paperback editions or funky used ones. It would be a shame to let her portrayals of the American spirit disappear from view. This book, along with the hard-to-find "Except For Me and Thee," offers up her paean for her own Quaker ancestory in a series of short stories that chronicle the Jess Birdwell family. Jess, an Indiana farmer in the middle on the 19th century, lives his Quaker faith deeply but not without struggle when confronting its more puritan strains.
These books reflect well my idea of patriotism--a deep love of the land and the people who live upon the land and the ideas that keep those people in harmony. I rerad these books at least once every five years just to make sure that what I once found so good in America continues to live inside me.
These books reflect well my idea of patriotism--a deep love of the land and the people who live upon the land and the ideas that keep those people in harmony. I rerad these books at least once every five years just to make sure that what I once found so good in America continues to live inside me.
October 6, 2019
This book reminds me of the television series “The Beverly Hillbillies”. A lot of silly stories about a minority cultural group. Not my kind of humour although it may have been considered acceptable — perhaps even funny — when it was published in 1945.
July 7, 2021
Jessamyn West’s novel, The Friendly Persuasion, is really a collection of fourteen episodes in the life of a Quaker family living in Indiana around the middle of the nineteenth century. Though a little sugar-coated and for the most part without a plot, the book is full of charm and humor, and with ample description of what it takes to lead the life of a peace-loving Quaker, to whom everyone is “Friend.” I will confess that it is difficult not to “see” Gary Cooper as Jess Birdwell based on the endearing movie version of the book, in which Cooper played his role to perfection.
Jess Birdwell is a nurseryman, which affords West unlimited opportunities to describe the flora and fauna and the changing seasons of Indiana. No doubt West amassed enough material from her own parents and grandparents’ stories to ensure authentic detail springs from every page in terms of the names of vegetables, flowers, all manner of trees and shrubs, and the quirky, antiquated second-person “thee” and “thou” references.
Comedy in the book comes from instances where Jess Birdwell, ordinarily compliant within the fairly severe strictures of the Quaker faith, suffers an irrepressible surge of human independence. On such occasions, he finds himself not only edging outside religious boundaries, but more dangerously, beyond the stern approval perimeter of his utterly devout wife, Eliza. While Eliza’s behavior is predetermined through lifelong religious teachings, Jess is broadminded enough occasionally to allow for some situational judgment on a matter.
For example, Jess does not see why music should be objectionable and, impulsively—which essentially means without consulting Eliza—he purchases an organ. Upon the organ arriving, Eliza delivers an ultimatum of “either-the-organ-or-me” in the house, and parks herself outside in the snow. Jess moves the organ indoors, and after some soul-searching in the cold and wet, Eliza returns to the house and negotiates a face-saving agreement that the organ may only live and be heard in the attic room.
In a second example, an unspoken rivalry has built up between the Reverend Godley and Jess on who has the faster horse. A competitive man, the Reverend and his stallion-drawn surrey regularly delights in passing Jess on the way to church, while condescendingly declaring there is nothing personal in it. Jess cannily acquires a horse, Lady, whose owner says “she refuses to be passed by another horse.” Inevitably, the day comes when the Reverend and Jess, delicately setting aside the evil of racing, find themselves, well, in a race! Though Jess’s victory sours a little when the end of the race is viewed by the whole congregation and the Quaker ministers, it is still personally sweet enough.
The whole Birdwell family’s anti-killing faith is tested when the Civil War encroaches close enough to their home that eldest son Josh feels compelled to join the Home Guard to defend life and property. Though family members are against Josh’s decision, they silently prepare him to go off to war. He sees no action, but his spirit is satisfied that he was ready.
Ms. West has written a little masterpiece. Her prose is lively and precise, and the Birdwells’ compulsive kindness and generosity to fellow men is heartwarmingly authentic. Whether or not they see him as Gary Cooper, Jess Birdwell, a man essentially and enviably content with his lot in life, will remain long in readers’ minds. The Friendly Persuasion is a wholly persuasive portrait of a precious time gone by in American history.
[This reviewer also recommends The Life I Really Lived by the same author.]
Jess Birdwell is a nurseryman, which affords West unlimited opportunities to describe the flora and fauna and the changing seasons of Indiana. No doubt West amassed enough material from her own parents and grandparents’ stories to ensure authentic detail springs from every page in terms of the names of vegetables, flowers, all manner of trees and shrubs, and the quirky, antiquated second-person “thee” and “thou” references.
Comedy in the book comes from instances where Jess Birdwell, ordinarily compliant within the fairly severe strictures of the Quaker faith, suffers an irrepressible surge of human independence. On such occasions, he finds himself not only edging outside religious boundaries, but more dangerously, beyond the stern approval perimeter of his utterly devout wife, Eliza. While Eliza’s behavior is predetermined through lifelong religious teachings, Jess is broadminded enough occasionally to allow for some situational judgment on a matter.
For example, Jess does not see why music should be objectionable and, impulsively—which essentially means without consulting Eliza—he purchases an organ. Upon the organ arriving, Eliza delivers an ultimatum of “either-the-organ-or-me” in the house, and parks herself outside in the snow. Jess moves the organ indoors, and after some soul-searching in the cold and wet, Eliza returns to the house and negotiates a face-saving agreement that the organ may only live and be heard in the attic room.
In a second example, an unspoken rivalry has built up between the Reverend Godley and Jess on who has the faster horse. A competitive man, the Reverend and his stallion-drawn surrey regularly delights in passing Jess on the way to church, while condescendingly declaring there is nothing personal in it. Jess cannily acquires a horse, Lady, whose owner says “she refuses to be passed by another horse.” Inevitably, the day comes when the Reverend and Jess, delicately setting aside the evil of racing, find themselves, well, in a race! Though Jess’s victory sours a little when the end of the race is viewed by the whole congregation and the Quaker ministers, it is still personally sweet enough.
The whole Birdwell family’s anti-killing faith is tested when the Civil War encroaches close enough to their home that eldest son Josh feels compelled to join the Home Guard to defend life and property. Though family members are against Josh’s decision, they silently prepare him to go off to war. He sees no action, but his spirit is satisfied that he was ready.
Ms. West has written a little masterpiece. Her prose is lively and precise, and the Birdwells’ compulsive kindness and generosity to fellow men is heartwarmingly authentic. Whether or not they see him as Gary Cooper, Jess Birdwell, a man essentially and enviably content with his lot in life, will remain long in readers’ minds. The Friendly Persuasion is a wholly persuasive portrait of a precious time gone by in American history.
[This reviewer also recommends The Life I Really Lived by the same author.]
September 27, 2025
This story is based on Jessamyn West's family, and as I read it I could imagine her as a young child listening to the older folks talk about "back then", laughing and teasing and sometimes sighing for times past. Each chapter is a story originally published in magazines like Colliers, Ladies' Home Journal and Atlantic Monthly. West then assembled them chronologically and published in this form in 1945. The stories cover about 40 years in the life of the Birdwell family, Quakers who live in rural southern Indiana around the time of the Civil War. Eliza Birdwell is a Quaker preacher, and her husband Jess runs a nursery, travelling the area selling fruit trees and shrubs.
The stories generally center on Jess, a man who loves life and thinks deeply. There are a lot of simple moments, meals eaten, neighbors visiting, flowers grown, along with old age, death, loss and even a bit of the war. It's a lovely, low key book that I first read as a teenager and really enjoyed meeting again so many years later.
NB - I haven't seen the movie, but it sounds as if it's quite different from the book, as the novel barely mentions the war and doesn't have a through line, only the individual stories.
The stories generally center on Jess, a man who loves life and thinks deeply. There are a lot of simple moments, meals eaten, neighbors visiting, flowers grown, along with old age, death, loss and even a bit of the war. It's a lovely, low key book that I first read as a teenager and really enjoyed meeting again so many years later.
NB - I haven't seen the movie, but it sounds as if it's quite different from the book, as the novel barely mentions the war and doesn't have a through line, only the individual stories.
November 11, 2015
I wish the cover of the copy I read had looked like this, instead of a lame picture from the movie they made. Anyway, I don't give out five stars very easily anymore, but Jessamyn West fully earned it with this one. You know how some authors have that knack of beautifully describing something perfectly normal or banal in a way that makes you completely identify with their words and view that thing in a new light? She does that, time and again. Her humor is impeccable, too. The story is about a Quaker family living in Indiana back in the glorious olden days, and once you get past the "thee" and "thou" language, it's just a delight to read the quick-witted chapters that give you a glimpse into each member of the family, with Jess, the father, being the focal point. I found West's skill as an author most evident when I realized how very different the characters are, but she gets into each of their heads perfectly. This is a book I'd love to own, and that would be fun to read aloud to someone else. My favorite chapter was when Jess bought an insanely ugly but unbelievably fast horse...I was dying in laughter by the end. Oh, and the very first chapter on his organ is a classic as well. I'll definitely be looking into her other books.
April 12, 2016
Friendly Persuasion is one of the sweetest books I have ever read. It is sweet, not saccharin, but heartfelt. It tells stories of the Quaker family of Jess Birdwell, and gives you a glimpse into the lives of Quakers from the late nineteenth century. It also ends with one of my favorite verses of scripture of all time from John 14: "Let not your hearts be troubled...in my Father's house are many mansions...I go to prepare a place for you." I wish it had continued with the part I like best: "if it were not so I would have told you," But was a beautiful scene in the book that it was quoted in.
I was familiar with the book title because I have watched the Gary Cooper movie with the same name over and over since my childhood. I worried that I wouldn't love the book as much as the movie, although people often say they love books more than the movies. I am afraid that I still envisioned Gary Cooper when reading the name Jess Birdwell and while I love the movie best, reading the book was a real treat; and perhaps I do love it just as much as the movie, but in a much different way.
I was familiar with the book title because I have watched the Gary Cooper movie with the same name over and over since my childhood. I worried that I wouldn't love the book as much as the movie, although people often say they love books more than the movies. I am afraid that I still envisioned Gary Cooper when reading the name Jess Birdwell and while I love the movie best, reading the book was a real treat; and perhaps I do love it just as much as the movie, but in a much different way.
March 17, 2008
This book is loveliness itself. It's surely Jessamyn West's masterpiece. The Quaker family faces real world challenges and meets them with humor and courage, everything from whether or not to have a piano in their Quaker home to the danger of harboring refugees from the South in the Civil War to allowing one of their sons to leave to fight for the North.
It's at once touching and light-hearted. I love the people in The Friendly Persuasion and would like to meet them and have them give me a little advice on how to meet my own life's challenges.
I once read she based the novel on stories of her grandparents, and that makes sense because the people are drawn in such detail they seem real. I wish I knew my own grandparents so well.
I believe this novel endures the test of time because it is written with such love. It is among my top 10 favorite books of all time and I am so glad Louise recommended it to me!
It's at once touching and light-hearted. I love the people in The Friendly Persuasion and would like to meet them and have them give me a little advice on how to meet my own life's challenges.
I once read she based the novel on stories of her grandparents, and that makes sense because the people are drawn in such detail they seem real. I wish I knew my own grandparents so well.
I believe this novel endures the test of time because it is written with such love. It is among my top 10 favorite books of all time and I am so glad Louise recommended it to me!
November 12, 2010
I loved this book! It was one that I recall bits of, long ago when my older sister was reading it and wanted to share what she'd enjoyed, but I didn't read it for myself until I was on vacation recently, and wanted something light but enlightening. It may seem a bit old fashioned in today's society, but one of the reasons I read it was to get a glimpse of 19th century Quaker farming family, after finding out that I had a little Quaker stock in my ancestry. The characters, based on the Jessamyn West's own Quaker ancestors, are full of both integrity and human foibles, and I liked them all. Even though the overall tone of the book was romantic, lighthearted and humorous, the author explores deeper emotions--fear, jealousy, grief, pride--through her characters, sometimes as witnessed through the eyes of the children in the stories. One of the things I liked best was the author's ability to paint landscapes, from season to season, with expert choice of words.
October 22, 2016
“Knowledge of what you love somehow comes to you; you don’t have to read nor analyze nor study. If you love a thing enough, knowledge of it seeps into you, with particulars more real than any chart can furnish.”
Terribly beautiful and sweet without ever dipping into sanctimony or saccharine stereotypes. Every chapter, or story, was so enchanting and gorgeously written. I was so startled by the excellence of West's style, especially because I have never really heard others praise it before, and I found it so deeply praiseworthy. Eliza and Jess are complex, lovable, and generous characters, and I look forward to sharing this book with others, as it was shared with me. The Friendly Persuasion is simple and good enough to delight children and yet deep enough to please even the most high-minded adult.
Terribly beautiful and sweet without ever dipping into sanctimony or saccharine stereotypes. Every chapter, or story, was so enchanting and gorgeously written. I was so startled by the excellence of West's style, especially because I have never really heard others praise it before, and I found it so deeply praiseworthy. Eliza and Jess are complex, lovable, and generous characters, and I look forward to sharing this book with others, as it was shared with me. The Friendly Persuasion is simple and good enough to delight children and yet deep enough to please even the most high-minded adult.
January 12, 2022
The Friendly Persuasion is one of my favorite movies played on Turner Classic Movies. I've watched it many times and there were many comparisons from the book to the movie. Of course the book allows for a slower pace with this Quaker family and a more moving term of phrase. I will admit I'm not sure I would have completely understood some of the stories for the subtle humor and joy that was portrayed had I not watched the movie first. This book is a collection of short stories; each surrounding the Birdwell family. My favorite stories were the happier toned ones. There were a few melancholic lonely stories that I didn't enjoy as much. These stories left me with laughs and greater emotions than what I've come to experience in the Christian Historical Fiction I read today. So very glad I have my own copy with this reminiscent cover.
July 2, 2008
This is an amazing collection of stories about the Birdwells, a family of Quakers during the Civil War. The stories were written during WWII, and they start out light-hearted and funny, but get progressively sadder. What I liked best was that West wrote the different stories from the points-of-view of different family members. And whether she was writing from the father's POV or the teenage daughter's, she did it so well!
Also, this is one of those rare occasions where the movie is just as good as the book.
Also, this is one of those rare occasions where the movie is just as good as the book.
March 9, 2016
A surprising source recommended this as having really interesting prose styling. I think it was someone like Joan Didion . . . And she was right--beautifully written, with very interesting ways to convey things. The first chapter was off-putting to me, though after having read the rest I might be able to go back and enjoy it. But it felt too hokey. I loved the way West traces many seasons of a life (Jess's particularly) with a change of focus for each chapter, which is really a stand-alone story.
February 19, 2009
I read this because I watched the film of the same name, never having encountered Jessamyn West before. She writes with enormous warmth and human insight, and with an ever-present sense of humour. These stories are so vivid and real, and I was sorry to reach the end of the book - and then delighted when I realised there was another volume of stories about the same family!
January 20, 2022
This book is pure gold.
Second time through: Just as good as I remembered - actually better. So much keen observation of the human experience. Beautiful juxtaposition of youth and age. I was really struck by Jess's ability to still be filled with wonder, even into his old age, his ability to savor the moment. Something to emulate for sure.
Second time through: Just as good as I remembered - actually better. So much keen observation of the human experience. Beautiful juxtaposition of youth and age. I was really struck by Jess's ability to still be filled with wonder, even into his old age, his ability to savor the moment. Something to emulate for sure.
June 12, 2014
Having just moved to southern Indiana, I thought I would give this book a try. Meh. Started out with some great stories, then it dragged. In one of the final chapters, I was so confused, I couldn't tell what was happening or who "Aunt Jetty" was. Good peek into quaker life in the mid to late 1800's, I thought.
August 24, 2023
I loved this book and I hardly can articulate why. It’s warm and familiar and made me laugh. The descriptions of nature are beautiful and I just liked it.
I think this is a book that people will get and really enjoy or be bored with and not be able to finish. Can someone else read it so we can talk about it? 😅
I think this is a book that people will get and really enjoy or be bored with and not be able to finish. Can someone else read it so we can talk about it? 😅
May 17, 2023
One of my favorite novels. A regular re-read.
June 2, 2023
Short stories - they are linked but don't connect fully as a traditional novel would - about a Quaker family and their adventures over the years.
August 18, 2024
Heart-warming, sad, and wryly humorous in turn. The setting of a Quaker farm sets the plots of the chapters in a context that is delightful to converse with. I want to read more.
July 1, 2019
This is a book about life, when things were much more simple.
A book about life and death, and everything in between.
A book about life and death, and everything in between.
October 10, 2017
It is around 1860, and Jess Birdwell, a Quaker, lives with his family at the Maple Grove Nursery, which he owns and operates, near the town of Vernon in Jennings County, IN, on the Muscatatuck River. His wife is Eliza, a Quaker preacher, and they have six living children, Joshua (Josh), Laban (Labe), Martha Truth (Maggie), Little Jess, Jane, and Stephen. Another daughter, Sarah, has died. 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. How does Eliza react when Jess buys an organ and trades their staid horse Red Rover for a faster one named Lady? And what will the Birdwells do when Morgan’s Confederate raiders are approaching their land?
Some time ago, my wife Karen brought home Friendly Persuasion, a 1956 Civil War film starring Gary Cooper and Dorothy McGuire, for our family video. We really enjoyed it, and when I saw that it was based on West’s novel, I decided to read the book. The book is not identical to the movie, which is common enough, but both book and movie have their own strengths. Author Jessamyn West (1902-1984) was born in Indiana to Quaker parents. West gained the background material for her stories when her mother, Grace Milhous West, shared with her childhood memories of growing up as a Quaker girl in southern Indiana, and particularly of grandparents Joshua and Elizabeth Milhous, who became the models for the Birdwells.
While The Friendly Persuasion is often called “West’s first novel,” it is more a series of fourteen vignettes. Originally published between 1940 and 1945 as individual stories in Prairie Schooner, Collier’s, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic Monthly, the Ladies’ Home Journal, New Mexico Quarterly Review, and Harper’s Magazine, West had them reprinted in more or less chronological order covering a forty-year span of the Birdwell family’s lives in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Several reviewers use the word “delightful” to describe the book, and I agree. The “h” word is used once as an interjection, but other than that, I really enjoyed this book. In 1969, West published a companion novel, Except for Me and Thee, whose stories filled in the history of the Birdwells, including how they courted, married, and moved to Indiana.
Some time ago, my wife Karen brought home Friendly Persuasion, a 1956 Civil War film starring Gary Cooper and Dorothy McGuire, for our family video. We really enjoyed it, and when I saw that it was based on West’s novel, I decided to read the book. The book is not identical to the movie, which is common enough, but both book and movie have their own strengths. Author Jessamyn West (1902-1984) was born in Indiana to Quaker parents. West gained the background material for her stories when her mother, Grace Milhous West, shared with her childhood memories of growing up as a Quaker girl in southern Indiana, and particularly of grandparents Joshua and Elizabeth Milhous, who became the models for the Birdwells.
While The Friendly Persuasion is often called “West’s first novel,” it is more a series of fourteen vignettes. Originally published between 1940 and 1945 as individual stories in Prairie Schooner, Collier’s, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic Monthly, the Ladies’ Home Journal, New Mexico Quarterly Review, and Harper’s Magazine, West had them reprinted in more or less chronological order covering a forty-year span of the Birdwell family’s lives in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Several reviewers use the word “delightful” to describe the book, and I agree. The “h” word is used once as an interjection, but other than that, I really enjoyed this book. In 1969, West published a companion novel, Except for Me and Thee, whose stories filled in the history of the Birdwells, including how they courted, married, and moved to Indiana.
May 3, 2012
This is the thoroughly charming story of a Quaker family in rural Indiana during the mid-19th Century. The husband, Jeff Birdwell has a weakness for music which is considered extravagant and self-indulgent by the Society of Friends and becomes a bit of a bone-of-contention between he and his wife, Eliza, who happens to be a minister of their church.
Jeff also has a passion for a fast-trotting horse, and the fact that his Big Red looks fast tempts him into taking on the Methodist Minister's trotter Black Prince - but although Red looks fast, he doesn't have the heart in him to outpace the minister's trotter. This so embarasses Eliza that she directs Jeff to make a swap for a horse without Big Red's looks to tempt Jeff into racing. Jeff looks on this as a lesson on not making judgements based on appearances, and the Good Lord only reinforces the lesson by setting him up to trade Big Red for 'Lady', a down-right uncouth-looking horse that won't allow ANY horse to pass HER. Jeff makes the swap in compliance with the letter-of-the-law, if not the spirit - and come next First meeting Day, Lady leads the Reverend's Black Prince all the way to the Methodist meeting house and right on past it and up to their own Quaker church, with Jeff 'encouraging' Lady for all he's worth and even Eliza complimenting Lady for her efforts; much to their mutual embarassment.
The family also has to contend with the ethical dilema of the Civil War, with Morgan's Raiders threatening them and their neighbors. They also have a legal dispute over the ownership of a pet goose, which Eliza wins hands-down by her portrayal of her goose's distrinctive way of strutting.
Other passages are almost poetic in their portrayal of the different values placed on the things they cherish by the two elder Birdwell's.
The hollywood movie version, "Friendly Persuasion", starring Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, and Anthony Perkins has long been one of my sentimental favorites for the way it caught the spirit of the book.
Jeff also has a passion for a fast-trotting horse, and the fact that his Big Red looks fast tempts him into taking on the Methodist Minister's trotter Black Prince - but although Red looks fast, he doesn't have the heart in him to outpace the minister's trotter. This so embarasses Eliza that she directs Jeff to make a swap for a horse without Big Red's looks to tempt Jeff into racing. Jeff looks on this as a lesson on not making judgements based on appearances, and the Good Lord only reinforces the lesson by setting him up to trade Big Red for 'Lady', a down-right uncouth-looking horse that won't allow ANY horse to pass HER. Jeff makes the swap in compliance with the letter-of-the-law, if not the spirit - and come next First meeting Day, Lady leads the Reverend's Black Prince all the way to the Methodist meeting house and right on past it and up to their own Quaker church, with Jeff 'encouraging' Lady for all he's worth and even Eliza complimenting Lady for her efforts; much to their mutual embarassment.
The family also has to contend with the ethical dilema of the Civil War, with Morgan's Raiders threatening them and their neighbors. They also have a legal dispute over the ownership of a pet goose, which Eliza wins hands-down by her portrayal of her goose's distrinctive way of strutting.
Other passages are almost poetic in their portrayal of the different values placed on the things they cherish by the two elder Birdwell's.
The hollywood movie version, "Friendly Persuasion", starring Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, and Anthony Perkins has long been one of my sentimental favorites for the way it caught the spirit of the book.
July 6, 2019
This novel is really a collection of short stories about a Quaker family living in 19th century Indiana. It’s contemplative, beautifully written, and a pleasure to read. It doesn’t cohere particularly as a novel, since there are important characters who just disappear and we don’t really learn what happens to them. But as linked short stories, it works just fine.
At the center of the story are Jess and Eliza. Jess grows fruit trees, and Eliza is a Quaker preacher, and they have seven children. Both characters are interesting and strong, endearing, sometimes funny. Some of these stories are quite anecdotal, while others go a little deeper.
The book is particularly good with descriptions of light and landscape, as in this excerpt:
< It was a May morning, early. The morning of a piece-meal flicker-light day. It was the time of the return of shadows. The time once again when there was sun enough and leaf enough to give some variety to the monotony of a wall or strip of land. Jess sat on his side of the bed putting his foot into a white wool sock. He gazed at the sunlight coming through the east windows, like water tinged with a little squeezed juice from a red geranium, he decided. >
Here’s a passage describing the fear felt by Josh, the eldest boy, when he joins a local militia. He feels he must do his part to defend a town that’s being attacked by Rebel soldiers, even though warfare is against his beliefs as a Quaker.
< Josh reached for his gun. Waves of something, he didn’t know what, were hitting his chest. It’s like riding through the woods and being hit by branches that leave thee in the saddle, but so belabored thy chest aches, he thought. Other waves, or perhaps the same ones, pounded against his ears, broke in deafening crashes as if he were deep under water, buffeted by currents that could break bones, could rip a man out of his flesh and let him run, liquid, away. Then, in the midst of the pain and crashing, Josh thought, It’s thy heart beating. Nothing but thy heart. >
At the center of the story are Jess and Eliza. Jess grows fruit trees, and Eliza is a Quaker preacher, and they have seven children. Both characters are interesting and strong, endearing, sometimes funny. Some of these stories are quite anecdotal, while others go a little deeper.
The book is particularly good with descriptions of light and landscape, as in this excerpt:
< It was a May morning, early. The morning of a piece-meal flicker-light day. It was the time of the return of shadows. The time once again when there was sun enough and leaf enough to give some variety to the monotony of a wall or strip of land. Jess sat on his side of the bed putting his foot into a white wool sock. He gazed at the sunlight coming through the east windows, like water tinged with a little squeezed juice from a red geranium, he decided. >
Here’s a passage describing the fear felt by Josh, the eldest boy, when he joins a local militia. He feels he must do his part to defend a town that’s being attacked by Rebel soldiers, even though warfare is against his beliefs as a Quaker.
< Josh reached for his gun. Waves of something, he didn’t know what, were hitting his chest. It’s like riding through the woods and being hit by branches that leave thee in the saddle, but so belabored thy chest aches, he thought. Other waves, or perhaps the same ones, pounded against his ears, broke in deafening crashes as if he were deep under water, buffeted by currents that could break bones, could rip a man out of his flesh and let him run, liquid, away. Then, in the midst of the pain and crashing, Josh thought, It’s thy heart beating. Nothing but thy heart. >
August 31, 2023
I have really mixed feelings about this book. For starters, it's not really a novel, it's a collection of short stories, published in various magazines over a period of years, loosely arranged chronologically. Some of the stories are delightfully sweet, painful, and sad - about life and death, family, love, art, the meaning of life, God, neighbors. But there is something editorially lazy about the book regarding the characters over the arc of the stories. While Jess and Eliza remain the same, the amount of children and their names seem to fluctuate. At the very least, when stringing these stories together, West and her editor could have gone back through them and re-written them in such a way as to connect them all together a little bit more. If you take each story individually, and resist the urge to connect them, you will find some treasures here. The language is sometimes a bit flowery, and many times heavy - it's very wordy for such a short book. But some of the stories are moving to the point of tears. My theory is any book that makes you laugh out loud or cry has redeeming qualities.
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August 2023. I disagree completely with my previous review, and I’m giving this one more star. The amount of children and their names fluctuate BECAUSE THEY HAD MORE CHILDREN. Duh, Shawn. No re-writing needed. There are treasures here, I was right about that. The language is deep, but I don’t see the flowery now. It’s wordy in just the right ways.
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August 2023. I disagree completely with my previous review, and I’m giving this one more star. The amount of children and their names fluctuate BECAUSE THEY HAD MORE CHILDREN. Duh, Shawn. No re-writing needed. There are treasures here, I was right about that. The language is deep, but I don’t see the flowery now. It’s wordy in just the right ways.
May 12, 2014
I had read this book years ago, but recently we saw the movie on Netflix. We enjoyed it so much that I told my daughter to get it. They loved it also, and she decided to read the book. She persuaded me to reread the book as she was enjoying it so much. She said reading it was like a gift.
I was so glad she had suggested this. I was amazed at the writing and beautiful descriptions. It is a book to be savored and read word by word. It is very different than most of the books written today. Rather than a typical novel, this is really a collection of short stories about a Quaker family. Some of the stories were in the movie, and some were new, and some were a little different.
My only criticism of the book probably is due to the fact that it is a collection of the author's short stories. In the beginning you get to know the whole family. Suddenly, in one episode, the four children are missing, the hired man is the same, but there are two new children! I thought I had misunderstood and went on reading. Toward the end, those two new children appear again, plus a daughter of one of them - and the original four are again missing. Then one is mentioned. There was no explanation and it left me feeling unsettled.
The last story was sweet, but very melancholy. I was sorry to end the book on such a note. Because of the ending and the mix-up of characters, I decided against rereading the sequel right now. My daughter did and said she is still wondering about the children. We laughed about it! But the books are well written and worthwhile.
I was so glad she had suggested this. I was amazed at the writing and beautiful descriptions. It is a book to be savored and read word by word. It is very different than most of the books written today. Rather than a typical novel, this is really a collection of short stories about a Quaker family. Some of the stories were in the movie, and some were new, and some were a little different.
My only criticism of the book probably is due to the fact that it is a collection of the author's short stories. In the beginning you get to know the whole family. Suddenly, in one episode, the four children are missing, the hired man is the same, but there are two new children! I thought I had misunderstood and went on reading. Toward the end, those two new children appear again, plus a daughter of one of them - and the original four are again missing. Then one is mentioned. There was no explanation and it left me feeling unsettled.
The last story was sweet, but very melancholy. I was sorry to end the book on such a note. Because of the ending and the mix-up of characters, I decided against rereading the sequel right now. My daughter did and said she is still wondering about the children. We laughed about it! But the books are well written and worthwhile.
June 10, 2018
Mostly reading even a good book can be tainted if not ruined by having first seen it’s movie version. What’s been created in the mind’s eye by that Hollywood interpretation colors what’s in the writing.
Every so often, however, the original book can give a fuller and much different experience. Such is the case with “The Friendly Persuasion”’a novel by Jessamine West upon which the 1050’s movie “ Friendly Persuasion”’was based.
That film is one of my very favorites, starring Gary Cooper, one of my all time favorite actors, with one of the most hauntingly beautiful theme songs “Thee I Love” sung by Pat Boone. Yet the book enlarges and expands the incidents touched in the movie, and the casting of all the characters seemed exactly right to those in my later reading of the novel.
Let me just say both book and movie chronicle the happenings of a Quaker man and wife in a rural community in Indiana just before and after the Civil War. Doesn't sound so very dramatic or interesting to many, I’m guessing, but let me simply say it’s a profoundly moving story, full of all the humor and other emotion life brings to us all, whomever or wherever we are.
Every so often, however, the original book can give a fuller and much different experience. Such is the case with “The Friendly Persuasion”’a novel by Jessamine West upon which the 1050’s movie “ Friendly Persuasion”’was based.
That film is one of my very favorites, starring Gary Cooper, one of my all time favorite actors, with one of the most hauntingly beautiful theme songs “Thee I Love” sung by Pat Boone. Yet the book enlarges and expands the incidents touched in the movie, and the casting of all the characters seemed exactly right to those in my later reading of the novel.
Let me just say both book and movie chronicle the happenings of a Quaker man and wife in a rural community in Indiana just before and after the Civil War. Doesn't sound so very dramatic or interesting to many, I’m guessing, but let me simply say it’s a profoundly moving story, full of all the humor and other emotion life brings to us all, whomever or wherever we are.
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