5 Puritan Women:
Portraits of Faith and Love
DETAILS: Publisher: Crossway Publication Date: February 07, 2023 Format: Paperback Length: 137 Read Date: March 26, 2023
What’s 5 Puritan Women About?
Agnes Beaumont, Lucy Hutchinson, Mary Rich, Anne Bradstreet, and Lady Brilliana Harley. Names you probably don’t know—well, maybe Anne Bradstreet is familiar to you. Especially if you ever read any poetry from the New England colonies (probably against your will—nothing against them, but I can’t imagine anyone seeking it out outside of High School/College literature classes). These five women are from (roughly) the Puritan era of British and American History and are brought to the reader’s attention here.
de Klerk writes and speaks frequently on the Puritans and noticed that notable Puritan women are often overlooked, so she highlights these here to bring their contributions forward. Each of them contributed in their own ways—for their family, for the support of the ministry, for the culture, and for the people in the immediate orbit.
Agnes Beaumont was a member of John Bunyan’s congregation who fought off several false accusations about her (and him). Lucy Hutchinson was a well-educated woman who wrote a good deal, including a systematic theology for her daughter. Mary Rich was noted for her benevolence and charity. Anne Bradstreet made a name for herself with her poetry, as I somewhat snidely mentioned before. Lady Brilliana Harley’s correspondence was the source of sage and godly advice. I’m doing a lousy job of summarizing this—but I just tried to do in this paragraph what de Klerk spent a book on.
Here’s My Beef with 5 Puritan Women…
I can’t get my hands on the primary sources. Okay, some of Bradstreet’s poems are in the edition of Norton Anthology of American Literature I used in my undergrad days, so I can re-read those. But Lady Harley’s letters and Lucy Hutchinson’s systematic would be fantastic to read. Can I get those? Not that I can find. You can get Hutchinson’s works for a few hundred dollars, or some sketchy-looking ebooks of some of her works, but nothing affordable.
I’d love to hear that Reformation Heritage, Christian Focus, or Banner of Truth was working on making these works accessible to contemporary readers—even better if de Klerk was working on editing those herself, as she clearly has some sort of affinity for them.
In the meantime, I’m just going to grouse about this a bit—de Klerk makes you want to get to know these women better through their written works, but when they’re not available….it’s just mean.
So, what did I think about 5 Puritan Women?
I really appreciated this book and de Klerk’s style. The writing is clear, approachable, and affable—this isn’t a stuffy introduction to figures from the past, but someone telling you about people she’s come to know and is excited about.
I’m not sure the pairing of the women with Puritan disciplines really adds that much. It’s an okay handle and way to approach things, but I really didn’t need that, their stories and experiences were enough on their own. Your results may vary, obviously, this might be one of the more valuable aspects for some readers.
I recommend this quick and engaging read to all those who are interested in some of those figures in Church History too often overlooked—particularly if you have any affinity for or curiosity about the Puritans—it’s a great reminder that for every John Owen or John Bunyan, there are several other faithful servants we could and should get to know. I found it inspiring, interesting, and even a little moving. I’d definitely read expanded works on any of these—or a sequel, 5 More Puritan Women.
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