The Naked Quaker by Diane Rapaport

A Book Review By Joshua Cachapero

The Book The Naked Quaker: True Crimes and Controversies from the Courts of Colonial New England by Diane Rapaport is a book filled with justice, suspense, and controversy that shock a reader to the bone. The Pros and Cons vary and some things that were interesting I found bittersweet. Diane Rapaport is a very precise storyteller that leaves cliffhangers to have the reader choose an ending. This strategy may turn the hairs in the back of reader’s heads up.

When I finished the book I thought to myself was The Naked Quaker a good book. My one word answer was yes, but then the second question I asked myself was, why the book was good? The book was good mainly because the book was more then just a history book filled with facts. The book was good because every time I turned the page, it was filled with suspense that not just told the facts of history but added the emotions that puritans expressed. These emotions were common to what happens now-a-days for example, what would happened if you caught your husband or wife having another affair? Furious. I would be, that is exactly what happened many times in this book, which caught to a conclusion that Puritans controlled there emotions just as good as people do now, nothing has really changed. I thought back then everything would be different, how people acted or expressed there emotions, but I learned through this book that the nature of man never really changed. Puritans judged others just like people judge others today.

By reading this book I also came into conclusion that She is a great historian. Not only did she pick some great stories to tell, she tells them very well. One part of the book is about witchcraft and me personally I was never scared of any scary movie or book. However, when I took a break from reading the witch trials I found myself getting a little nervous going to the bathroom all alone. Call me weird, but I actually caught a feeling of being scared due to the late hours I was reading the book. The book isn’t a boring book, every story had a very interesting twist to itself which made me want to read more and more. One good example instead of just stating a fact Diane adds suspense. The story of witchcraft Diane mentions a fact and soon after she gives us a dilemma or a choice, did the witch continue witchcraft in a new setting or did she finally found peace? She leaves that choice to her readers. That is a great strategy to draw in her readers. That is one good reason, I enjoyed this book, pure suspense.

Diane Rapaport really surprised me with this book due to the simple fact that before reading this book I thought that being part of the 21^st century was the dirtiest and most controversial people thus far. But this book proved me wrong all types of ways. The young couples and families in this book are filled with more controversy and drama. Our so-called ancestors set a bar higher then we should ever reach. For instance many times in this book the main controversy is young women getting impregnated by older men. Wait, the controversy doesn’t stop there, the older men happened to be married men. That does happen now a days but not like this. The consequences and punishments were far worse then now. The punishment for adultery varies from public whipping, imprisonment, and public humiliation. Now if cheating happens we can just file for divorce and have a fistfight. Another reason would be the fact that Puritans would do anything to have a grudge settled. In the witchcraft trials people would get suspicious from the smallest things. For example when a young woman visits a house and the kid of that house gets sick, the young woman would be blamed for witchcraft. If I had a grudge with someone back then I learned that I could close that grudge with accusing him or her of witchcraft. That would be mean huh? Well by reading this book I learned that Diane proved a good point, we are better off here in present day then back when the Puritans lived. If you ever watch TV this book’s drama and dilemma is like a mixture of Court TV meets the History channel.

In conclusion, this book is well put together, the twists, the turns, the suspicions, and the facts kept me believing in this book to be great. At the end I enjoyed every story in there own way. Whether the story be about witchcraft, coupling, youth and parents, or even money hungry people, this book includes it. In chapter ten near the end of the book Diane Rapaport states in her book,”If I can travel somehow to meet just one person in Colonial New England, I would choose Thomas Danforth.” I asked myself the same thing, whom would I choose to meet in Colonial New England. After reading this book I would choose to stay away from Colonial New England, that place sounded dangerous to live in. I am totally serious when I say I am glad I am living in the 21^st century, not with the Puritans. Pick this book up you ask? Pick this book up if you want to learn more about controversial New England and at the same time want to be told a story. This is not just a history book folks, Diane made sure this is a book is also a story telling book, great historian, great storyteller, great book. Pick the book up.