The Naked Quaker- Kyle Lynch

Book Review: The Naked Quaker: True Crimes and Controversies from the Courts of Colonial New England

When first purchasing the book "The Naked Quaker: True Crimes and Controversies

From the Courts of Colonial New England" I was kind of skeptical about whether the book would be one worth reading. Luckily I was wrong, which ties into the saying "Never judge a book by its cover". The author of the book is Diane Rapaport. Rapaport has two books under her belt, with her first book, "New England Court Records" actually winning the 2007 Benjamin Franklin Award for history and reference. Rapaport, a former trial lawyer, grew up loving to read old court cases which she said "can be stranger than fiction [but] just as entertaining". Her favorite court cases are those from the Puritan ages in New England, which is why she wrote this book.

Her book, titled "The Naked Quaker: True Crimes and Controversies from the Courts

of Colonial New England" published by Commonwealth Editions in October 2007, which was a finalist in the 2007 book of the year award, consists of many different stories all based on New England court cases. With charges ranging from suspect witch craft to a Quaker woman showing up to a Sunday service naked, the book is very interesting. The book is made up of 10 chapters, all ranging in different situations but all coming together in the courtroom. The chapters entitled, Witches and Wild Women, Coupling, Parents and Youth, Tavern Tales, Slaves and Servants, Neighbor versus Neighbor, The Sunday Meeting, Frontier Justice, Offshore Antics and Lawyers and Judges al lead you to a whole new world of true crime and controversy. One story in particular, in chapter five, caught my attention, titled "The Irish Rebels". I was so intrigued by the story; it was one I decided to report on to my colleagues during my presentation.

"The Irish Rebels" is a story about two Irish slaves. Naturally, when you think of slaves, your mind automatically thinks about African Americans/Black. However that was not the case. Other races that were not predominantly white were slaves as well. It is not brought up as much because as all slaves were treated poorly, African Americans were treated the worse. The story is based on the two Irish boys that were sold into involuntary servitude. It takes place in May 1654, when Captain George Dell sailed his ship, "The Good fellow" on a six month voyage from England to Massachusetts Bay. Now in these days, most people would sail their ships for trade and what not, but Dell was voyaging to sell Irish Servants. One of his buyers was a judge by the name of Samuel Symonds. Symonds purchased eleven year old Philip Welch and William Downing, whose age is still unknown but was certain that he was older than Welch. As the years went by the two slaves started to rebel, leading to the boys running away and escaping slavery.

I believe that Rapaport has a way with her stories to keep them engaging and to keep her audience intrigued. I really liked the fact that the book was not just hard facts, but different stories. I must say that I am not too fond of reading for pleasure, however if I were to somehow stumble upon this book I would have definitely enjoyed reading this book. Not only did Rapaport get my attention on the book Denise Davis of the Boston Globe states "Call it Court TV meets the History Channel. Via a collection of true vignettes, Rapaport reveals that our Puritan forebears were not all stiff hats and stern faces. Colonial misbehavior was rampant. Pigs were purloined, wives were led astray, too many drams of rum were drunk, and even church pews were fought over in unseemly ways."

Overall, I would rate this book 8 out of 10. It is a really great attention getter and it keeps your attention throughout the whole book. Diane Rapaport is an amazing author, and I believe her future work will be outstanding. I am definitely a fan and will actually get a copy of her first book. I strongly encourage anyone, young or old to read “The Naked Quaker: True Crimes and Controversies from the Courts of Colonial New England.” It is an OUTSTANDING book written by an OUTSTANDING author.