Mother Ann Lee: Morning Star of the Shakers

My grandmother, who grew up in New Hampshire loved this book! She was friends with several of the "sisters" and visited regularly. Sadly, they are almost gone now but this wonderful book reminds her of those days!

Very good book if you want to learn more about the Shakers and their founder Mother Ann Lee. I have always been interested in the Shakers way of life and this book is an excellent source for learning more about how they came to be and who and what they were.

A necessary book for your Shaker library. GrammaBoo

I never read a book more than once or twice....I have requested this book so many times from the library, I finally decided to buy my own copy. I have read this and reread this. I am absolutely obsessed! I love this story, I love the strength and perseverance Mother Ann had. This story makes me feel close to her. Definately a great read, highly recommended!! I am fascinated by the Shaker way of life...many other books seem kind of dry. This book reads like a novel!

Whilst it is fair to say that this book gives very little surprising information for those who have spent a good deal of time reading about Shakerism, it does give a very useful account of the life of the most important figure in the history of that religion."Mother Ann Lee: Morning Star Of The Shakers" gives a well-balanced and clear detail an account of the life of Ann Lee from the time of her birth in Manchester to her coming to new England to start the first Shaker colonies. It then goes on to describe the way in which she set up these Shaker colonies and explains the qualities that allowed her to set up what was (in some ways at least) a very demanding way of life.What is important about this book is that it is very well-balanced and in no way can it be said that Campion was anything other than very fair in the way in which she looked at the pre-Shaker life of Ann Lee: indeed, what emphasis there is in the text tends to focus on Ann's early days as a married woman. As far as the parts dealing with Ann's life as Shaker leader, there is nothing remotely new or in any way shocking, but Campion redeems herself by the balance and fairness with which she writes about an often misunderstood subject. In addition, her writing is remarkable, compared with most books dealing with Shakers or shakerism, for the ease with which someone with no knowledge of this still-fascinating sect can read it.Though it merely restates well-known aspects of Shaker history, the balance and reader-friendly character of this book makes it ideal as an introduction to Shakerism for the curious.

This is a fascinating story about Ann Lee. I had never heard of her before but now have a great respect for her. She is inspiring. I agree with the other reviewer, the book reads like a novel. I could hardly put it down. I am not a Shaker, or even a Christian, but I found a lot to admire about the character of Mother Ann and her followers.

short read...illuminating...yes, there is a necessary feminist corrective here...highly recommended