First published 2020
Mary Franklin watches her husband Robert lose his pulpit on Black Bartholomew's Day in 1662. Nearly two thousand Presbyterian ministers refuse to accept the Church of England's authority and face ejection from their posts. Mary turns to the blank pages of Robert's sermon notebook to document their struggle as religious dissenters. She writes of persecution, loss of income, and the daily hardships that follow their principled stand. A century later, her granddaughter Hannah Burton discovers the same notebook. Now an impoverished widow in eighteenth-century London, Hannah adds her own story to the family record. She chronicles her battle against economic upheaval and the challenges of survival without resources or support. Three generations of women pour their experiences onto these pages, creating an intimate record of faith, resistance, and endurance across a turbulent century of English history.
Genres: historical-fiction, biographical-fiction, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, intergenerational
Setting: England, London
Period: 17th Century, 18th Century
349 pages · Paperback · Iter Press