Mother Ann Lee: Morning Star of the Shakers

Rating:
Summary: Clear, well-detailed biography.
Review: 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.