My American Eden: Mary Dyer, Martyr for Freedom

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Summary: Separation of Church and State
Review: Elizabeth Brinton's fascinating historial novel 'My American Eden' brings home the suffering and eventual execution of Mary Dyer, a colonial spiritual leader who fought and died for religious freedom. I can't help but worry that our country is going to have to fight this battle again and again with the threat to our freedom by the current administration and it's followers. This book is a must-read for anyone who truly loves the principles this country was eventually founded on.

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Summary: True Selflessness
Review: Elizabeth Brinton, a Canadian author by birth, transported me to a critical period of early American history that was not part of my American education. As a woman, the courage and integrity of Mary Dyer, who sacrificed her life as loving wife and devoted mother to champion the right to live in religious freedom, awed me. Mary Dyer's selfless actions illustrate the brave pioneering spirit that is the foundation of contemporary life as a free American.
Thank you Elizabeth Brinton for sharing the little known story of Mary Dyer. Understanding the roots of our freedom as Americans makes safeguarding it in these contemporary times even more precious.

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Summary: An Untouched Part of American History
Review: In school the time before The Revolutionary War is briefly touched. This book will enlighten those who read it with a new understanding of the persecution regarding the Freedom of Speech and religious bias.

The book is an easy read. This is an accomplishmnet with the heavy subject matters that are entailed in the book.

Please read this book and pass it along. We must learn from our past to avoid the mistakes that were made.

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Summary: Gripping historical fiction
Review: Ms. Brinton delivers a fascinating account of Mary Dyer's life which is vivid in both detail and authenticity. I found this work illuminating about the religious intolerance of the time and the particular suspicion that was cast on many women. Mary 's story should be taught in schools as an important part of our American history. The religious and social freedoms we enjoy today are due to martyrs such as Mary.

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Summary: captivating, little known story of American heroism
Review: This inspiring tale of the life, convictions and death of Mary Dyer captures the readers imagination from the first chapter.
Life in early America is well portrayed and is intricately woven with periods in England as Mary's tale unfolds.
It is difficult to grasp the severity of puritan law in Boston and the cruelty that early American settlers were subjected to. Elizabeth Brinton has skillfully brought this period in history to light by sharing with the reader the startling tale of Mary Dyer and Quaker followers in 1600 America.
We can wish it ended differently, but historically, it did not. A captivating and inspiring novel.

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Summary: A Woman's Struggle with a Spiritual Calling
Review: This is a wonderful book that tells an important and little told story of just how profound religious intolerance was as our country was being settled by colonists. We are skillfully taken on the courageous journey of a woman who ultimately martyrs herself for being a Quaker. Ms. Brinton helps us understand the daily consequences of Mary Dyer's struggles and the constant sacrifices necessary to be a woman with a spiritual calling. The author accomplishes this with a spunky narrator who takes us in to the family and household of Mary Dyer as her indentured servant who was Catholic. I liked this divergent voice of a woman who was of a different religious persuasion and yet able to respect and even love Dyer deeply. I benefited from the author's vivid descriptions of the daily life of a colonist and what it took to survive with very little community to support them. It is marvelous to read a piece of early American historical fiction that capably allows us to contemplate such facinating and still relevant motivations. I wanted to read more.