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Rating: 
Summary: BRAVO DR. SCHULTZ!
Review: A WELL CRAFTED HISTORICAL READ! I WAS ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH THE EVENTS SURROUNDING THE TRAGEDY AT THE URSULINE CONVENT BUT WAS STRUCK MOST BY SCHULTZ'S POWER OF TRANSPORTING THE READER BACK TO THAT TIME, THAT CONVENT, TO THE UNSPEAKABLE ATROICITY INFLICTED BY THE HANDS OF THE ARSONISTS. SCHULTZ'S DECISION TO BRING THIS HISTORICALLY RELEVANT STORY TO THE MASSES IS BOTH BRILLIANT & INSPIRING!
Rating:
Summary: A great read!
Review: Although Professor Schultz is an Englsh professor,her
work is like every good writer of popular history- meticulously
researched and very well writen. Fire and Roses is a page turner from start to finish.
Rating: 
Summary: Thoroughly-researched, paced like a novel
Review: An interesting read. I picked it up expecting it to be a semi-mystery in a nonfiction setting, and got a nonfiction book (my fault for not reading the jacket!). The author is a Professor of English at Salem State College in Salem, MA; she's also written on fear and religion in two other texts. She did a lot of digging into the various letters, court records, and news archives to find supporting evidence to lay out the story of the history and events that led to the eventual destruction (arson, semi-riot) of the Ursuline convent and school in Charlestown, MA in 1834. It's an interesting look into convent education of young women (many of them non-Catholics; it was de rigeur for wealthy Unitarian and Episcopalian parents to send their daughters for convent education, and the Ursulines had a rich history and system for providing it, despite any number of setbacks in Boston), and the functioning of a cloistered religious order.
I'm a non-Christian-- not that it matters, but I read lots of things about lots of different Faiths-- and couldn't put the book down. Racism against Irish and Catholics in Boston in the 19th century was a very real, very unpleasant thing in that time. Schultz' book was a very interesting read, laid out like a novel-- but with academic footnotes. There are parts that were lacking in closure, in many cases because the information trail simply stops-- not Schultz' fault, but worth noting. Picked it up as a leftover from the Dyer Library's book sale in Saco, Maine. Worth it! A good read. The Justice system in the U.S. may not be perfect, but it's come a long way since 1834 in Boston. Being a Boston-area native, this is not a proud point in the region's history-- but absolutely worth learning about-- and from.
Rating: 
Summary: "Sauciest Woman I Ever Heard Talk"
Review: Essentially this is an anti-feminist tract. The center of the book is Mary Ann Moffatt, variously refered to as Moffatt and (her name in religious life) Madame St. George. Based on a single letter written by a disaffected and ambitious nun in September, 1837, three years after the attempt to murder the nuns and their young students, Schultz describes Moffatt as a proven alcoholic and implies lesbian affections. Moffatt is repeatedly described from the point of view of the homicidal mob as a "termagant," unfeminine, led into unlimited ambition by the regrettable decision of the Catholic Church to allow women education and leadership roles! Schultz also implies that since a male teacher married one of his students, they had certainly had premarital sexual intercourse and at least one child born in the convent! Proof? None needed for the prejudiced. The book is badly written. In her haste to be lurid but not just, Schultz confuses names. She calls a woman at one time by her birth name, at another by her name in religion. She skips back and forth. She rarely examines evidence. She is remarkably unfamiliar with Catholic practice, and calls ordinary prayers for the recovery of a dying nun "frenetic rituals" and "dangerous superstition." The hero of Schultz' book is John Buzzell, the brave bricklayer who led a Boston mob to attack a few women and 50 young girls aged 6 to 14 (40 of the children Protestants) on an August night. Since the intended murder victims escaped the flames, he and his companions looted and burned the buildings, and desecrated the bodies of dead nuns. Acquitted by a Boston court, he was subsequently elected to the New Hampshire legislature for his abilities in arson, racism, and religious bigotry. He died at 90, still bragging of his attempted murder of "the sauciest woman I ever heard talk."
Rating:
Summary: "Sauciest Woman I Ever Heard Talk"
Review: Essentially this is an anti-feminist tract. The center of the book is Mary Ann Moffatt, variously refered to as Moffatt and (her name in religious life) Madame St. George. Based on a single letter written by a disaffected and ambitious nun in September, 1837, three years after the attempt to murder the nuns and their young students, Schultz describes Moffatt as a proven alcoholic and implies lesbian affections. Moffatt is repeatedly described from the point of view of the homicidal mob as a "termagant," unfeminine, led into unlimited ambition by the regrettable decision of the Catholic Church to allow women education and leadership roles! Schultz also implies that since a male teacher married one of his students, they had certainly had premarital sexual intercourse and at least one child born in the convent! Proof? None needed for the prejudiced. The book is badly written. In her haste to be lurid but not just, Schultz confuses names. She calls a woman at one time by her birth name, at another by her name in religion. She skips back and forth. She rarely examines evidence. She is remarkably unfamiliar with Catholic practice, and calls ordinary prayers for the recovery of a dying nun "frenetic rituals" and "dangerous superstition." The hero of Schultz' book is John Buzzell, the brave bricklayer who led a Boston mob to attack a few women and 50 young girls aged 6 to 14 (40 of the children Protestants) on an August night. Since the intended murder victims escaped the flames, he and his companions looted and burned the buildings, and desecrated the bodies of dead nuns. Acquitted by a Boston court, he was subsequently elected to the New Hampshire legislature for his abilities in arson, racism, and religious bigotry. He died at 90, still bragging of his attempted murder of "the sauciest woman I ever heard talk."
Rating:
Summary: An Engrossing Real-Life Drama
Review: Fire and Roses is a meticulously researched, stylishly written account of one of Boston's notorious Catholic-Protestant clashes, which resulted in the burning of an Ursuline convent. Lusignan Schultz tells the story with an emphasis on character, especially that of Mother St. George, or Mary Anne Moffett, the Prioress of the convent. The story is part history, part mystery and part pure scholarship. The fluidity of the writing keeps the pages turning right up to the end. The only disappointment is that the book ends with an unsolved mystery--in no way the author's fault, but leaving the reader feeling a tiny bit cheated. Nonetheless, I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Boston area history, Catholic-Protestant relations in America or just a darn good read.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating read!
Review: I found Fire and Roses and fully engaging read. As a native Bostonian, I was completely swept up in the historical events that took place in the mid-eighteen hundreds in my very own backyard! Fire and Roses, a captivating account of the burning of the Ursuline Convent in Charlestown, MA, is must read. I give my utmost praise to Nancy Schultz, who not only proves to be a historical mastermind of the 19th century but also a brilliant storyteller.
Rating:
Summary: Fire and Roses by Nancy Lusignan Schultz
Review: I found this book -- to use a word that has become hackneyed -- awesome. The research is incredible in its depth, and the writing is elegant. In the best tradition of my favorite historian, Barbara Tuchman, Nancy Lusignan Schultz never loses sight of the story -- and a compelling one it is. The burning of the Ursuline convent was an act of almost unbelievable savagery -- and it is hard to think that ultimately every one of the arsonists got away with the crime -- the ringleader living his life out in New Hampshire as a pillar of the community.
Rating:
Summary: I can tell much research went into the writing of this book.
Review: The author tells us what happened, but also lets us know that there is a fair amount of mystery and the unknown surrounding some of what happened. I liked the fact that Schultz told readers when there were conflicts about information, and what different sources had to say about what information was available. And she left us with a mystery. What DID happen to Mary Anne Moffatt? I'd like to know - even if I found her to be overbearing and annoying.
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