I enjoyed this non fiction title about five different Puritan women. The book has some wonderful encouragement for living in our modern times, gleaned from those who came before us.

This book was AMAZING! I loved it so much. I also purchased this book and have recommended it to my friends. This book describes the lives of 5 puritian women and their lives. It details how they worked for God and how they were sanctified over their lives. It was incredibly inspiring and I will re-read it again in the future.

As these women discovered, you can't physically save your loved ones from death or emotionally save them from heartache because you don't control the universe or the human psyche. These women would tell you that you can't force religion or intimacy or even healthy ways of communication on others if they aren't personally willing to join you. These are their stories; some happy conclusions; some left unresolved. Their stories will help interpret your story.

I loved these 5 Puritan women. Living in a different time, however, they also have the same heartaches and victories we have today. The following women each have their own story, their own strengths and pain.

Agnes Beaumont
Lucy Hutchinson
Mary Rich
Anne Bradstreet
Lady Brilliana Harley

You are introduced to each woman, their background, their conflicts and their writings. Sometimes going back in history, we can see clarity in the present. What spoke to me were the relationships these women endured. A husband, a child, a community. These relationships can be difficult and seeing how these women used their faith to remain steadfast is encouraging. I highly recommend.

A special thank you to Crossway Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

I absolutely enjoyed this book. “Meeting” these amazing Puritan women was such a joy. They lived such fascinating lives and were amazingly strong, inspirational ladies. Each of their stories was written beautifully. I’ve really loved this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for those looking for inspiration, biographical, and/or a theologically sound read.

I really enjoyed this book! Looking at the spiritual lives of 5 Puritan women was incredibly eye-opening for me. I gleaned a lot of wisdom from learning about how these women used their time to draw closer to God and how they were instrumental in their families and communities. The writing painted accessible and compelling biographies of these women while showing how they incorporated different spiritual disciplines through their every day life and the extraordinary circumstances they encountered.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

What an interesting journey into history! I have read about lots of Puritan men but few women. I had heard the names of two of these five but the other three were completely new to me. I am so glad that Jenny-Lyn de Klerk introduced these women. My heart was stirred to complain less and devote my heart to be faithful in loving my Lord. I hope to read more of these biographies. Biographies help us see faith in action.
I received a free ebook version of this book for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
#5PuritanWomen, #NetGalley

What a powerful and meaningful little book! The author gives us a brief biography of five puritan women, most of whom I had not even heard of. While we are familiar with many puritan men preachers and authors, there were also faithful puritan women who are worth knowing. The author here picked just five, but it whet my appetite to know more! Their lives, while lived hundreds of years before us, are still relevant today. Who among us has not suffered either health or relationships or finances or even death of a loved one? These women experiences great suffering, yet the God they followed was able to carry them through.
My only suggestion for this book before it is published is that a “Suggested Reading” page be added. I want to know so much more about these women or others like them!
Thank you to netgalley for giving me an ARC of this book!

Such a refreshing read! It’s so easy to get caught up in our modern world and this was a great way to travel back in time and learn about how believing women navigated their own trials and temptations. Definitely an inspiring and humbling read for all.

I truly enjoyed so much reading this book. The perseverance, the passion, the love and faithfulness of these 5 woman are refreshing, inspiring and encouraging. It's hard to put it down. Highly recommend!!

"5 Puritan Women: Portraits of Faith and Love" is a really fascinating look into the lives of 5 Christian women of a time gone past. I have recently been learning of the puritans and their utter devotion to knowing Christ and conveying His glory and beauty to everyone - their devotion to the scriptures, as they are, pure in form. It's really remarkable the persecution the puritans went through just to be able to live and practice their faith. The 5 Puritan women in this book are no disappointment, as each provide practical wisdom and encourage a beautiful, holy life lived rooted in Christ. I love reading of Christian history because it informs so much of our faith, and what others had to do in order to hold fast to Him. It puts me in my place, so to speak, as I wonder - would I go through that in order to hold to Christ? Am I that devoted to who He is, also? By reading the Puritans you can see how much your faith can grow, how much you know of Christ and how much you just want to know! This book is accessible, full of history, testimony and more which makes it a great read. IT will compel you in your walk for Christ and inspire you in the lives shared within, the depths and places gone in order to be able to say" "I live for Christ alone." Highly recommend this book. *Thanks to Netgalley for the copy of the book to read and review.

Why do the Puritans get such a bad rap? Even many modern Christians act as if the Puritans were boring and rigid. From some church history lessons, I've learned the opposite. This book about these Puritan women was a delight to read. I think the modern Christian church could learn a lot from Puritan men and women. What a gift this book is to the Church.

*I received this book from Crossway through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

While there are a lot of books written about the Puritans, I have not seen many about the women who lived during that period (16th – 17th century). So when I saw Jenny-Lyn de Klerk’s collection of biographies, 5 Puritan Women: Portraits of Faith and Love I was excited to learn more about how their faith impacted their lives. The lives of these women offer encouragement and inspiration as they, like the reader, wrestle with what faith looks like in the joys and sorrows of every day life.

The five women who de Klerk uses to encourage the reader – Agnes Beaumont, Lucy Hutchinson, Mary Rich, Anne Bradstreet, and Lady Brilliana Harley – show the different ways they made “a real effort each day to be with God – truly focusing on and spending time with him on a regular basis and knowing he was never far away when life was falling apart and best laid plans had to be tossed out the window” (74). Each engaging chapter gives a brief biographical overview of their life, usually with an extended look at a specific moment, before offering some practical reflections on how their faith influenced their life.

One of the things I appreciated about this book is how de Klerk includes a lot of material which was written by these women. What a blessing it is to be able to read some sections of the letters which Brilliana Harley wrote to her son or the poems which Anne Bradstreet used to process moments of loss, or the meditations which Agnes Beaumont had during her quiet times! This provides an added depth into their lives, and I often found myself searching to see if full collections of these writings are available.

Another thing which I appreciated was the emphasis de Klerk put on how God used these women in the ordinary moments of life and how valuable that was. While it is easy to feel insignificant when reading about spiritual giants or feel overwhelmed by their spiritual practices, these women show how “their preaching was even more moving, their teaching more relevant, and their shepherding more empathetic when it came to their own family members, for it was all given in the context of their life together” (135). This book does not place these women as standards which should be met in one’s spiritual life, but rather it uses them as encouragement to reflect on how God might be using the ordinary moments of the reader’s life to mentor someone else in the faith.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is reflecting on how their faith impacts the ordinary moments and relationships in their lives.

Disclosure: I received this book free from Crossway through their blogger review program. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

First sentence: Have you ever had an emotional or intellectual epiphany so significant that it changed your way of being for years to come? When I first pulled a book by a puritan woman off some library stacks, I was not ready for what I would find.

The Five Puritan Women being introduced to contemporary readers are Agnes Beaumont, Lucy Hutchinson, Mary Rich (Countess of Warwick), Anne Bradstreet, and Lady Brilliana Harley. Jenny-Lyn de Klerk has chosen to focus on these five women, but not just to give mini-history lessons. She's using these women's stories to focus in on five spiritual disciplines that she feels are beneficial. For example, with Agnes Beaumont's story, she's telling Agnes' story AND emphasizing how Agnes' use of memorization as a spiritual discipline or aide proved most beneficial in her life.

These stories are--for the most part--unexpected and fascinating. These stories are sometimes--though not always--packed with adventures and misadventures.

Before reading this one, I had only ever heard of Anne Bradstreet. Her story might be the most 'normal' or 'typical.' of the bunch. Though her story is no less touching.

I found this an interesting read. I loved learning more about all these women. As I just mentioned, most were unfamiliar to me. Yet even though they were strangers, I soon found myself absorbed in their stories. Absorbed is a good word. There was nothing 'technical' or 'boring' or 'dull' about their lives or the presentation of their lives.

I would recommend this one to those that enjoy biography but also those that like the role modeling of doctrine in practice.

Some lessons are best learned through story.

In our spiritual growth, we often tend to seek out direct instruction, a list of dos or don'ts, or counsel that tells us what to do - it's easier to be told than to search for answers, easier to follow a command than understand an illustration. But consider Jesus' teaching with parables, the narratives that line Scripture, stories touch us in the deepest ways, not only in teaching us, but in how they affect us.

In 5 Puritan Women: Portraits of Faith and Love, Jenny-Lyn shares with us the stories of five women, devoted to the Lord, with a spiritual maturity that imprints the relationships in their homes - both their physical and spiritual homes - developed through their commitment to abiding in the Lord. For each woman, she highlights a spiritual practice that influenced their life and influence.

“As mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and wives, these women discipled their loved ones by using spiritual practices that enabled them to devote themselves to God and bring his word to bear”

On Agnes Beaumont - A Daughter as Evangelist, Using Memorization:
“Though it seemed the world, and even her own father, were doing everything they could to set her desire to love God at odds with her desire to love people, she strove to be simultaneously bold in the faith and at peace with those who did not share it.”

On Lucy Hutchinson - A Mother as Theologian, Using Fellowship
"Borrow a page from Hutchinson’s story and not give up when its proving difficult to learn and teach or become hateful when it feels like the world is against you, but take the initiative to fulfill God’s call of spiritual parenting on your life and maintain love for all believers, no matter their tradition, and even all of humankind, with whom you share the many blessings of life on this earth."

On Mary Rich - A Countess as Philanthropist, Using Meditation
"What Rich teaches us is that when we sincerely and intentionally apply our whole selves in times of devotion, we will be led to a true spirituality, one that makes room for a daily repenting of our own sin, finds a reason for gratitude around every bush and creek, enjoys intimacy with God, and loves others instead of despising, coddling, or looking down on them."

On Anne Bradstreet - A Grandmother as Homemaker, Using Prayer
"When Bradstreet was penning such praises and laments to God about her life, she was not only writing them to express her own emotions—they were also meant for her family."

On Lady Brilliant Harley - A Matriarch as Physician, Using Spiritual Conversation
"While we might feel tempted to devalue the thousands of acts of care we do for our many loved ones because, in and of themselves, they seem small, we must remember that the love that is given through them will live on in the ones who receive it."

I hope you will enjoy meeting this women as much as I did! Jenny-Lyn's writing is engaging, drawing you easily into these women's lives and experiences. I highly recommend this title!

Quick Stats
# of pages: 160
Level of Difficulty: Easy
My Rating: 5 stars

*A big thanks to NEtgalley and the publisher for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

This book was sweet and refreshing. I love reading from the Puratins, but it was nice to read something about them that was written in a vernacular that I could understand without effort. Reading the stories of these women as well as excerpts from their writings was filled with many emotions. The womens loves we’re filled with joy, sorrow, and many other emotions. It helped me realize how blessed I am, but also how much more I need to pursue Christ. Thank you for bringing these womens stories to the forefront of our minds and hearts.