A Singular Life by Elizabeth SP Ward

Title: A Singular Life

Author: Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward 

(American, 1844-1911)
Originally published: 1895
Page count: 426


Dates read: 8/1/2020-8/8/2020
2020 book goal progress: 21 out of 20
Reading category: TBR Shelf


Read my other book reviews for my 2020 goal HERE.

Description on back of book:
The book was published in a period when Americans were exploring how the teachings of Jesus Christ could be applied to daily life. Several books considering the question were published in the1890s. A Singular Life, in this vein, features a protagonist named Emanuel Bayard who pursues Jesus-inspired humanitarianism by forsaking ties to his orthodox church.

First sentence:
"There were seven of them at the table that day, and they were talking about heredity."

Favorite quotes:
"The side of the street on which a man is born may determine his character and fate beyond repeal. The observation, if true, is tenfold truer of a woman, to whom a house is a shell, a prison, or a chrysalis."

"It is manifestly unfair to judge of a place by its March as to judge a man's disposition by the hour before dinner."

"That ecclesiastical system which brought me where I am can't be helped by one man's rebellion. It's going to take a generation of us. But there is enough that I can help. It's the can-be's, not the can't-be's,  that are the business of men like me."

"It has never been tried, that I know of, but it is worth trying - most modern ideas are - if practicable."

CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 8.7 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Characters      - 9
Atmosphere   - 9
Writing Style - 9
Plot                - 9
Intrigue          - 8
Logic             - 7
Enjoyment     - 10
What is a CAWPILE Rating?

Review:

This was an incredible book. It was the best novel I've read in a long time. From the little I knew of the author, I expected (and hoped) it to be an early feminist novel - but I was wrong. (Nonetheless, the women, in general, stood up for themselves and made their own decisions, despite the men viewing them as soft and needing protection - but that wasn't the focus of the story.) This novel was a beautiful, modern retelling of the life of Jesus. Well... modern for when it was written 125 years ago!

The book is truly a beautiful example of Christ's love. The main character, Emanuel Bayard, is a young minister who is kicked out of the church by religious leaders because his theology, supposedly, isn't "sound."  He then sets up his own church in the worst part of the fishing town in order to help and minister to the drunkards and prostitutes there. There's even a point where there's a shipwreck, he ties himself to a rope and, literally, goes "fishing for men" lost at sea. Many people also have biblical names such as Job, Haggai, and Magdelena - even Emanuel's parents are Mary and Joseph. It really is a great and clever book.

Spoiler alert (except not really if you know anything about Easter) - he dies in the end. The story focuses on his practical humanitarian work and he never performs any miracles - not in the Biblical/Jesus sense anyway. So, I was wondering if the book would leave off at his death and not show his resurrection because something spectacular like that just wouldn't fit in with the rest of the realism of the story. She ended the book with a less than half page 'epilogue' that I took as an allusion to Luke 24:13-21, though she never identified the stranger as Emanuel Bayard.

Since the story is set in Boston and the Cape, which I've lived near my whole life, it almost gave the whole story a nostalgic feel for me. I needed to read this story; It really touched me. I highly suggest anyone giving this a read, regardless if they come from a Christian background or not.

Now I'm off to read another book... but since a review should be more about the author of the book than about the writer of the blog, I will let Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward have the last words:

[Fenton, a minister of an old, upstanding church, speaks to Bayard, a minister of a new, controversial church. Captain Hap, an old fisherman who is a convert from the new church, is with them.]

"'I hear your audience has outgrown your mission-room. That must be a great encouragement; you must consider it a divine leading,' added Fenton, with the touch of professional slang and jealousy not unnatural to men better than he. 'But you must remember that we, too, are following the Master in our way; it's a pretty old and useful way.'

Then up spoke Captain Hap, who stood at Bayard's elbow. 'It's jest about here, Mr. Fenton. You folks set out to foller Him; but our minister, he lives like Him. There's an almighty difference.'"