Focus: Coming to Friends through the Back Door

By Chel Avery, Goshen MM, Philadelphia YM

The following three books of fiction and one memoir are not for the student or seeker who desires a definitive and comprehensive introduction to Quakerism. Rather, they offer an indirect exposure to Friends, which is spiritually if not factually authentic, in the context of light, enjoyable reading.

I Take Thee Serenity (Daisy Newman, Houghton Mifflin, 1975)
Comments: This novel is partly a love story, partly a growing up story. A young, confused woman flees to her elderly relatives while she struggles with hard decisions about love and marriage. Her growth unfolds against the backdrop of her relatives' Quaker faith. Written in the 1970s, and somewhat particular to that time period.

Downright Dencey (Caroline Snedeker, Bethlehem, 1927)
Comments: For younger readers as well as adults. This stor