Our Book Club Friday guest today is Edith Maxwell, author of Speaking of Murder, written under her Tace Baker pen name and featuring Quaker linguistics professor Lauren Rousseau. Edith holds a PhD in linguistics and is a member of Amesbury Monthly Meeting of Friends. Edith also writes the Local Foods Mysteries. A Tine to Live, a Tine to Die, introduces organic farmer Cam Flaherty and a colorful Locavore Club. Learn more about Edith at her Edith Maxwell website and her Tace Baker website.
Edith is offering a copy of Speaking of Murder to one of our readers who posts a comment. As always, please either leave your email address or check back on Sunday to see if you’ve won. -- AP
I have found over the years that there is a certain lack of common knowledge about who Quakers are. No, we're not the celibate Shakers, nor the Amish or Mennonites who don't use modern devices like cars or electricity. We’re not the guy who markets oatmeal in an old-fashioned hat.
Friends have a long history - over 350 years - and much has been written about them. George Fox founded the Society of Friends in England, and it soon spread to America.
The branch of Friends that I belong to and the Meeting I attend feature unprogrammed worship. This means simply that we sit in silence together on pews in a beautiful and simple Meetinghouse built more than 150 years ago (photos by Ed Mair). We sit in expectant waiting, listening for a message from the Light.
Friends are a tolerant bunch and, while it is at base a Christian faith, no one is quizzed on their individual belief system. One might be listening for a message from God, another for a message from Spirit, another for a message from within, and another might be mindfully meditating. All are welcome. If someone feels moved to share a message, she or he stands, speaks, and then sits.
That's it. We have First Day School for the children, fellowship and refreshments, and a monthly business meeting. We hold peace vigils as well as social potlucks.
The five Testimonies guide our lives:
- Simplicity
- Equality
- Integrity
- Peace
- Community
Quakers believe there is that of God in each person, which leads to the core and strength of the Testimonies. We have no minister because we all minister to each other. We believe in peace and non-violence because we are all equal. Living simply frees us to help others.
Historically, Friends have been rabble-rousers in the name of peace and equality. Mary Dyer was hung on the Boston Common in 1660 for preaching Quakerism. John Woolman traveled the American colonies urging people to give up their slaves. John Greenleaf Whittier, the poet and abolitionist, was on the building committee of the Amesbury Meeting building, where I am a member. Many modern Friends have been conscientious objectors in time of war.
Historically, Friends have been rabble-rousers in the name of peace and equality. Mary Dyer was hung on the Boston Common in 1660 for preaching Quakerism. John Woolman traveled the American colonies urging people to give up their slaves. John Greenleaf Whittier, the poet and abolitionist, was on the building committee of the Amesbury Meeting building, where I am a member. Many modern Friends have been conscientious objectors in time of war.
I came to Friends as an adult more than 23 years ago. I find that quiet individual worship in community suits me, as do the Testimonies. Being a Quaker seems to suit Lauren, too, and it governs how she reacts to situations and people. It's not for everyone, though. I knew someone raised as a high Episcopalian and he really couldn't handle all the silence. When I visited his church, I couldn't take all the busyness!
Did you know what Quakerism meant? If you have ever sat in silent Meeting for Worship, how was it for you?
Blurb: The murder of a talented student at a small New England college thrusts linguistics professor Lauren Rousseau into the search for the killer. Lauren is a determined Quaker with an ear for accents. Her investigation exposes small town intrigues, academic blackmail and a clandestine drug cartel that now has its sights set on her.
Convinced that the key to the crime lies hidden in her dead student’s thesis, Lauren races to solve the mystery while an escalating trail of misfortune circles ever closer. Her department chair behaves suspiciously. A century-old local boat shop is torched. Lauren’s best friend goes missing—and the unsettled relationship with her long-time lover threatens to implode just when she needs him the most.
Thanks for joining us today, Edith, and presenting such an educational post. Readers, post a comment for a chance to win a copy of Speaking of Murder. -- AP
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