Introduction

From USA Today best-selling and multi-award-winning author Jacqueline Friedland comes a gripping work of fiction based on the true story of female abolitionist Ann Phillips and her connection to Anthony Burns, a young man who briefly escaped American slavery and rocked the nation with his astoundingly heroic story.

A passionate advocate of abolition from her earliest years, Ann’s activism was derailed just before her twenty-fourth birthday, when she fell sick with a mysterious illness. In order to protect her fragile health, her husband, the famous abolitionist Wendell Phillips, forbade her from joining any further anti-slavery outings. Even so, when fugitive slave Anthony Burns is apprehended in Boston, Ann is determined to help him, no matter what it costs her.

With a particular focus on the predicament of nineteenth-century women who wanted to effect change despite the restrictions society imposed on them, The Stockwell Letters takes a deep dive into the harrowing conditions of the antebellum South and the obstacles faced by abolitionists who fought tirelessly to eradicate slavery. A fast-paced, arresting recounting of America’s not-so-distant history, the story will stay with readers long after the final page.

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Excerpt

To the surprise of everyone in the household, after Wendell’s proposal, my health began to improve. Suddenly my wakeful periods were lasting longer, and I was able to take more food, even rice and biscuits. My aunts, Maria and Caroline, determined that Wendell’s visit had been more beneficial to me than any other treatment, so they insisted that Uncle Henry admit him any time he came to call. Ours had never been a household to adhere strictly to the rules of propriety, and it seemed the decision to allow Wendell to repeatedly visit my bedchamber was no exception. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

From the author:

1. In what ways is Wendell a feminist, and in what manner does he stifle his wife?

2. What are the parallels you see between America in 1854 and America today?

3. Sometimes women are forced to get creative in order to have agency. What do you think of the paths that Ann, Colette, and Octavia each choose?

4. What role does Adelia play in Colette's life?

5. In what ways could the Northerners have been more helpful to Anthony?

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