The Minister's Wooing

A novel set in Newport, Rhode Island, in the late eighteenth century. It centres on Mary Scudder, a devout and gentle young woman, and the people who love her, among them a respected minister and a sailor long believed lost at sea. Stowe uses the love story to examine strict Calvinist theology and how it weighs on ordinary hearts. Real historical figures also appear in the background. The book mixes domestic comedy, romance and serious religious questions.