My guest today is historical author,Jennifer Hudson Taylor. Now, I've seen dozens of books featuring the Amish but very few fiction stories set around the Quakers. So I asked Jennifer why she chose that particular group?
My mother’s
ancestors were Quakers, and while I did not grow up Quaker, we still have our
family reunions in the Quaker church, and I believe many of the Quaker values
that came from my great-grandparents were passed onto me through my grandmother
and mother. I wanted people to have a better understanding of our American
Quaker roots. In the last few years we've learned so much about the Amish and
Mennonites through fiction, but have had very little opportunity to learn about
the Quakers and how much they have given to our modern society.
Few people
understand how much Quakers impacted the movement to abolish slavery, advocated
for women’s rights, and fought the justice system to change laws in favor of
civil rights. For a quiet, peaceful group of people, the Quakers made history
to remember and helped shape us into the America we are today. They were most
definitely ahead of their time.
Path of Freedom
is about Quakers who commit themselves to helping a pregnant slave couple to
freedom on the Underground Railroad in 1858. While the hero and heroine are
Quakers who should be devout in their faith and strong mentors, they face many
perils that test them.
I named the
heroine in my story after my great-grandmother, Flora Saferight, and I set the
story in my hometown where Flora also lived. Still, I needed to give my
characters personality and life. I never knew my great-grandmother. All I had
were the stories my mother had shared with me during childhood, and so I
decided to make up the rest. The truth was enough of a basis to get started.
Bruce, the hero,
and Flora, the heroine, share a conflicted history that leaves them arguing
often and untrusting of each other’s motives. Secondary characters are Marta, a
15-year-old pregnant slave girl who has been through so much, but who wants her
baby to grow up in freedom. Marta’s faith becomes a shining beacon to Flora in
a time of weakness, in spite of her young years and the hardship of her
burdens. Marta and her husband Jim are uneducated slaves, but they have much to
teach Flora and Bruce about true love and relationships.
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| Photo credit |
High Point
Quakers provided refuge for escaping slaves on the Underground Railroad.
Quakers transported fugitive slaves along the Underground Railroad in this
false bottom wagon, now on display at the Jamestown Historic Museum at the
Mendenhall Plantation House. The wagon in Path of Freedom was a covered wagon,
with a false bottom.
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| Jamestown Historic Museum |
In my story,
Bruce begins to teach Jim how to read by using the Bible. I enjoyed studying
the Underground Railroad. I used the basis of the wagon in which my characters
traveled to a real wagon now on display at the Jamestown Historical Museum in
North Carolina. The original was actually donated from Center Friends Meeting,
where my great-grandmother attended and is buried.
When I discovered
the new Quilts of Love line opening up at Abingdon Press, I knew my Quaker
story would fit the series. Quakers are known for quilting as much as the
Amish, in fact, we have a quilt my grandmother passed on to my mother that
means a great deal to us. Quilting has been in my family for generations, and I
only wish I had inherited the skill. I remember my mother working hard to
finish her mother’s quilt when I was a little girl.
Jennifer Hudson
When Quakers Flora Saferight and Bruce Millikan embark on the Underground Railroad, they agree to put their differences aside to save the lives of a pregnant slave couple. With only her mother’s quilt as a secret guide, the foursome follows the stitches through unknown treachery.
As they embark on their perilous journey, they hope and pray that their path is one of promise where love sustains them, courage builds faith, and forgiveness leads to freedom.
Book Trailer
Jennifer Hudson Taylor is an award winning author of historical Christian fiction set in Europe and the Carolinas and a speaker on topics of faith, writing and publishing. Her debut novel, Highland Blessings, won the 2011 Holt Medallion award for Best First Book. Jennifer's work has appeared in national publications, such as Guideposts, Heritage Quest Magazine, Romantic Times Book Reviews, and The Military Trader. She serves as the in-house Publicist at Hartline Literary Agency and co-owns Upon the Rock Publicist. Jennifer graduated from Elon University with a B.A. in Communications. When she isn't writing, she enjoys spending time with family, long walks, traveling, touring historical sites, hanging out at bookstores with coffee shops, genealogy, and reading.
