Night Sisters

By Sara Lindsay Rath

Book Overview

Preacher, teacher, and postmistress, Charlotte Levy Riley was born into slavery but became a popular evangelist after emancipation. Although several nineteenth-century accounts by black preaching women in the northern states are known, this is the first discovery of such a memoir in the South.
Born in 1839 in Charleston, South Carolina, Riley was taught to read, write, and sew despite laws forbidding black literacy. Raised a Presbyterian, she writes of her conversion at age fourteen to the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, embracing its ecstatic worship and led by her own spiritual visions. Her memoir is revelatory on many counts, including life in urban Charleston before and after emancipation, her work as a preacher at multiracial revivals, the rise of African American civil servants in the Reconstruction era, and her education and development as a licensed female minister in a patriarchal church.
Crystal J. Lucky, who discovered Riley s forgotten book in the library archives at Wilberforce University in Ohio, provides an introduction and notes on events, society, and religious practice in the antebellum era and during the Civil War and Reconstruction, and places A Mysterious Life and Calling in the context of other spiritual autobiographies and slave narratives."

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0299228703
• ISBN13: 9780299228705
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
• Length: 328 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A wonderful novel

I picked up Night Sisters on a whim, and then didn't want to put it down again! The plot weaves back and forth from present-day Madison to the narrator's past in small-town Wisconsin. The characters are very realistic, interesting, and likeable. I'd love to hang out with Nell and Polly (as adults, teens, or children). The idea of spiritualism is well-balanced with skepticism, and the various mysteries are solved in satisfying ways. I will definitely be looking for more books by Sara Rath!

Channeling coupled with romance and intrigue - very fresh novel

This was my first Sara Roth novel and I loved it page by page. I did not give her five stars only because I have a vague idea personally of how channeling feels, and the idea a spirit could take over your life and force you to do things did not fit in what I know to be true for level headed people. (Which, the character was.) Despite that, if I read it as a novel as intended, then I thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact I enjoyed her writing so much I will probably try some of her others books. If you are into a bit of thrill as well as the spirit world, a mystery death from childhood, metaphysics, channeling, this is a very entertaining book. I would love for her to write something more along these lines actually, as it is a rare book indeed with the openness to discuss things like channeling in an everyday world, along with "normal" life such as romance, divorce etc. I thought it was a great, and should be on every metaphysicians bookshelf.

FASCINATING NARRATIVE!

If you're seeking to be entertained, enlightened and completely engrossed, then NIGHT SISTERS will be a treasured reading time for you, with insights into the world of spirits and mystical phenomenons. Nell Grendon, a skeptical journalist, is introduced to Spiritualism at the Wocanaga Spiritualist Camp, while pursuing a magazine article. The religious group, begun in 1873, is still active and flourishing. At the quaint and time worn premises, there's always an intriguing assemblage of characters. Gifted and elderly Grace Waverly, head medium, forms an instant connection with Nell, persuading her to try her inborn talents as a medium, which begins a series of startling revelations. Nell is jarred back to episodes of her childhood, where religion played a vital role in the lives of her young friends. Deaths from the past still haunt. The time she stole the prize bible ring from the finger of her dead opponent, as he lay in his casket. The mysterious unsolved drowning of a girlhood friend. Upon seeing the drowned girl during a seance, the past streams forth anew, with further chills taking place at another seance, when the girl's suspected killer is seen in the audience. New adventures also take place in the historic home middle-aged Nell is seeking to remodel, which includes renting an apartment to a jazz musician and his dog, leading to "neighborly" encounters. An unwelcome guest enters her life-- a famous 1920's radio actress, "Woman of a Thousand Voices", who usurps Nell's computer to communicate with her, harass her life, and make unusual demands. Ms. Rath's excellent writing skills intertwines the past, present and future, as we rapidly turn the pages to see "what happens next." Her poetic gifts are apparent throughout, especially in the picturesque descriptions of characters and small town remembrances, so clear and beautiful, we are immediately there. Humor is sprinkled adroitly. The right amount of tension and a satisfying ending, make Nell's journey of spirit one that will remain with you for some time, and continue to hover. Ludmilla Bollow (Author - "DR. ZASTRO'S SANITARIUM- For the Ailment of Women")

Spiritual, Spooky and Funny

I just finished Night Sisters. I LOVED it! The story was intriguing and a study of excellent backstory--every piece of it adds depth and understanding to the present day story (and moves it forward, just fantastic!) The past and the present intertwine to weave such a compelling tale. Really excellent writing. Not to mention, a great read I couldn't put down! And Sara Rath (not to mention the book's protagonist, Nell Grendon) has a wicked sense of humor :o) What a wonderful book.

Invisible Energies

A skeptical Nell Grendon is pulled into a brief life as a spirit medium in this thoroughly entertaining novel by Wisconsin writer Sara Rath. Entertaining, funny, and serious, too. Ever since her Methodist childhood, Nell has longed for a deeper, more mysterious connection to her own spirit, like the more interesting Catholics and Jews of her childhood, who ate special food and performed exotic rituals. She loves old houses, too, and as part of a divorce settlement, she lives in a pea green colonial, part of which she rents out to a suave and funny jazz musician named George. Much of the story takes place at the Wocanaga Spiritualist Camp where Nell enrolls in a mediumship workshop given by Grace Waverly, a maternal, understanding, and gentle woman who has the ability to physically manifest a spirit entity with ectoplasm. (For the uninitiated, Rath does a good job of explaining what ectoplasm is and just how it happens.) A reluctant Nell attempts to dodge a reading, but Grace gives her one anyway and touches upon a great sorrow in Nell's heart that reaches far into her past. Soon, much to her shock, Nell is channeling an all-to-intrusive actress from the 1920's--Angella Wing. The woman begins communicating with Nell via her computer, and there's nothing Nell can do to stop her from fluttering around in there. More strange things begin to happen as people from her past show up, including an old love, Teddy Carter, who rides a mother of a bike, and is a member of HOGs for Christ. He's a turn-off, naturally, and the ensuing scene is downright funny. Then there's Miss Khrol, a magical woman full of wisdom and great knowing; I wanted more of her because she was odd and convincing and archetypal--and young girls need helpful figures like Miss Khrol who give life more depth. The quest to understand the mysterious death of a not-so-cherished childhood friend is the central story of Night Sisters. I really liked the final pages, and was as astonished as Nell by Grace Waverly's ability and power to manifest the representation of a spirit. This is a satisfying read, and I recommend this book to anyone who does, and does not, believe in the invisible energies of those who have passed on. It's not that this book will necessarily make you a believer, but the story is Nell's and in her telling it--everything rings true. -Linda Vozar Sweet