Amish and Quakers—how are they alike? How do they differ? And what can they teach us about living well? Find out more about Nantucket Quakers and Old Order Amish, including historical background, during this Food for Thought talk by visiting author Suzanne Woods Fisher.
Suzanne Woods Fisher is author of Phoebe’s Light (Nantucket Legacy Book 1). In this brand-new series, bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher brings her signature twists and turns to bear on a fascinating new faith community: the Quakers of colonial-era Nantucket Island.
Phoebe Starbuck has always adjusted her sails and rudder to the whims of her father. Now, for the first time, she’s doing what she wants to do: marrying Captain Phineas Foulger and sailing far away from Nantucket. As she leaves on her grand adventure, her father gives her two gifts, both of which Phoebe sees little need for. The first is an old sheepskin journal from Great Mary, her highly revered great-grandmother. The other is a “minder” on the whaling ship in the form of cooper Matthew Mitchell, a man whom she loathes.
Soon Phoebe discovers that life at sea is no easier than life on land. Lonely, seasick, and disillusioned, she turns the pages of Great Mary’s journal and finds herself drawn into the life of this noble woman. To Phoebe’s shock, her great-grandmother has left a secret behind that carries repercussions for everyone aboard the ship, especially her husband the captain and her shadow the cooper. This story within a story catapults Phoebe into seeing her life in an entirely new way–just in time.
Suzanne Woods Fisher has sold over one million fiction and non-fiction books about the Old Order Amish. Her interest in the Plain people began with her grandfather, Wilbur D. Benedict, who was raised Plain near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Fisher lives with her very large family in the San Francisco Bay Area.