Susanna Wesley

The Mother of John & Charles Wesley

By: Arnold A. Dallimore

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

An intelligent, strong-willed woman, Susanna Wesley suffered much in a male-dominated world while she prepared her children to succeed in it.

Her fiery, independent spirit is evident as Arnold Dallimore sets the mother of Methodism within her culture and time in England. Though Samuel Wesley figures prominently in his wife's story, as do John, Charles, and the other children, the story remains fixed on Susanna.

Excerpts from Susanna Wesley's letters and writings of her husband and children are included.

©2019 Blackstone Publishing (P)2019 Blackstone Publishing

Slight dizziness..

It was an interesting story...I had 2 issues..both are connected. She came from a large family and she had a large family. The problems could have been at a minimum it the story followed more of a timeline. The story went back and forth at times..just to fit a secondary theme(or person). It was sometimes hard to remember who was speaking or who was the focus of the thoughts..

Well read even though the story of her marriage was sad.

I had to take a break from this book as it was disheartening to hear how sad her life was married to Samuel. I eventually came back to finish the book. It is sad how her daughters married and were met with unhappy lives also. It is good to be told the truth of her difficulties and not have it ignored or glossed over. It was also good to hear how her sons, John and Charles, learned their salvation came by faith not by works and then how they put their faith in Christ Jesus alone gaining assurance of a home in heaven someday. Then they shared this good news of the gospel in their preaching and with their religious family including Susanna, their mother.

New title

Good book but it should be called Samuel Wesley as it speaks more about him than Suzana.

She was a powerhouse and never knew it

Compelling story of endurance and obedience. Makes us remember what real strength was. From grief to poverty to a tyrannical husband, her response was so godly

The Sufferings of Susanna told honestly

This is short biography of Susannah Wesley as well as her marriage and her many children’s lives. The author does a good job of showing the abusive nature of her husband and the horrible neglect of all the Wesley women by their father. This is not a happy tale but Historically we know that the life of Susanna and her daughters is no different than many women’s lives in this period of history.
The author focuses a little too much on the particular nature of Christian faith in the Wesleyan religion for the average secular person but does a good job of empathetically showing the religious context of the age for good and ill

Rewarding

Hard to listen sometimes long to consider but her life a fine thing to remain in my mind for Christian history.


Rewarding

So didactic in style that it seems to be written for childrenfor children.

The extreme tutorial and judgmental affect of the writing, and, of course, of the reader, makes the story sound like some thing for a Y.A.audience. The authors pronouncements about who is “treacherous and weak” and who is “good and righteous” seem silly in what is ostensibly a biographical book. The reader can’t be blamed. She speaks clearly and pronounces words correctly. But where the author is melodramatic in language, the effect is a kind of goofy cartoonish voicing.

Speculation with a little history....

While I appreciate the wide variety of sources from which this author draws, I think the amount of liberty taken by speculation within the pages of this book yield it more towards fiction that biographical in nature. It gives a good overview of the circumstances surrounding Susanna Wesley’s life and family. However, some of the conclusions drawn are erroneous.