Doomed Romance

Praise

“A tour de force, meticulously researched, engaging, deeply humane and compulsively readable . . . a window onto 19th-century middle-class evangelicalism, its sexual politics, and the hothouse atmosphere of small New England towns.”—Wall Street Journal

“Deliciously relevant . . . astonishing . . . elegantly written and hilariously astute, this gloriously indelicate history suggests that women’s infatuation with evangelicalism has been a bad romance indeed.”—The New York Times
 
“Nuanced . . . Heyrman’s empathetic connection with her 19th-century characters—even those whose actions she deplores—makes for vivid and compelling history.”—Boston Globe

“Astonishing . . . The rare spectacle of a 19th-century woman striking out into a barely opened society shines through . . . The author fully illuminates an era when evangelical Protestants represented progressivism in the United States.”—Washington Independent Review of Books
 
“Fascinating . . . well-researched and insightful . . . a compelling consideration of a little-known era in American religious history.”—Shelf Awareness
 
“Immersive . . .  Heyrman’s fluid account reveals how encouraging female parishioners to use their God-given talents for holy ends benefited evangelical churches, yet led to worries about the feminization of religion and the growing ambitions of women. This richly detailed history shines.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“[Written] with panache . . . Much of this book reads like a Jane Austen novel, with aspects that, however coincidental, may seem uncannily familiar to fans of Pride and Prejudice . . . Heyrman suggests how the episode relates to broader 19th-century debates on matters such as women’s rights, clerical celibacy, sexual double standards, and homosexuality among missionaries . . . colorful and enlightening . . . served up with novelistic flair.”—Kirkus