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American Priestess: The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem | 
 enlarge | Author: Jane Fletcher Geniesse
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 102728
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.5
ISBN: 0385519265
Dewey Decimal Number: 266.0092
EAN: 9780385519267
ASIN: 0385519265
Publication Date: June 17, 2008
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Product Description
For generations in Jerusalem, a fabled mansion has been the retreat for foreign correspondents, diplomats, pilgrims and spies–but until now, few have known the true story of the house that became the American Colony Hotel or its bizarre history of tragedy, religious extremism, emotional blackmail, and peculiar sexual practices.
During the boom years following the Civil War, in the country’s heartland capital, Chicago, a prominent lawyer Horatio Spafford and his blue-eyed wife Anna rode the mighty wave of Protestant evangelicalism deluging the nation. When suddenly tragedy struck, the charismatic Spaffords, grieving, attracted followers eager to believe their prophecy that the Second Coming was at hand and in 1881 sailed with them to Jerusalem to see the Messiah alight on the Mount of Olives.
No sooner had they settled into the Holy City than the U. S. Consul and the established Christian missionaries declared them heretics and whispered of sexual deviance. Yet Muslims and Jews admired their unflagging care of the sick and the needy, and Jews were intrigued with their advocacy of a Jewish Return to Zion. When Horatio died, Anna assumed leadership, shocking even her adherents by abolishing marriage and established a dictatorship that was not always benevolent. Ever dogged by controversy, she and her credulous followers lived through and closely participated in the titanic upheavals that eventually formed the modern Middle East.
Written with flair and insight, American Priestess provides a fascinating exploration of the seductive power of evangelicalism and raises questions about the manipulation of religion to serve personal goals. A powerful narrative, the story sweeps through the dramatic collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the establishment of the British Mandate, and finally the founding of Israel where Anna’s house in East Jerusalem, now the American Colony Hotel, stands as an exemplar of beauty and comfort, despite its turbulent history.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
Amazing What One Learns About By Reading September 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Here is an extraordinary story about an international group of people who immigrated to Jerusalem to await the Second Coming led by Anna and Horatio Spafford beginning in 1881. The American Colony as they were known settled in a compound situated in the Old City in the Arab Quarter between the Damascus Gate and Herod's Gate. Jane Geniesse writes with fairness about the leader, charismatic Anna Spafford, who was appalling in many ways but also the positive force in developing welcome and lasting social services for any of the local people in need. (Of course much can be accomplished with mostly unpaid workers who are dependent on their leader for food, shelter and salvation.)
This was like reading three books: Immigration to America, tough times in Chicago and Protestant Evangelism (and dipping into the till); The growth of The American Colony with its vague religious ideas; and The Middle East spanning the two world wars. Her research on the Spaffords, their descendents,the civil, military and religious personalities who lived through the political turmoil of the region resulted in a broad portrait of that era.
The American Colony Hotel on the grounds of the compound continues to be a favored setting for celebrities,spies, diplomats,journalists, tourists and politicians. Until her death in June, 2008, Valentine Vesper, the granddaughter-in-law of the Spaffords and proprietor, lived there. Be sure to go on-line to tour this beautiful hotel.
A Good Read September 2, 2008
Jane Geniesse has painted an intriguing portrait of a fascinatingly complex woman. Whether a tyrant or saint, Anna Spafford's Christian Zionism and her devotees won the admiration of Jews and Muslims even as she scandalized mainstream Christians and the US State Department with her unorthodox practices and beliefs. There was no room in her "American colony" for boundaries of national, racial, religious or social attachment that might limit its good works. The "colony" became a model of energetic competence and non-proselytizing Christian universalism, even running hospitals for the Turks in war when America was fighting on the other side. A thought-provoking primer on what makes a difference in relations with the "other."
John W. Kiser ("The Monks of Tibhirine," "Commander of the Faithful: the Life and Times of Emir Abd el-Kader")
American Priestess August 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Adding to Furman Baldwin's commentary on "American Priestess" by Jane Fletcher Geniesse, I too am a 3rd generation descendant of the first wave of members who joined Anna Spaford's American Colony in Jerusalem. Our fathers, Furman and Norman,were sons of Reverend Edward F. Baldwin who with four of his children became early members. Also my mother was 9 years old when her parent and siblings from Nas, Sweden joined the "Overcomers" in 1891.
Like cousin Furman,I learned more about our family background from the book than from our parents and all who knew them, combined.
The story at times shocking, is meticulously researched as to characters and covers decades of fascinating social, economic and historic background from the mid 1800's to modern times. The author's deft use of language is a refreshing force to expand one's vocabulary.
Without sharing much credit for many positive accomplishments of the American Colony, founder/leader Anna kept tight reins on the colonists by revealing to them her divine guidance undergirded by faith, ego and nepotism. The saga is a revealation of the depth and breadth of human potential for good and evil.
If after reading the book, I'd be pleased to hear from any other descendants of the colonists with new informatioin to add. Norman T. Baldwin (baljunor@aol.com).
Americans in Jerusalem August 5, 2008
This a very unusual story with serious implications. Full of surprises, it is the work of an experienced historian who can really write. Enjoy the story and gain a better understanding of why America behaves as it does in the Middle East.
Fascinating, a real page turner. August 1, 2008
Jane Geniesse tells a fast-moving, rigorously reseaarched tale of a Chicago society woman who loses her children in a cross-Atlantic shipwreck, later accompanies her deadbeat husband, wiped out in the Chicago fire, to Jerusalem at the head of a group of evangelical believers in the imminence of Armageddon. Her husband dies and she becomes the leader of the group, which persists in the Holy Land for decades through many adventures and leaves behind the American Colony hotel, still a Jerusalem landmark.
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