Early in the American Revolution, Jemima’s family fears her impending death from Columbus fever. Relief at her survival gives way to confusion when she awakes to proclaim Jemima dead and has been replaced by ‘Comfort’, a nonbinary spirit, or so say two archangels. Comfort sets out to rescue New Englanders from the wages of sin as the End Times close in but encounters multiple challenges. Aside from cultivating their new identity, Comfort must find allies among Cumberland’s mainly Quaker farmers, while evading those who shout blasphemy and promise dire consequences. The clock ticks steadily toward the End Times with zealous foes prowling the preaching circuit, ready to pounce on Comfort’s every word as evidence of heresy. Will Comfort prevail or meet their own untimely end?
A few words to the reader about the book. While today we might well be tempted to think of someone who awakes to proclaim themselves a spirit – nonbinary or otherwise – as suffering from delusion, the late eighteenth century was governed by far different ideologies. Unlike today, where the experience of religion or spirituality can vary widely, the historical record indicates that at least among the colonial Christian population, the experience of religion was far more common and deeply ingrained. Life was more precarious for most people, and faith provided a common source of comfort. Did people argue about religion? Of course, not everyone was pleased with the Public Universal Friend and their claim, and yet they were unbowed in the face of their opposition.
I chose to focus on the early years of this fascinating individual, though more is known about their later years, through historical records of legal transactions, and diaries of acolytes. Drawn as I am to the human experience, I was motivated to think deeply about what it must have been
like for this individual to reconceptualize their life and carry through with their plans to recreate themselves. Many of us, including myself, have been in a position to remake themselves in some way, whether by choice or necessity. I also saw many parallels between the turmoil of today, and the immense churn that must have been experienced by those living through the American Revolution. We have the benefit of hindsight; they would not have known how it was all going to turn out.
While a comprehensive list can be found at here, key resources for me in researching this novel were Paul Moyer’s The Public Universal Friend: Jemima Wilkinson and Religious Enthusiasm in Revolutionary America, Kit Heyam’s Before We were Trans: A New History of Gender. All of the biblical quotes appearing in this work are sourced from the King James Version. Many of the Friend’s homilies were adapted from Selected Sermons of Johnathan Edwards, H. Norman Gardiner (Ed).
