To the Discussion Leader
There are two sides to every story, yet many of us know only one side of the American Revolution—the side of the Patriots. Ann Turner’s Love Thy Neighbor: The Tory Diary of Prudence Emerson allows young readers to witness the days and months leading up to the Revolutionary War through the diary entries of a thirteen-year-old girl and her loving Tory family.
In 1774 and 1775 not every colonist believed America should declare its independence from Britain. Indeed, about 33 percent of the population in the thirteen colonies was loyal British subjects who felt allegiance to Great Britain and the king. But, as the cries of independence grew, the deepening division between Patriots and Tories began to separate neighbors, friends and even family members. Prudence Emerson’s diary chronicles the growing persecution of the Tories. Her father’s business is crippled as long time friends and loyal customers refuse to trade with a Tory. Rocks are thrown through the cabin windows of British sympathizers. Tory men are beaten and threatened with the punishment of being tarred and feathered. Prudence Emerson’s story is that of an adolescent whose family’s political stance causes her to lose a best friend; to fear for her life and the lives of family members; and to eventually move away from the home she loved in the hopes of finding a safe haven somewhere in America.
On writing this story from a Tory girl’s viewpoint Ann Turner says, “The more research I did, the more I came to realize that Tories were people, too, not just enemies. They had hopes, dreams and aspirations, families, farms and communities. I wanted to get behind the mask of historical facts and find out what it was like to be a Tory girl in 1774.
What I found confirmed my fears: It would have been a difficult and hard time to be alive, particularly in Massachusetts, where persecution of and laws against Tories were harsher than in some other colonies.
I wanted to explore how a girl survived a sad time, when what she had known and loved was taken away from her. What were her strengths, and how did she keep going through such hard times?”
Love Thy Neighbor: The Tory Diary of Prudence Emerson portrays a strong young lady caught supporting the “wrong” side in the American Revolution.
Summary
"How can I love my neighbor when my neighbor does not love me? " writes thirteen-year-old Prudence Emerson in 1774. "How I wish things were different. I wish we could step onto a magic sailing ship and head back to the time before angry words and distrust, back to the time when we truly did love our neighbors." Prudence and her family live in Green Marsh, Massachusetts, a town with divided loyalties. Most of the residents are Patriots, favoring independence from King George III of England. The Emersons, and a handful of others, are Tories, who "have always been loyal to the king and shall remain so."
Because of their allegiance to the king, Tories are being shunned by their neighbors. Prudence's best friend, Abigail, a Patriot, has been forbidden to visit anymore, and Prudence "feels as if someone I love has died." The teacher at the school begins discriminating against the Tory children. Patriot families refuse to do business at Papa's store. Then the Patriots become more aggressive. A neighbor's horse is stolen and painted with anti-Tory slogans. Another neighbor's house is stoned, and yet another receives a warning ball of tar and feathers. When a rock is thrown through the Emerson's window, Papa decides it is no longer safe to stay in Green Marsh. The family packs up to move to Boston where they will stay with Papa's brother and his family. In Boston, Prudence enjoys the companionship of her cousin Betsy, and she feels somewhat safe, writing, "I do not have to start out of my bed, imagining the worst. I do not have to be afraid of an attack on our house...This is almost a home, but not like what we left behind."
As the Patriots gain strength, war is imminent. A battle is fought at nearby Breed's Hill, and the family gathers at the harbor to watch. As Prudence remembers, "It was too far away to follow the battle, even though the cannons kept booming across the bay." The outcome of the battle is disastrous for the British, with many men dead or wounded. Among the wounded is Nicholas Spaulding, a young soldier whom Betsy likes. When Nicholas becomes ill and dies, rumors circulate that his death may have been caused by smallpox. Now it is no longer safe to live in Boston, so the family must move again, this time to Nantucket Island. Packing very few belongings, they leave before dawn to catch the ship. Prudence sketches the scene, "We sailed out into the darkness, avoiding the huge British men-of-war. A thin moon gave us some light to see by, but not so much to be dangerous." Huddled with her family behind a coil of rope on the deck, Prudence hopes that this ship will give them a safe passage to Nantucket and to the new home they will make there.
Thinking About the Book
1. If you had to create a new title for Love Thy Neighbor, what would you call the book? Explain your choice.
2. What does the word prudence mean? Why do Pru and her mother sometimes think this is not a fitting name for the thirteen-year-old?
3. How do Tories and Patriots differ? List three reasons a person might be a Tory and three reasons a person might be a Patriot.
4. How did Prudence's little sister Kate become blind? What evidence do you find that shows how Kate has adjusted to her blindness?
5. Why did Prudence and her family have to be so secretive about celebrating Christmas?
6. Pru often wonders whether or not her brother Walter is really a Patriot instead of a Tory like the rest of the family. In your discussion group debate this question. What do you think? Why?
7. Why does Papa Emerson give the family farm and store to Walter before the rest of the family flees to Boston?
8. Why does Prudence make a gold paper star for her sister Kate, even though Kate cannot see it? How does the star become a symbol of hope for the family?
9. At the end of the Historical Note at the back of Pru’s diary, author Ann Turner asks: "What would you have done had you been alive in 1774? Which side would you have been on?" How would you answer these questions?
Student Activities
1. It was common in colonial days for parents to name their daughters after characteristics or virtues, such as Prudence, Verity, or Charity. Choose a relative or someone else with an interesting or unique first name and interview them to learn why they were so named. What's the origin of your first name?
2. Prudence and her family watch the Battle of Breed's Hill across Boston Harbor. Read more about this battle at the website below. http://www.americanrevolution.com/BreedsHill.htm or http://historycarper.com/resources/battles/breedshill.htm
What was the outcome? What did this mean to the British Army?
3. Have each member of your discussion group choose one of the following to research. Why is each important in Pru’s diary?
Paul Revere | Boston Tea Party | King George III
Intolerable Acts | Battle of Lexington and Concord | Suffolk Resolves
4. In her diary entry for March 31, 1775, Prudence makes a list of six words and phrases that she believes describes a Patriot. Pretend you are a Patriot. List six words and phrases you would use to describe a Tory
5. On a map, locate the island of Nantucket. Why do you think the Emerson family felt they might be safe here?
6. Love Thy Neighbor is a story about how friends can become enemies and how cruel we can be to each other. The 1770s weren’t the only time this happened in American history. Read Barry Denenberg’s My Name Is America: The Journal of Ben Uchida: Citizen 13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp, California, 1942 . How are these two stories the same? How are they different?
An Interview with Ann Turner
Richard F. Abrahamson, Ph.D. & Eleanore S. Tyson, Ed.D: You’ve said, “The queerest thing about writing is how a story chooses you, instead of you choosing it.” How did it happen that Love Thy Neighbor selected you?
Ann Turner: That statement about stories choosing me rather than my choosing them reflects some of the deep mystery of the process of writing—something I don’t always understand myself. I think with this novel, this “diary,” I probably had more of a role in “choosing” this story. With Tories in my family history, I was alert to the possibility of the other side of events—the side not often told in history books. Probably the part where I did not do the “choosing” was when Prudence walked into my life; with red curly hair, an impatient walk, and a mind full of questions, she plucked at my sleeve and asked me to tell about her life. In that way, I could not not tell her story.
RFA & EST: You mention in the Historical Note that history books say little about the Tories, and what they do say is not positive. From what sources did you gain your information for Prudence’s diary?
AT: There were a great many books I read and people whom I interviewed which gave me information about the Tories. Written sources include: John Adams, by David McCullough; Dearest Friend, (A Life of Abigail Adams), by Lynne Withey; Loyalists In The American Revolution, by Claude Halstead Van Tyne; Our Own Snug Fireside, by Jane C. Nylander, about daily life in Colonial times; The Way of Duty (A Woman and Her Family In Revolutionary America), by Joy Day Buel & Richard Buel, Jr.; Clues To American Dress, by E. F. Harley; Early American Cookery, by Margaret Huntington Hooker; and also, the wonderful children’s book, If You Lived At The Time Of The American Revolution, by Kay Moore.
I received immense help from the many people listed at the back of the novel, particularly Ann Lanning, Associate Curator for Interpretation at Historic Deerfield, Mrs. Elise Feeley, Reference Librarian at Forbes Library, and Frances Karttunen, at the Nantucket Historical Library Museum.
RFA & EST: What was the most challenging aspect of writing from a Tory point of view?
AT: I think the most challenging aspect was that I have always sympathized with the Patriots. Had I been alive at the time of this diary, 1774-1775, there is no question in my mind that I would have been a radical Patriot, involved in the attempts to separate from the Crown. I had to put my personal feelings and loyalties aside to write this book in an authentic and sympathetic way.
RFA & EST: Prudence writes about Tories who were threatened with the punishment of being tarred and feathered. Did this happen? Why was this torture selected? Where did the idea of tarring and feathering a person come from?
AT: Yes, being tarred and feathered was a potent threat to Tories throughout this period. It was used, and the men who suffered this punishment often never truly recovered. They were maimed for life, sometimes blinded and badly burned. I am not sure where this punishment originated. I believe it was used as a threat because people were so frightened of it; it was an effective threat for that reason alone. It also reminds us that people on “our” side of the Revolution, the Patriots, could behave cruelly.
RFA & EST: In your research, did you find that the island of Nantucket became a safe haven for Tories not wanting to go back to England or were they still persecuted on the island?
AT: There actually were not many Tories who fled to Nantucket; we estimate it was perhaps one hundred people, according to available research. They were not terribly welcomed by the islanders, due to the shortage of food, but they were not actively persecuted. Nantucket tended to be more Loyalist than Patriot. It wound up in the unfortunate position of being neither trusted by the Loyalists nor by the Patriots.
RFA & EST: In your mind, was Pru’s brother Walter really a Patriot?
AT: Yes, I believe Walter was a hidden Patriot within his Tory family. Such things often happened at that period. Remember, My Brother Sam is Dead? That, for me, is one of the best and most passionate novels about this period and about the fact that the Revolutionary War was also a Civil War. It divided families, split communities, and broke apart friendships of long standing, and this country lost many people of talent and worth who fled to safer places.
RFA & EST: How do you think your work as a poet influenced your fiction-writing style in Love Thy Neighbor?
AT: I hear words singing inside; often words string together in a kind of rhythm, and metaphors sprinkle my writing. So, although the writing in Love Thy Neighbor is not heavily poetic, some of the descriptions are. Sometimes emotions are described in ways that are poetic. Here are some I remember:
Prudence is writing about her sadness at the defection of her old friend, Abigail: “I have discovered that when someone goes away from you, your whole body feels empty.”
And later, when Papa tells his family they shall remain Tories and will not change and become Patriots, Prudence writes: “That would be like crossing the river in a boat and deciding halfway across to swim on the back of a horse. We are in the king’s boat and will stay in it.” Poetic language allows me to say a lot in a short space, with fewer words.
RFA & EST: You advise the youngster who wants to be writer to “learn to be spy.” Would you elaborate on this advice?
AT: Kids can log onto my website at http://www.annturnerbooks.com/ to read more about “becoming a spy.” It is something I tell students when I speak to them at their schools. Writers are nosy people; we are endlessly curious; we ask questions when we shouldn’t; we peek around corners when we are least expected. That need to question, listen in, and find out what makes people tick is part of our strength as writers—as long as we keep it in check!
One of my favorite activities when I was a teenager was going riding on the back of a horse with a friend of mine. Because we were rather high up, I could see into peoples’ lighted windows as we trotted past. Questions would rise up inside: Who lives there? Are they happy? What are they doing? Any dogs or cats in sight? Any fights going on?
Kids who want to become writers might want to start carrying a small notebook in their backpack. I encourage people to sit down in malls and listen, just listen, to how people talk. And walk. And touch their children. What can you tell about people from the way they move and the tone of their voice?
Discussion Guide written by Richard F. Abrahamson, Ph.D., Professor of Literature for Children and Young Adults, University of Houston and Eleanore S. Tyson, Ed.D., Clinical Associate Professor, University of Houston, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Houston, Texas.
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