New Book Portrays the Untold Story of the Woman Behind Abolitionist Wendell Phillips

Scarsdale author Jacqueline Friedland will release a new historical novel on August 15, 2023. THE STOCKWELL LETTERS is based on the story of Ann Phillips, a passionate female abolitionist, and her connection to Anthony Burns, a young man who escaped slavery and whose story had the nation awestruck. With a particularly keen eye to the restrictions placed on women and what many women did despite these restrictions to enact necessary social change, THE STOCKWELL LETTERS is a timely and relevant historical fiction novel rooted in the true events that shaped the pursuit of an escaped slave.

Friedland is also the author of He Gets That From Me, That's Not a Thing, and Trouble the Water. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and NYU Law School, she practiced briefly as a commercial litigator in Manhattan and taught Legal Writing and Lawyering Skills at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law. She returned to school after not too long in the legal world, earning her Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Jacqueline regularly reviews fiction for trade publications and appears as a guest lecturer. When not writing, she loves to exercise, watch movies with her family, listen to music, make lists, and dream about exotic vacations. She lives in Scarsdale with her husband, four children, and two very lovable dogs.

The novel depicts the story of abolitionist Ann Phillips, whose activism was put on hold shortly before her twenty-fourth birthday due to a mysterious illness. Her husband, the famous abolitionist Wendell Phillips, forbade Ann from any anti-slavery outings in an attempt to preserve her health. However, when escaped slave Anthony Burns is caught in Boston, Ann was determined to help him regardless of the cost.

We asked Friedland a few questions about the new book and here is what she shared:

How did you become interested in Ann Phillips? Where did you first learn about her?

When I was doing research for my first book, Trouble the Water, which takes place in Charleston about twenty years before the Civil War, I stumbled upon the story of a man named Anthony Burns. Anthony had been enslaved in Virginia, but in 1854, he escaped to Boston, where he became the subject of a highly publicized and controversial trial. The alleged slaveowner had found Anthony in Massachusetts and was seeking to have him returned to the South under the Fugitive Slave Law. The abolitionists of the North were aghast at the notion that Southern laws could be applied in a free state. The case rocked the entire nation, as both sides demanded their arguments be heard. There were riots and protests and massive amounts of civil unrest.

As I read about the trial, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t heard Anthony’s story before. I continued digging and discovered that there was a group of abolitionist men in the North who risked a great deal trying to help Anthony. Unfortunately, they ended up making more of a mess of the situation. But then I realized there was another story about what had happened in Boston in 1854. It was the women who were standing quietly behind their abolitionist husbands who were up to something all on their own. This is how I discovered Ann Phillips. She was the wife of a famous abolitionist named Wendell Phillips, who was so highly regarded for his superior public speaking skills that he was often called “the golden trumpet of abolition.” As I learned more about him, I came to understand that it was quite possibly Ann who was writing many of his famous speeches for him. The more I studied both Ann and Wendell, as well as other activities that Ann spearheaded, I reached the conclusion that Ann’s discreet and seemingly subtle actions were at the heart of a pivotal moment in our nation’s history, and I knew I had to tell her story.

How did you conduct the research? Where were the original materials archived?Author Jacqueline Friedland

Most of the research I did for The Stockwell Letters occurred during the first half of 2020, while we were all in the midst of Covid lockdowns. Thank goodness for the internet. I was able to access many sources online, even real images of old newspaper articles, which I obtained through the Library of Congress. You can flip through old newspapers on their site just like if you were using an old-fashioned microfiche (like the ones we used in the 1980s). There are multiple websites you can join to obtain access to all the same old or rare books you might find in a library, so I relied on those as well. I also ordered certain particularly pertinent books to my home from booksellers that carry old, out-of-print books. There is a wealth of information available both online and in print about Ann’s husband, Wendell, including reprints of original letters that he and Ann exchanged over a period of years. Being privy to their conversations like that was enormously helpful in getting a sense of who they both were, and it was great fun to immerse myself in the historical period that way.

How was this book an extension of your earlier books?

The book is actually quite different from all my earlier projects. While my first novel, Trouble the Water, is also historical antebellum fiction, it’s much lighter and is focused more on the romance between the main characters. The new book is set in the same time period, but the emphasis is really on the societal tension that pervaded the country at the time, from racial tension to disparities in gender roles to political unrest. This book is meant for readers who are interested in learning more about a historical moment of great significance in our country’s history.

Will you do a reading here in Scarsdale - or anywhere local?

I will be appearing at Temple Israel in White Plains on September 20th at 7 pm for an author talk and book signing, and I will also be participating in a panel discussion at the Mid-Westchester JCC in Scarsdale on October 18th at 7 pm, with a focus on the ways in which women must “misbehave” in order to become disrupters.

Preorder your copy of the book here: