Description
Book SynopsisThe Puritans were not as busy policing their neighbors’ behavior as Nathaniel Hawthorne or many early American historians would have us believe. Keeping their own households in line occupied too much of their time.
Under Household Government reveals that family members took on the role of watchdogs in matters of sexual indiscretion.
Trade ReviewMorris succeeds brilliantly at bringing to life the personal and social panorama of Puritan Massachusetts. Through the stories uncovered by her extraordinary sleuthing, we learn about the strength of Puritan families and their inner workings, as well as Puritan sexual culture: the importance of sex to marriage, the differences attributed to male and female sexuality, and the nuances of courtship and seduction. Deft, lively, sometimes just plain fun,
Under Household Government is a vivid and compelling portrait of family life in early New England. -- John Demos, Yale University
Morris demonstrates that Puritans policed one another's sexual behavior, not as mere busybodies, but to defend their own families' assets and reputation. In the process, they sometimes resorted to less than honorable means: false alibis, perjury, defamation, and jury tampering. Morris is a gifted storyteller, and readers will be surprised to learn that colonial New Englanders were not always the strait and narrow "Puritans" we might have imagined. -- Elizabeth Reis, University of Oregon
