BETH POWNING's previous books include the bestselling novels The Hatbox Letters, The Sea Captain's Wife, and most recently A Measure of Light, a Globe and Mail Best Book and winner of the inaugural New Brunswick Book Award for Fiction. Her works of memoir include Seeds of Another Summer: Finding the Spirit of Home in Nature, Shadow Child: An Apprenticeship in Love and Loss, and Edge Seasons: A Mid-Life Year. In 2010, Beth was awarded New Brunswick's Lieutenant-Governor's Award for High Achievement in English-Language Literary Arts. She lives on a 300-acre farm near Sussex, New Brunswick, with her husband, the renowned sculptor Peter Powning.
Longlisted for the 2017 International Dublin Literary Award
WINNER of the 2016 Atlantic Book Awards’ New Brunswick Book
Award for Fiction
“[A] compelling, gorgeously written novel. . . . Fans of Powning
know she is excellent at describing nature as part of the rhythm of
daily life.” —Elissa Barnard, The Chronicle Herald
“Beth Powning is one of Canada’s literary gems and A Measure of
Light is a truly stunning novel, brilliantly evoking seventeenth
century England and America. A sweeping novel that moves back and
forth across the Atlantic, it also uncovers the rigidity of those
who thought they had brought religious freedom to the New World
only to be caught up by their own beliefs. This is indeed a novel
that deserves a place on your bookshelf. And if you haven’t read
them, buy or borrow Powning’s other novels. They are equally
enchanting.” —Andrew Armitage, The Sun Times (Owen Sound)
“It’s a page-turner with a growing sense of foreboding as Powning
depicts how ambition and power corrupt human beings. . . . It’s
chilling to read about the pain and sacrifice endured by Mary and
other free-thinking women in such a deeply misogynistic culture. .
. . [Powning] describes Mary’s life with beautiful subtlety, never
using a broadaxe to draw comparisons with the mores of modern
times. Instead she uses subtlety and grim humour.” —Linda Diebel,
Toronto Star
“Beth Powning is known for her lyrical, powerful writing and the
profound emotional honesty of her work. . . . This gripping
historical fiction captures the spirit of a truly courageous woman
struggling for women’s rights, liberty of conscience, intellectual
freedom and justice.” —UNB Newsroom
“In Beth Powning’s latest novel, faith collides with religious
intolerance, and luscious writing acts as a counterpoint to an
often stark story. . . . Remarkable book. A Measure of Light is a
true story that Powning has transformed into a work of art. . . .
Powning created
Mary’s early years, added characters, fictionalized dialogue and
cast the entire story in a frame of writing so rich in description
that is almost verges on becoming voluptuous at times. . . .
Powning offsets the austere existence of the Puritans and Quakers
with warm, evocative writing. She has a gift for producing . . .
wonderful images. . . . The world of Mary Dyer is palpable and
real, as are the characters who inhabit the book. . . . Powning,
who lives near Sussex, N.B., shows again that she is in the top
tier of Canadian novelists. If there is a comparison to be drawn,
then it is with one of the best historical novelists, Penelope
Fitzgerald. With Fitzgerald, Powning shares the ability to create
gorgeous, tactile scenes that are at once original and alive with
life. A Measure of Light transcends genre writing; rather, it is a
keenly intelligent, memorable work of literature, and that rare
thing, a book worth returning to again.” —Charles Mandel,
Telegraph-Journal
“A Measure of Light is a dark, shatteringly exquisite book. . . .
Prose-wise, there isn’t a page in A Measure of
Light where something extraordinary doesn’t happen. Like a
method actor, Powning has infiltrated Mary’s world so completely
that she seems to write from squarely within its walls. . . . It’s
been suggested that Canadians embrace historical fiction because
we’re insecure about our putatively drab, uneventful history. That
one of the finest books in the genre to come along in ages should
be about the birth of the country that’s the wellspring of so much
of that insecurity is, then, both ironic and entirely fitting.”
—Emily Donaldson, The Globe and Mail
“Powning writes about grief with uncanny precision; she gets all
its ambushes and piercing aches exactly right.” —Lisa
Moore, National Post
“Equal parts character study, travelogue and action-adventure
tale, The Sea Captain's Wife is a marvellous
read.” —Edmonton Journal
“Beth Powning has a talent for mining the past for its best
stories. . . . A Measure of Light, like the best of historical
fiction, explores lives from the past that provides insight into
our lives today. . . . Powning uses both imagined letters and
actual trial transcripts in tracing her life; the language is often
arcane but never dull.” —Chuck Erion, The Record (Waterloo)
“Based on the true story of one of America’s first Quakers, this
dramatic work of historical fiction shows New Brunswick author Beth
Powning at her lyrical best.” —The United Church Observer
“A Measure of Light is a spellbinding work of biographical fiction,
gorgeously written in spare, crystalline prose I found reminiscent
of the finest writers of literary historical fiction today
(Geraldine Brooks, Tracy Chevalier and Hilary Mantel come to mind).
A brilliant evocation of seventeenth-century England and America,
it’s the story of one woman’s search for faith and the horrific
sacrifices she makes once she finds it. Grim yet luminous—as well
as illuminating. In a word: enchanting.” —Sandra Gulland, author of
the internationally bestselling Josephine B. Trilogy
“In this exquisitely written, sweeping novel, Beth Powning gives a
tantalizing exploration into the life of Mary Dyer. A complex and
rebellious woman unwaveringly faithful to her own beliefs, Dyer
struggles with guilt, estrangement, and the troubling ways of love
as she fights for religious freedom. Powning is a confident,
elegant writer. Her insightful, often tender prose creates layers
of imagery that are both brave and poignant. No reader will remain
unmoved by her rendition of Mary Dyer’s compelling story.” —Linda
Holeman, bestselling author of The Lost Souls of Angelkov and The
Devil on Her Tongue
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