Rain Dodging: A Scholars Romp through Britain in Search of a Stuart Queen

(Paperback)

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Scholar Susan Godwin is hooked when she comes across the captivating story of Mary of Modenaa seventeenth-century Italian princess who was only fourteen when coerced into marriage with the future king of England, James II, yet went on to cultivate a court full of women writers in an age when female authorship was rare. How did Mary achieve such a feat

Rain Dodging is Susans creative nonfiction account of the years-long search upon which this questionand her own unquenchable curiositylaunched her. Godwin travels through both space and time, solo adventuring through Britain in pursuit of truth and, in a spicy parallel arc, chronicling her own cluttered but resilient feminist path. From schizophrenic lovers to out-there musicians to one unhinged mother, Susan tells the story of her personal enlightenment even as she visits the palaces and manor houses in England and Scotland Mary once inhabited and pores over materials in Oxfords stunning 400-year-old Bodleian Library, finding moments of transcendence and unexpected delight along the way.

Join Susan in this irreverent and illuminating journeya fascinating account of the late Stuart monarchy, the progression of feminist history, and the unexpected connection between the two.

Reviews

It was an honour to read Rain Dodging. It brought tears to the eyes and a renewed sense of how blessed I was with you and your cohorts all those years ago.
Professor Peter McCullough, Lincoln College, Oxford

Rain Dodging is a kaleidoscope of memoir and mystery, a collage of images and events. In a voice thats candid, engaging, and thoroughly original, Godwin takes us on a journey through her life and into the 17th-century court of British Queen Mary of Modena. Youll be hooked as you watch the connections unfold.
Shellie Michael, Professor of English, Volunteer State College

Rain Dodging is a vision quest. I am typing through tears. I LOVED THE BOOK! I love her; what a character, free spirit, person I would like to hang with . . . eternally curious about so much.
Teresa Steve, social worker

The opening chapters of Susan Godwins memoir whet the appetite for more. With vivid portrayals of OxfordsRadcliffe Camera and Rare Bookreading room, Susan brings her memories to life and powerfully conveys the excitement of scholarly discovery as she explores primary sources for late seventeenth-century English society, religion, culture, and the awkward assimilation of an intellectually accomplished Italian princess into the English royal family.
John M. Fyler, Professor of Medieval English at Tufts University

Author Bio

Susan Godwin is a fervent educator, writer, and freelance artist whose world has always been steeped in books, from Harold and the Purple Crayonshe couldnt resist drawing on her bedroom wall, no matter how many reprimandsto her first job as a library book mender in her Shaker Heights High School basement to teaching English at the prestigious University School of Nashville. A former Oxford scholar, Godwin has received writing awards from the University of Michigan, Middle Tennessee State University, and Bread Loaf School of English. Though writing is her true passion, she is also a visual artist working primarily in oils and pastels. Her home is outside of Nashville, in Dickson, TN, on the banks of a winding Tennessee river, in a hayloft renovated by her sweet, sexy husband, Tonywith help from their rotty, Roady!