AMERICAN PRIESTESS

How a charismatic prophetess and her evangelical cult built a legacy in Palestine.

Tracing the life and times of Anna Spafford (1842–1923), Geniesse (Passionate Nomad: The Life of Freya Stark, 1999, etc.) illuminates the flowering of evangelical revivalism in post–Civil War Chicago, then follows a fervent band of its millennialist adherents to Ottoman-ruled Palestine. The orphaned child of Norwegian immigrants, Anna Lawson (née Larsen) first caught the eye of her Sunday school teacher, lawyer Horatio Spafford, when only 15. They later married, and Anna grew to share his conviction that Jesus Christ would be imminently arriving in Jerusalem to save the entire world—even Satan. After financial setbacks and the horrendous loss of their four daughters in a steamship sinking, the pair convinced a small group of like-minded believers to accompany them to the Holy City in 1881, fully expecting, the author relates, to participate in the Second Coming. Feeding the hungry and aiding the sick irrespective of ethnicity or religion, The Overcomers (as they had been known since Chicago days) quickly won the respect of Arab, Jew and Turk alike in a place woefully lacking amenities and sanitation. Bolstered by international recruits, the group became polyglot and often contentious; its evolution played out as a highly strung spiritual soap opera. By the time of Horatio’s death in 1888, Anna had made herself the sole “conduit to God” and usurped total authority. Her passions and proclivities waxed and waned: First she ordained celibacy, then later relented and became ultimate matchmaker. Weakened over the decades by the antipathy of U.S. consular officials, the group eventually dissolved, leaving as its legacy Jerusalem’s popular American Colony Hotel and a clinic that treats indigent children of all backgrounds.

Impressively researched and insightful.