This is memoir of the first twenty-five years of long life, blending a picture of a time long ago with the story of a thoughtful child growing up to face adulthood in a very different world.
The book is about a Scottish couple, James Finlayson (1770-1852) and Margaret Wilkie (1776?-1855) who navigated their lives through the upheavals of 18th and 19th century wars, revolutions and presbyterian schisms.
A humble tailor and apple-grower from New Jersey, John Woolman became one of the leading voices against the transatlantic slave trade in the eighteenth century.