Sarah Adams Popular Books
Sarah Adams Biography & Facts
Sarah Fuller Flower Adams (or Sally Adams) (22 February 1805 – 14 August 1848) was an English poet and hymnwriter. A selection of hymns she wrote, published by William Johnson Fox, included her best-known one, "Nearer, My God, to Thee", reportedly played by the band as the RMS Titanic sank in 1912. Early life and education Sarah Fuller Flower was born 22 February 1805, at Old Harlow, Essex, and baptised in September 1806 at the Water Lane Independent Chapel in Bishops Stortford. She was the younger daughter of the radical editor Benjamin Flower, and his wife Eliza Gould. Her father's mother Martha, sister of the wealthy bankers William Fuller and Richard Fuller, had died the month before Adams' birth. Her elder sister was the composer Eliza Flower. Her uncles included Richard Flower, who emigrated to the United States in 1822 and was a founder of the town of Albion, Illinois; and the nonconformist minister John Clayton. Her mother died when she was only five years old and initially her father, a liberal in politics and religion, brought the daughters up, taking a hand in their education. The family moved to Dalston in Middlesex, where they met the writer Harriet Martineau, who was struck by the two sisters and used them for her novel "Deerbrook". In 1823, on a holiday in Scotland with friends of the radical preacher William Johnson Fox, the minister of South Place Unitarian Chapel, London, who was a frequent visitor to their home, Adams broke the female record for climbing up Ben Lomond. Back home, the girls became friends with the young poet Robert Browning, who discussed his religious doubts with Adams. Career After the father's death, about 1825, the sisters became members of the Fox household. Both sisters began literary pursuits, and Adams first fell ill with what became tuberculosis. Soon afterwards, the sisters moved to Upper Clapton, a suburb of London. They attached themselves to the religious society worshipping in South Place, Finsbury, under the pastoral care of Fox. He encouraged and sympathized with the sisters, and they in turn helped him in his work. Eliza, the elder, devoted herself to enriching the musical part of the Chapel service, while Adams contributed hymns. Fox was one of the founders of the Westminster Review. and his Unitarian magazine, the Monthly Repository, printed essays, poems and stories by William Bridges Adams, polemicist and railway engineer, whom Adams met at the house of her friend, the feminist philosopher Harriet Taylor Mill. The two married in 1834, setting up house at Loughton in Essex. In 1837, he distinguished himself as the author of an elaborate volume on English Pleasure Carriages, and another on The Construction of Common Roads and Railroads. He was also a contributor to some of the principal reviews and newspapers. Encouraged by her husband, Adams turned to acting and in the 1837 season at Richmond played Lady Macbeth, followed by Portia and Lady Teazle, all successes. Though offered a role at Bath, then a springboard for the West End, her health broke down and she returned to literature. In 1841, she published her longest work, Vivia Perpetua, A Dramatic Poem. In it, a young wife who refuses to submit to male control and renounce her Christian beliefs is put to death. She contributed to the Westminster Review, including a critique of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry, and wrote political verses, some for the Anti-Corn Law League. Her work often advocated equal treatment for women and for the working class. At the solicitation of her pastor, she also contributed 13 hymns to the compilation prepared by him for the use of his chapel, published 1840–41, in two parts, six in the first and seven in the second part. Of these, the two best known —" Nearer, my God! to Thee" and "He sendeth sun, he sendeth shower"— are in the second part. For this work, her sister, Eliza, wrote 62 tunes. Her only other publication, a catechism for children, entitled The Flock at the Fountain, appeared in 1845. Her hymn "Nearer, my God! to Thee" was introduced to American Christians in the Service Book, published (1844) by Rev. James Freeman Clarke, D.D., of Boston, Massachusetts, from where it was soon transferred to other collections. A selection of hymns she wrote, published by Fox, included her best-known piece, "Nearer, My God, to Thee", reportedly played by the band as the RMS Titanic sank in 1912. Personal life A Unitarian in belief, she was hampered in her career by deafness that she had inherited from her father and, inheriting their mother's feebleness, both sisters yielded to disease in middle age. Eliza, after a lingering illness, died in December 1846 and, worn down by caring for her invalid sister, Adams' health gradually declined. She died on 14 August 1848 at the age of 43 and was buried beside her sister and parents in the Foster Street cemetery near Harlow. At her grave was sung the only other hymn of hers that was widely known, "He sendeth sun, he sendeth shower". A blue plaque honouring the husband and wife was placed at their Loughton home: they had no children. Richard Garnett wrote of her: "All who knew Mrs. Adams personally speak of her with enthusiasm; she is described as a woman of singular beauty and attractiveness, delicate and truly feminine, high-minded, and in her days of health playful and high-spirited." Selected works References Citations Sources External links Works by or about Sarah Fuller Flower Adams at Internet Archive Works by Sarah Fuller Flower Adams at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks) . Discover the Sarah Adams popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Sarah Adams books.
Best Seller Sarah Adams Books of 2024
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Jacob The Liar
Jurek BeckerCut off from all news of the war along with thousands of fellow prisoners, Jacob Heym accidentally overhears a radio broadcast that reveals the Red Army's advancement and is forced...
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The Rule Book
Sarah AdamsCollege exes break all the rules when they reunite years later in this enemies to lovers, secondchance romance, the highly anticipated companion novel to the TikTok sensation The C...
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Practice Makes Perfect
Sarah AdamsNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A smalltown sweetheart and an emotionally unavailable bad boy try to find some common ground in this chemistryfilled romance from the author of The Cheat...
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A Self-Made Man
Sidney BlumenthalThe first in a sweeping, multivolume history of Abraham Lincolnfrom his obscure beginnings to his presidency, death, and the overthrow of his postCivil War plan of reconciliation“e...
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Tony and Susan
Austin WrightFifteen years ago, Susan Morrow left her first husband, Edward Sheffield, an unpublished writer. Now, she's enduring middle class suburbia as a doctor's wife, when out of the blue ...
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Under Your Spell
Laura WoodThe daughter of an aging rock star finds herself working for the hottest musician on the planet and is shocked when sparks start to flyespecially since she swore she’d never, ever ...
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I Love You, I Hate You
Elizabeth Davis'Everything you love about romantic comedy hilarious, sharply observed, smart, and sexy as hell. I adored this book!' RACHEL HAWKINS'Smart, sexy, and feminist, I Love You, I Hate ...
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When in Rome
Sarah AdamsOpposites certainly attract for the stranded pop star and smalltown baker in this charming slice of romance from the author of the TikTok sensation The Cheat Sheet.“This moder...
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To the Tome of Murder
Lauren ElliottThree weeks before Thanksgiving, bookshop owner Addie Greyborne already has a full plateand a killer on her case . . . Addie’s determined to turn a seemingly ordinary Novemb...
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Degrees of Engagement
Jennifer Hennessy'Full of sweet heat, banter, and a beautiful, longanticipated connection, DEGREES OF ENGAGEMENT is an ode to the many paths life can takeand what happens when you let the right per...
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The Player Next Door
Elizabeth Davis'Compulsively readable! I was charmed by the flirtatious banter . . . Sometimes you want to Netflix and Chill and sometimes you want to Netflix and like, seriously, just chill. Cla...
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Ghosting
Tash SkiltonWith lots of fun banter and quippy dialogue, Ghosting: A Love Story is for readers looking for the wit and heart of Mhairi McFarlane and Sophie Kinsella with the romance of You've ...
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Wish Lists and Road Trips
Lauren H. MaeTwo stranded strangers agree to travel together in order to return home, but when a slew of misadventures derail their plans, it might mean a chance to fall in love . . . A sexy, o...
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The Love Contract
Steph VizardCan she (pretend to) love her neighbour?An awardwinning modern romcom for all fans of fake dating, enemiestolovers stories.I didn't know the guy next door. And given he was now my ...
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Wrestling With His Angel
Sidney BlumenthalThe “magisterial” (The New York Times Book Review) second volume of Sidney Blumenthal’s acclaimed, landmark biography, The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, reveals the future pre...
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The Way We Were
Prajwal Hegde"Bitter rivals.Reluctant colleagues. Tormented exlovers. Myra Rai is living her best life. At twentyeight, she is a prominent journalist at the precipice of dreamy success and her ...
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The Cheat Sheet
Sarah AdamsIs it ever too late to leave the friend zone? Discover the heartwarming friends to lovers romance that became a sensation on TikToknow with a new chapter and a Q&A with the aut...
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Midland
Michael Croley & Jack ShulerLeading journalists between the coasts offer perspectives on immigration, drug addiction, climate change, and more that you won’t find in national mainstream media. After the 2016 ...
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Independent Dames
Laurie Halse AndersonRead about the forgotten half of the American Revolution and those tough, independent dames who helped make it happen. Listen up! You've all heard about the great men who led...
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Small Gods
Terry PratchettFans of Sir Terry Pratchett will love this stunning graphic novel adaptation of his bestselling standalone Discworld novel Small Gods. Beautifully brought to life by illustrator Ra...