Faintly earthy and completely human, taken either as a novel or a collection of short stories, Jessamyn West's "The Friendly Persuasion" makes a delightful addition to American literature. There is poetry here, but so subtly woven into the fabric of story and character that it never intrudes.

Flora Hendricks, "Tales of the Quaker Folk Who Lived and Worked in Indiana," in Book Week (© Chicago Sun-Times, 1945; reprinted with permission), November 18, 1945, p. 8.