"Moving from a broad overview of women’s place in the religious landscape of England at that time to a more detailed examination of twelve women’s stories, the book is based on solid scholarship but accessible to the general reader. These women’s stories are relevant not only to history nerds like me, but to twenty-first-century Christians in churches that still do not fully accept the prophetic voices of women. . . . Within that historical continuum, we will find women who are flawed, fragile, powerful, outspoken, mistaken, maligned, and always controversial. Though they may differ widely in method, style, and theology, they are united by the fact that they all believe God has called them to preach, teach, and prophesy in a world that—still—centres men’s voices. But against the clatter of condemnation and the patronizing platitudes of those who guard male privilege in the pulpit, the thunder of women’s voices continues to roll."

Trudy Morgan-Cole | SPECTRUM

"Baker’s book explores how many women were empowered by the conviction of their faith—and the liberating possibilities of the absence of censorship—to articulate their experiences and to shake the foundations of old-established traditions and practices. . . . This is a brilliant subject for a book: the many different sects of the period really did have high-profile, highly vocal women in their ranks, even if those voices, and their distinctly female perspectives, have continued to be drowned out in much of the historiography."

Matthew Lyons | The Broken Compass

“A vivid and meticulously researched exploration of women whose spiritual authority shook the patriarchy of the seventeenth century. Drawing on polemical pamphlets and spiritual autobiographies, Baker brings these women to the forefront, where they belong. Baker’s central argument—that these women’s voices were not marginal but thunderous in their time—positions this book as a significant contribution to ongoing scholarship on religious and political dissent, gender, and spirituality. For Quaker scholars, Baker’s attention to Quaker women will be of particular interest, offering fresh perspectives and welcomed depth into the lives of some of the women who truly shaped the theology and social aspects of early Quakerism.”

Quaker Studies

"Voices of Thunder offers a groundbreaking account of the radical women who, during the political, social and religious turmoil of seventeenth-century Britain and Ireland, found voice and vocation. Baker is an outstanding guide to this complex, challenging, and extraordinary culture."

Crawford Gribben, professor of history at Queen's University Belfast and author of "J. N. Darby and the Roots of Dispensationalism"

"This book crackles and fizzes with the energy and bravado of the many overlooked women who metaphorically hitched up their skirts to challenge forms of authority that sought to marginalize them. Baker brings deft erudition to her narrative and stylishly synthesizes the complex histories of religious radicalism in the seventeenth century. This elegantly written and lively book has much to teach us about belief, politics, and activism in both the seventeenth century and the contemporary moment."

Danielle Clarke, professor of English Renaissance language and literature, University College Dublin

"This book gives eloquent expression to a remarkable group of seventeenth-century women who refused to conform. From intimate domestic spaces to the corridors of power, these women confronted those structures designed to keep them silent and obedient, and they did so by channeling the divinely authorized voice of the conscience. Baker is a lucid and sensitive guide to this fascinatingly complex historical terrain. Her timely book reminds us of the urgent need to listen to the voices of those who disrupt our social and moral commonplaces."

Adrian Streete, professor of early modern literature and religion, University of Glasgow

"In Voices of Thunder Baker gives us the most accessible, detailed, and well-informed study to date of the seventeenth-century women preachers and prophets, at a time when nearly all women were meant to stay home and be quiet. Baker shows us how very many women were involved and influential in the early Baptist and Quaker movements and beyond, and how sharply they saw gender and class oppression, while often enduring harsh persecution, usually by men, at home and abroad. With notable biographical skill and sympathy, the author shows us how the women prophets saw and experienced their world. All can benefit from this book, and many will find it an eye-opening revelation."

Nigel Smith, Princeton University, author of "Andrew Marvell: The Chameleon"

"For the radical religious women who abandoned the Church of England in the seventeenth century, personal contact with God enabled outspoken resistance to the status quo. Urgent and completely absorbing, Voices of Thunder tells their stories in vivid detail, recasting seventeenth-century women’s literary history by turning away from elite culture to highlight the innovative and visionary voices of England’s dissenting women."

Sarah C. E. Ross, professor of English, Victoria University of Wellington