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A Midwife's Tale

The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
By Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Based on the diaries of Martha Ballard, a midwife and healer in eighteenth-century Maine, A Midwife's Tale offers an intimate portrait of life on the New England frontier. Covering 1785 to 1812, the book reveals medical practices, household economies, religious rivalries, and social customs through Ballard's record of over 800 births and daily events. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich brings to life the struggles and resilience of Martha and her community with meticulous scholarship and rich narrative detail.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$4799
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

A Midwife's Tale is ideal for readers interested in historical biography, women's history, medical humanities, and early American life. It will appeal to those who appreciate meticulous research woven into compelling personal narrative.

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Presents the life of Martha Ballard, a midwife in Maine during the eighteenth century, by drawing on the detailed diary she kept for twenty-seven years of her life.

Drawing on the diaries of a midwife and healer in eighteenth-century Maine, this intimate history illuminates the medical practices, household economies, religious rivalries, and sexual mores of the New England frontier.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Drawing on the diaries of a midwife and healer in eighteenth-century Maine, this intimate history illuminates the medical practices, household economies, religious rivalries, and sexual mores of the New England frontier.

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER.

Drawing on the diaries of one woman in eighteenth-century Maine, A truly talented historian unravels the fascinating life of a community that is so foreign, and yet so similar to our own (The New York Times Book Review).

Between 1785 and 1812 a midwife and healer named Martha Ballard kept a diary that recorded her arduous work (in 27 years she attended 816 births) as well as her domestic life in Hallowell, Maine. On the basis of that diary, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich gives us an intimate and densely imagined portrait, not only of the industrious and reticent Martha Ballard but of her society.

At once lively and impeccably scholarly, A Midwife's Tale is a triumph of history on a human scale.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The New York Times Book Review praises it as a work by "a truly talented historian" uncovering a fascinating and relatable community. The Washington Post Book World calls it an "offbeat gem of scholarship" and "endlessly interesting." Stephen Innes of the University of Virginia describes it as "a marvelously nuanced, subtle, and unillusioned portrayal" poised to become a classic. The Philadelphia Inquirer acknowledges Ulrich's extraordinary skill in revealing Ballard's spirit and life worth knowing.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780679733768

Publisher: Random House USA Inc

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 June 1991

Country: United States

Imprint: Vintage Books

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 25.0mm

Width: 131.0mm

Height: 203.0mm

Weight: 323g

Pages: 464

Collections

Biography & Memoir Laurel Thatcher Ulrich Non-Fiction Penguin Books Political Biographies

About the Author

LAUREL THATCHER ULRICH was born in Sugar City, Idaho. She holds degrees from the University of New Hampshire, University of Utah, and Simmons College. She is 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University and past president of the American Historical Association. As a MacArthur Fellow, Ulrich worked on the PBS documentary based on her Pulitzer Prize-winning book A Midwife's Tale. Her work is also featured on an award-winning website called dohistory.org. She is immediate past president of the Mormon History Association. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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