lindasdarby's review against another edition
3.0
I tried to be really interested in this book but honestly it was a little dry and far too academic for my nighttime reading. I think the author did an amazing job pulling together all of the information from the few short lines of Martha Ballard's journal but it was mostly so boring.
mattyzmom's review against another edition
5.0
A remarkable story from a talented writer! The story is of a midwife who practiced most of her time in the area I just moved to in Maine. It was so interesting to find out the area's history and how important midwives were. Ballard attended over 800 births in her lifetime! She also tended her garden, cleaned her own house, and traded with her neighbors for goods. She used the Kennebec River as transportation even in the middle of winter when sleighs were able to traverse. This story is just so compelling. The book is written as a textbook as the diary is included but the author explains the history and situation. There is so much research for the book that it was a winner of a Pulitzer Prize!
iammyowngodandmartyr's review against another edition
5.0
An intensely close reading of one woman's bland diary from 1700s rural maine lmao I loved it. Can u even imagine being able to do weird obsessive work like this for your job. Truly fascinating insights situating women within local economic and legal systems of the time. Tysm prof Ulrich I had a wonderful stay
catladylover94's review against another edition
2.0
it was just ok, i usually like these types of books, but i was not fond of the writing on this one
siria's review against another edition
5.0
This is a really exemplary piece of scholarship, as Ulrich uses the diary of a rather obscure woman—Martha Moore Ballard, a midwife from the small town of Hallowell, Maine—to tease out a history of life in late eighteenth century America. Ulrich uses the diary as a springboard to talk about a wide range of social and political issues—everything from sexual morality (40% of the deliveries Martha carried out were births to unmarried women!) to changes in attitudes towards medicine to politics and religion—comparing and contrasting it with other surviving (male-authored) sources from the time.
The picture we get is of a world in which women had much greater involvement in the social and economic life of their communities than "traditional" historical narratives would have us believe. There are no "angels in the home" here, just women trying their best to make a living despite domestic strife and political turmoil. Ulrich writes clearly and I think how she uses her evidence is a model for all historians, no matter the field, because of how measured and balanced she is. Fascinating, and an impressive accomplishment—Ulrich has really succeeded in bringing back to life a woman who would otherwise be largely forgotten.
The picture we get is of a world in which women had much greater involvement in the social and economic life of their communities than "traditional" historical narratives would have us believe. There are no "angels in the home" here, just women trying their best to make a living despite domestic strife and political turmoil. Ulrich writes clearly and I think how she uses her evidence is a model for all historians, no matter the field, because of how measured and balanced she is. Fascinating, and an impressive accomplishment—Ulrich has really succeeded in bringing back to life a woman who would otherwise be largely forgotten.
rubyreadswidely's review against another edition
Assigned parts of the book for a class and realistically I won’t have the time or inclination to finish reading it any time soon. This is not to say it isn’t a superb book—because it is!
greatexpectations77's review against another edition
emotional
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
3.75
This was interesting, but I def recommend the audiobook because of its length. It's such careful research, and I really appreciate that Ms. Ulrich was doing the research when other folks seemed to just be writing Ms. Ballard off as an ordinary person. Which she was. But she was also saving lives on the regular and delivering so many babies and also doing a lot of falling off her horse. It's absolutely wild how certain diary entries could have very well been written today. It's terrifying how treatment of women and their skills seems to have actually gotten worse in a lot of ways. I love that this diary was made so much more accessible than it ever would have been sitting in the ancient section of the library in Maine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Rape, Colonisation, Death, Medical content, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Miscarriage, Chronic illness, Excrement, Sexual assault, Racism, and Sexual content
Minor: Abortion, Confinement, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry