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| A Midwife's Tale: the Life of Martha Ballard Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 | 
 enlarge | Creator: Laurel Ulrich
Publisher: Vintage Books
Category: Book
List Price: £15.95
Buy New: £4.52
You Save: £11.43 (72%)
New (21) Used (21) from £1.37
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 92716
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st Vintage Books Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 1
ISBN: 0679733760
Dewey Decimal Number: 974.16
EAN: 9780679733768
Publication Date: June 1991
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 11-15 of 15 | | « PREV | | |
 Martha Ballard is an extraordinary woman of her time May 23, 1998
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich has done a wonderful thing: she has brought us a woman, a real woman who lived out her life doing what she felt she needed to do in a time that was full of questions for those that faced making a new country work. Ulrich brings to life Martha Ballard in every way, as much as the diary allows. By the time I finished the book, I felt I knew Martha Ballard, as if she lived next door to me, nurturing me through life. Ulrich is a wonderful story-teller, filling in the blanks and taking us back in word and time. An excellent book for anyone who wants to step beyond the text books and discover a real person making her way in our newly formed country.
A Fantasitc Book!! February 2, 1998
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I read this book when it was first published and it didn't surprise me that it won a Pulitzer's Prize. It's one of the best biographies I've ever read, and since I'm a history buff, that made it all the more special. I've read and re-read it so many times that it's falling apart (and it's a hardback copy!). I'll be buying a new one and probably one for my mother, too, since she's the one who lent it to me (and then I wouldn't give it back). For anyone who's interested in what women were like at the end of the eighteenth century and the roles they filled at home and in the community--this book fills the bill. Thank you, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, for putting Martha Ballard's journal writings into perspective for women of the 1990's. I didn't want the story to end.
fascinating peek into 18th century rural New England life January 21, 1998
I attended a lecture by Ms. Ulrich in 1990 when I lived in Hallowell, Maine. I went home and promptly devoured the book! It was fascinating looking down on the Kennebec River and imagining what Martha Ballard must have endured in the harsh environment. It is a sad, touching tale of the hardships experienced by women in those unforgiving times. I watched the PBS American Experience production of this story last night. It was very well done and enjoyable. I highly recommend this book!
An excellent movie/documentary has been made!! March 30, 1997
Althought this is technically not a review, it is related to the book. An excellent movie/documentary has been made of "A Midwife's Tale". It is not the "Ken Burns" type of documentary with stills and photos, it is a live action movie intersperced with interviews of the author. This production is very true to the book and captures it's feeling with great sensitivity. (The e-mail address of the production company if you wish to write to them for a copy is: BlueHillP@aol.com)
Historically interesting. October 21, 1996
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Perusing a personal diary (portions of the diary are included in the book) which contain sentence fragments and short descriptions of the day's activity, Laurel Ulrich's book, "A Midwife's Tale: The Diary of Martha Ballard," is a fascinating reconstruction in the life of Martha Ballard, a midwife who, during the Revolutionary War, is characterized as a feminist in her own right. By choice, many women left their homes to join their husbands to help fight the war; others were driven away by Brittish soldiers; but Martha Ballard, unaffected by the War and American Politics, resided at home with her husband, family, and friends. Incredibly, Ulrich writes in narrative style that Martha Ballard had performed in 27 years more than 800 deliveries in and around Hallowell, Maine, produced and distributed drugs, prepared burials and dissections, at a time when medicine was in its infancy. This is a true story of a woman who had been independent, strong, and productive throughout her life. In the environment surrounding Martha's world, "A Midwife's Tale" also portrays a 'women's community' that characterizes an almost perfect social and economic ideal of their time. The winner of numerous prizes, historians, history enthusiasts, and feminists will find this 352 page book (not including endnotes and index) a wonderful and interesting read.
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