Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650-1750

Nothing is more controversial in our society today than "woman's place," and no where is it more controversial than among women. (Any email list will bear this out.)

But what was it like for the women who were the founders of this country? How often do we even think about how they lived, unless we happen to visit one of the burgeoning historical communities multiplying across the country?

It was work, and it was hard work. Women were at home, and they were at home for a reason. Even getting to church was a major endeavor, and one they fought for, for it was women who built many of the major American congregations thriving today.

Their relationships with each other sustained them, and also were likely to pose the most threat, for women could make or break the reputations of one another, upon which survival depended.

Childbirth, pre, post and in between, determined the rhythm of life for generations of women. There were many births, and many of them did not live to adulthood. A woman who was able to nurture many children to see her grandchildren and great-grandchildren had accomplished a great deal, and was honored accordingly.

They had to know and understand the rhythms of nature and the timing of how to use an oven they could stand in and work with its heat as it coursed over the length of a day. There were no timers. There were no temperature regulators. There certainly were no microwave ovens or dish washers or washing machines.

They made medical tinctures as well as food, for doctors were few and far between and if they couldn't nurse their loved ones to health, they lost them more often than not.

They acted as "Deputy Husbands," representing their husbands in their livelihood, not in their own right, but as stand-ins based on the status of their husbands. It was power, even if not their own.

Well researched, thoroughly documented, well written and a very pleasant read, this book will allow us all to count our blessings -- and honor our foremothers.

...geminiwalker


Not Impressed   February 23, 2004
 6 out of 51 found this review helpful

I am a senior in college majoring in history and I just finished writing a paper about this book for a college class, and after reading the other reviews for it here I feel I should write my own really quick to present a different opinion. It was a good book, and did give a good view into the lives of colonial women, but I'm wondering what anyone learned from it. There was nothing surprising at all, completely mundane. I do not feel there's a need to argue the importance of women in history, no one's writing any books about how great chairs are for sitting, it's understood. Of course no society could develop and function without women and all of the very important things they do, to me thats a given. Anyway, I wont go on any more but in my opinion the book just isn't groundbreaking or interresting on any level what so ever.


Good book about colonial women   January 22, 2004
 6 out of 9 found this review helpful

I am very interested in finding out about colonial American women. This book didn't disappoint as far as facts. The author takes great pains to mention as much as she can about the women she's writing about. My only quibble with the book would be sometimes when the author introduces some facts, she would just leave the facts hanging there. There would be interesting tibits mentioned about a particular woman, then that tibit would be left and the author would go one to discuss something else.

Still, overall this book is very enlightening about how women lived back in colonial times.


Fantastic!   June 5, 2003
 3 out of 8 found this review helpful

This was fabulous! The author clearly does NOT hate Puritans. She is objective, insightful. It's a treasure!