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lauriestein's review
4.0
How wonderful to have a voice for a constituency that's normally left historically voiceless.
stevenyenzer's review
4.0
I found A Midwife's Tale to be absolutely riveting. It provides a detailed view of private life in post-Revolution New England — a perspective I have never gotten in school or any other history reading. Ballard was a remarkable woman.
allisoparkbench's review
3.0
Read after reading The Frozen River for some nonfiction background. There’s a jaw dropping scene at 84%
jklbookdragon's review
5.0
This book really is exceptional - I can see why it won a Pulitzer Prize. Each of the 10 chapters begins with a couple of weeks from the diary, typically about 25 months after the previous chapter (thus also going through the rhythm of a year in the course of going through the 27 years). The author -- who has obviously done an unbelieveable amount of research -- then uses that as a starting point to explore a wide variety of issues that impacted Martha's life, drawing from other sources as needed. Topics include gardening, family service, tension between landowners and squatting farmers, the shift from midwifery to obstetrics, debtors prison, infectious disease, and much, much more. The writing style is as entertaining as it is informative, making this a very enjoyable and compelling read.
knitter22's review
3.0
A Midwife's Tale provided more of the factual information that I felt was missing after I read The Frozen River, a work of historical fiction. I'm glad that Martha Ballard's diary survived and through her detailed accounts historians recognized that women's work does matter, but reading large sections of her diary came across as scholarly and a little dry. I'm also glad I read both the fiction and nonfiction books, and can better see how there is a place for both books about Martha Ballard and her life.
amyinthewind's review
5.0
The book reads like a docu-drama, and, if you're into that kind of thing, it's excellent. I happen to really enjoy that type of thing. So, this book was a fascinating & enjoyable read for me. Filled with excepts from the midwife's own diary and commentary by Ulrich, A Midwife's Tale tells the story, not only of a midwife, but also her family and her community, local politics, the justice system, and early medicine.
travelsaurus_rex's review
5.0
Just excellent. Both the excerpts of Martha’s diary and the commentary are top notch. I loved this book from beginning to end.