The Women of the House: How a Colonial She-Merchant Built a Mansion, a Fortune, and a Dynasty by Jean Zimmerman

3.75 AVERAGE

buddy524's review against another edition

5.0
I enjoyed this book. Sure it’s not perfect as Zimmerman meanders a bit at times and gets lost in her research. However, paints a great portrait of the time and the family. Incredibly accessible.

magup's review against another edition

4.0
Really interesting history of Margaret Hardenbroeck, a merchant who owned her own fleet of ships and created a business dynasty in the early days of the Dutch colony on Manhattan. It's a shame that so few first-hand clues exist to her personality and temperament, but the government and legal documents that are available do provide enough to indicate that even for a woman of her time (Dutch women were more equal and protected by the laws of their country than British women more common in other colonies) she was driven and successful in a male-dominated field, despite wars, changes in government and status, and all the other challenges a mother of 11 faced in the 17th century.
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pearl35's review against another edition

4.0
A multi-generational study of a Dutch family in colonial New York, centered on the wealth built by several clever and well-endowed wives who managed the trading business, and the abrupt transition from Dutch law (which favored women as property owners and business actors) to English regulation after 1665.

readbooks_fightpatriarchy's review against another edition

4.0
There are few books on women of this era, and this is one of the best