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61 reviews for:
Trials of the Earth: The Autobiography of Mary Hamilton
Mary Mann Hamilton, Helen Dick Davis
3.72 AVERAGE
61 reviews for:
Trials of the Earth: The Autobiography of Mary Hamilton
Mary Mann Hamilton, Helen Dick Davis
3.72 AVERAGE
I found pretty much everything about this book fascinating, from the story of its publication (manuscript lost for 60 years) to the mystery of Mary Mann Hamilton's husband, to the stirring and straightforward narrative of a hard-working life in a new country. While her life has turns happy, tragic, harrowing and outright horrifying (her vignettes about their African American neighbors), it also illustrates the great strength in keeping a cheerful and loving house despite every challenge -- something that I think we should value more today.
Advanced readers copy provided by Edelweiss.
Advanced readers copy provided by Edelweiss.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5 stars for me. Hamilton bluntly recounts the story of her rough twists and turns and seemingly endless struggles as a pioneering woman--running a boardinghouse for men clearing the land in Arkansas and of being one of the first white homesteaders in the Mississippi Delta in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She relied on her own secret diaries to plainly detail the daily backbreaking work and minutiae of survival in those years, sudden shifts in fortune, mystery of her English husband's dark past, and desperate fight to live through daily dangers and troubles.
The insight into life as a "pioneer woman" was interesting. But the writing left something to be desired. Its written by Mary Mann Hamilton herself, yet her writing were never intended to be published as a novel, she was just writing bits of her life stories to her friend. That said, it reads like a rambling story that you wish she'd just get to the point.
Also multiple times she mentions that she loves her husband more than her children and I couldn't get passed that. At one point, her husband gets arrested and she said watching him get arrested was more painful than when 3 of her children's deaths combined. ??
Also multiple times she mentions that she loves her husband more than her children and I couldn't get passed that. At one point, her husband gets arrested and she said watching him get arrested was more painful than when 3 of her children's deaths combined. ??
I can think of 1 other book I steered and didn’t finish. I almost gave up on this on at about 85 pages. It was difficult to read in that it was choppy stories about her life. I stuck with it and finished. It did get much better and I found myself wanting finish to see what happened. No doubt she had a tough life and a story worth telling. I would give almost 3 stars, if the writing flowed better I would gave it more.
2018 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge: A book of colonial or postcolonial literature
This ended up due back to the library before I finished it. The voice is a little rough, it is literally the memoirs of a woman who lived a very rough life as a pioneer in the South. Story is engaging, narration could be a little smoother. Good adult historical pick.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
Another one I almost put down a few pages in but TG I didn't. This is a gorgeous beautiful book. It's a testament to the love a woman has for her family. There are so many things to say I don't even know how to start.
Mary Mann Hamilton was not well educated or well off. She suffered countless tragedies yet through it all, her nobility of character, her keen intelligence, and her ability to find happiness in the most meager of circumstances shines through. What a wonderful legacy her story is for her descendants; in fact, for us all. For many of our ancestors must have possessed indomitable spirits as well, because we are here!
Mary is a shining example of human spirit, a light and inspiration. Not only is her story interesting, it is inspiring. When I have problems in my life, I will try to remember the lessons I learned from her - "I just had to rely on my common sense, believing that as we sewed, so we would reap." She worked harder than I will ever work in my life, both physically and also mentally by maintaining her cheer and humor no matter how exhausted she was so that her children would grow up to be happy adults. She and her husband Frank (despite some problems) seemed to be wonderful parents.
I would almost say this is a primer, a book I will remind myself to find the humor and joy in the small things in life, and to meet life with grace no matter what happens. It is also a glimpse of a time that is gone in America.
Mary Mann Hamilton was not well educated or well off. She suffered countless tragedies yet through it all, her nobility of character, her keen intelligence, and her ability to find happiness in the most meager of circumstances shines through. What a wonderful legacy her story is for her descendants; in fact, for us all. For many of our ancestors must have possessed indomitable spirits as well, because we are here!
Mary is a shining example of human spirit, a light and inspiration. Not only is her story interesting, it is inspiring. When I have problems in my life, I will try to remember the lessons I learned from her - "I just had to rely on my common sense, believing that as we sewed, so we would reap." She worked harder than I will ever work in my life, both physically and also mentally by maintaining her cheer and humor no matter how exhausted she was so that her children would grow up to be happy adults. She and her husband Frank (despite some problems) seemed to be wonderful parents.
I would almost say this is a primer, a book I will remind myself to find the humor and joy in the small things in life, and to meet life with grace no matter what happens. It is also a glimpse of a time that is gone in America.