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A Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

A Midwife's Tale

The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 (pulitzer Prize Winner)

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group · Print & ebook · June 4, 1991

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • Drawing on the diaries of one woman in eighteenth-century Maine, "A truly talented historian unravels the fascinating life of a community that is so foreign, and yet so similar to our own" (The New York Times Book Review).

Women's LivesLives in MedicineNew England Historybook club
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Who it’s for
A diary opens onto one woman’s work and the rhythms of her Maine community.
Themes
Women's lives, Midwifery and healing, Community and domestic life
Genres
New England History, Women's Lives, Lives in Medicine

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About this book

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • Drawing on the diaries of one woman in eighteenth-century Maine, "A truly talented historian unravels the fascinating life of a community that is so foreign, and yet so similar to our own" (The New York Times Book Review). Between 1785 and 1812 a midwife and healer named Martha Ballard kept a diary that recorded her arduous work (in 27 years she attended 816 births) as well as her domestic life in Hallowell, Maine.

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On the basis of that diary, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich gives us an intimate and densely imagined portrait, not only of the industrious and reticent Martha Ballard but of her society. At once lively and impeccably scholarly, A Midwife's Tale is a triumph of history on a human scale.

History Up Close

A diary opens onto one woman’s work and the rhythms of her Maine community.

Come here for

  • An intimate portrait grounded in Martha Ballard’s diary
  • Everyday labor seen at human scale

Expect

  • Lively, closely researched history
  • A view of domestic life and community from 1785 to 1812

Where it sits

Lives in Medicine44%
Women's Lives43%
New England History32%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Women's Lives
  • Revolutionary America (1775-1800)
  • Women's Studies
Authors
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Publisher
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published
June 4, 1991
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Women's lives · Midwifery and healing · Community and domestic life
Reading lane
Women's Lives