Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812

Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 | Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

The absolutely fun moment when you‘re listening to an audiobook while doing some cemetery cleaning and the narrator starts naming names…familiar names…and you realize she‘s reading entries from when your fifth great aunts and uncle were sick with scarlet fever and their sister and her baby died in childbed. #everystorymatters

BarbaraTheBibliophage Wowza 2y

IndoorDame Trippy! 2y

OrangeMooseReads That‘s cool! Weird, yet kind of cool 2y

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Come-read-with-me

Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 | Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

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I recently reread this book. 20 years later the story holds strong. This translation of the history of a small town New England through the eyes of a midwife stands in stark contrast with the popular history of the area. The author is an amazing ethnographer who is able to mine exquisite details from the actual diary of a midwife and illustrate the differences between a woman‘s history that that propagated by the patriarchy.

rather_be_reading hope you got to Canada safely! 🇨🇦 5y

Come-read-with-me Didn‘t make it, but will in August. Spending a great quiet weekend with some amazing books! Thanks for all of your amazing recommendations! 5y

rather_be_reading @Come-read-with-me oh no! but august isnt really tht far away already! remind me on monday to show u how to "tag" ppl. my pleasure! 5y

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abookishbutterfly

A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 | Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

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I am thankful that Martha kept a record of her life, even if the information within the record was sparse, because it caused a gifted historian to dig deeper and preserve Martha‘s memory through A Midwife‘s Tale. The book provided me with an intriguing historical education and respect for Martha‘s dedication, faith, and intelligence.

Overall, I believe I gained immensely through this particular read, despite some of its mundane passages.

lahousewyfe I really enjoyed this one. Bought it at Colonial Williamsburg of all places. Really was quite lovely at that time. 6y

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Megara

A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 | Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

We had an employee 40% of sale so #bookhaul time obviously. 😅

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Caroline2

A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 | Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

So far I have stuck with my New Years resolution of reading more non-fiction books! So buying these books technically does not breach my book buying ban does it! 😉 📚 👏🏻

TrishB Nope....always find an acceptable excuse!! 7y

Caroline2 @TrishB exactly! I‘m always looking for loop holes! 😆 my husband just shakes his head & sighs now! I think I just need to get better at hiding the piles!🤔 7y

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CAGirlReading

A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 | Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

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#canteven describe how fascinating it was to read about the late 18th and early 19th century America from a woman's perspective. It took me about 50 pages to get into it, it was a little dry at first but ended up being a very interesting read! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #junebookbugs

RealLifeReading

pocketmermaid I read portions of this for a women's history class and loved it! 7y

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emilyesears

A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 | Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Thanks to my Mom for buying this off my TBR for my birthday! Meets all my academic interests--diaries, biography, early American history, women's history. Can't wait to get to it soon!

DreesReads Great book!!! 8y

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NovelPairing

A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 | Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

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Happy Thanksgiving!!

I'm so thankful for:
My husband
My boys
My extended family
My friends
All the amazing book lovers
And much more...

This book has actual journal excepts from Martha Ballard, a midwife living in the late 1700's New England. Each chapter starts with the journal excerpt and then a marvelous in-depth review of the history and other circumstances that played into that time and why it was significant. Women are totally awesome.

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