This is Ulrich’s first book, published in 1980. Unlike her other two,
The Age of Homespun and A Midwife’s Tale,
she broadens her scope to
encompass most of what is known about women’s lives during the late 17th
and early 18th century. It is an examination of the reality of women’s
lives and how it compared to the Puritan ideals of wife, mother and
woman. Ulrich’s use of primary materials and the stories of real women is
fascinating and, as with the other two books she has written, her writing
is crisp and clean. The early half of the book dealing with the role of
woman as Bathsheba was particularly good. I should clarify that the
Puritans saw Bathsheba as the mother of Solomon whom he idealized in
Proverbs 31:10-31, rather than David’s tempting bather on the housetop.
I enjoyed the book a great deal and if you are a reader of colonial
history, I would certainly look it up. It has perspectives not normally
found in the more traditional history of the times.