The living of Maisie Ward /

Historian Greene (St. Mary's College, MD) provides a lucid, readable biography of Ward (1889-1975), Catholic biographer and spiritual writer, publisher (cofounder of Sheed and Ward), pioneering Catholic street preacher, and social activist. Parts of Ward's story have been told before, notably by her son Wilfrid Sheed in Frank and Maisie: A Memoir with Parents (1985). Greene's carefully contextualized biography supplements Wilfrid Sheed's portrait of his mother in important ways. Greene interweaves women's history with modern Catholic history. She compares Ward's experience with that of Vera Britain and Dorothy Sayers and describes Ward's friendships with Catholic luminaries such as G.K. Chesterton, Hilaire Belloc, Dorothy Day, and Caryll Houselander. This book is a superb addition to the growing body of scholarship on modern Catholic laywomen. Greene's biography leaves readers with an enriched understanding of the changing world and church in which Ward lived, as well an appreciation of the complexities and gifts of a woman who made her mark on the church and her world. General; undergraduate; graduate; faculty. D. Campbell; Colby College

Greene (history, St. Mary's Coll.) focuses on Ward's major contribution to the history of modern-day Catholicism. She traces the development of this "granddaughter of the Oxford movement" throughout her career as publisher, writer, and social activist. Central to Greene's biography is Ward's relationship with her husband and business partner, Frank Sheed. Together they founded Sheed and Ward publishers, which "catapulted them into the Catholic intellectual revival" and enabled them to influence 20th-century Catholicism by publishing those who would become the major theologians of Vatican II. Greene's book is well written and documented but suffers from occasional errors of fact (e.g., Pope Pius X was succeeded by Benedict XV, not XIV). Nonetheless, this is an important work about a subject on whom little else is available, other than an informal memoir by Ward's son, Wilfred Sheed (Frank and Maisie: A Memoir with Parents, 1985). Recommended for academic and larger public libraries.‘Denise J. Stankovics, Rockville P.L., Vernon, Ct. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.