Review by Choice Review
Eleven essays with an introduction by Greenfield provide a chronological look at information and ideas about motherhood's political relevance in the UK and the US, with some comments on current problems. Analyses of family life are not new (e.g., Lawrence Stone's The Family, Sex, and Marriage in England, 1500-1800, CH, May'78), but these essays offer fresh and vigorous arguments for the challenges maternal roles present to social values. Whether as a result of editorial rigor or of the editors' shrewd choice of well-qualified contributors, the volume has a consistent authority of tone and commitment to the subject that make it a delight to read. Especially pleasing is the range of material--the "maternal epistle" in Kimberly Latta's essay on Anne Bradstreet; cookbooks in Julie Costello's on Maria Edgeworth; Malthus and population growth in both Anita Levy's and Josephine McDonagh's essays; the slave narrative in Ann Gelder's discussion of Harriet Jacobs. Greenfield (Fordham Univ.) has contributed frequently to academic journals. Barash (Seton Hall Univ.) is the author of English Women's Poetry, 1649-1714 (CH, Sep'97). Recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above in a variety of disciplines. J. Wilkinson; Youngstown State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
