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Summary: A Midwife's Tale was interesting, but tedious.
Review: A Midwife's Tale is chock full of fascinating facts about the life of Martha Ballard, a New England midwife in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Her diary provides the reader a glimpse of her everyday life. It also gives a general idea of the culture of Martha's time. Through the details of her diary, we learn about gender roles, family and community structure, religion and the church, law, medicine, agriculture, and just about every other aspect of life after the American Revolution. The information is interesting, but the reading quickly becomes tedious because of the repetitive nature of Martha's journal entries. I suppose, however, that this accurately reflects Martha Ballard's life.
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Summary: An excellent movie/documentary has been made!!
Review: Althought this is technically not a review, it is related to the book. An excellent movie/documentary has been made of "A Midwife's Tale". It is not the "Ken Burns" type of documentary with stills and photos, it is a live action movie intersperced with interviews of the author. This production is very true to the book and captures it's feeling with great sensitivity.
(The e-mail address of the production company if you wish to write to them for a copy is: BlueHillP@aol.com)
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not a masterpiece
Review: An account of the singular life of one Martha Ballard, post-Revolution midwife extraordinaire, this book manages to rescue from oblivion a fragment of history your average scholar would easily pass over in silence. For that reason alone, it's worth reading. I find it interesting to view history through the eyes of ordinary people, and I'm certainly not poorer for having become acquainted with Martha. But I only wish I could be as enthusastic about this book as are its many admirers. What are the problems here? For one, Ulrich's prose is your standard-issue academic fare--competent but pedestrian. For another, Ulrich perhaps makes too many lofty claims for Martha Ballard's sketchy diary; she tries too hard to convince us that we are indeed dealing with an Important Subject. Ulrich is often convincing as she ties in the musings of the diary with the daily happenings of New England society, but in places it sounds like modern times simply would not have come to pass without elderly Martha Ballard of Hallowell, Maine. One also gets the distinct feeling that the author is determined to view her subject through trendy feminist ideology. Martha's male neighbors and acquaintances are usually portrayed as obnoxious twits, resistant to the humble, earthy wisdom that Martha Ballard personifies. Ulrich is just too obviously on her heroine's side. While discussing the extravagant titles often held by prominent males in the region, Ulrich unloads this priceless complaint: "There were no Committees to Inspect the Kitchens and Gardens of Hallowell, no Packers of Candles or Cullers of Linen Thread, nor was there a Sealer of Reels and Sleighs." Do we need this kind of commentary? This book probably took all kinds of scholarly detective work to pull off; I'm impressed at how much relevant detail the author managed to pick out of Martha's extremely terse diary (portions of which are included at the beginning of each chapter). I give Ulrich an "A" for effort and a "B-" for execution.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Before I read this book, I thought women in the colonial era lived very limited lives, in prescribed roles. Once you come to know Martha Ballard, you'll see that women have always been capable of accomplishing so much. I have recommended this book to nearly every female friend I have -- it's a compelling account of the real life of an intelligent, brave and very human woman. The book helped me understand the symbiotic way men, women, and families interacted and created a viable way in the world. It's a great book and I suggest you buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Before I read this book, I thought women in the colonial era lived very limited lives, in prescribed roles. Once you come to know Martha Ballard, you'll see that women have always been capable of accomplishing so much. I have recommended this book to nearly every female friend I have -- it's a compelling account of the real life of an intelligent, brave and very human woman. The book helped me understand the symbiotic way men, women, and families interacted and created a viable way in the world. It's a great book and I suggest you buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding account of an average person.
Review: Historians of the last two generations have made a point of delving into the everyday lives of average people. This account of one such person is constructed with such skill, not to say brilliance, that one is left in awe of Prof. Ulrich and in admiration of Mrs. Ballard. My wife's midwife liked it, too.
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Summary: fascinating peek into 18th century rural New England life
Review: I attended a lecture by Ms. Ulrich in 1990 when I lived in Hallowell, Maine. I went home and promptly devoured the book! It was fascinating looking down on the Kennebec River and imagining what Martha Ballard must have endured in the harsh environment. It is a sad, touching tale of the hardships experienced by women in those unforgiving times. I watched the PBS American Experience production of this story last night. It was very well done and enjoyable. I highly recommend this book!
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Summary: my neighbor over the fence
Review: I found comfort in Martha. The coming and going of her days passing between my fingers with the turning of the page. I had the good fortune to find this book at the very time I returned to college. One of my classes is an American History class. I spoke to my professer and told him that while he did a fine job telling the facts, Martha filled me in on the "gossip". She made the words and events real. I found the reading of this to be a pleasure,I shared her with anyone who was willing to hear my "Martha" fact of the day and hit a sorrow at realizing the end of the book ment the end of this fine women. Can one grieve and feel a loss for someone unknown that died so long ago? In a way I did. Read the book and keep the spirit of her and all the others alive!
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Summary: This is one of the most interesting nonfictions available.
Review: I had to read this book for World Civilizations II and it was definitely worth it. This book shows a new approach to defining past cultures. Ulrich does a fantastic job of pointing out the important facts and letting the not-so-important facts rest.
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Summary: Now for background...
Review: I picked up Ulrich's book on Martha Ballard for background and to get a better sense of life in New England during this "Dark Age" of American genealogy research. My ancestors, especially the women, are lightly documented during this time period, their lives even less known than their husbands, brothers, and fathers. Martha Ballard (unlike many women) moved around Hallowell, Maine--not across New England into New York and then to Ohio only to be buried at the end of an exhausting life with a wooden marker to mark her contribution. Martha stayed put and recorded her accounts, the weather, her exchanges with neighbors, births, deaths, and the sensational events of her day. Without Martha's record the vast majority of her neighbors and family would lost to history with no record of birth or death, let alone the homely remarks about the pain of losing a child or frustration with a son's less than ideal behavior. This is a wonderful book, not just about Martha's life, but of her time. It helps describe the quality of life among people, their relationships, and interdependence with one another. It adds another dimension to what I understand about my New England antecedents. In particular, it adds hugely to my dim understanding of the shadowy figures of the women...in Martha, they come to life as strong, capable, and a vital part of life in New England. They are not the silent handmaidens of history. As Ulrich points out, without Martha's diary, even her first name might have been questioned by subsequent researchers--this is certainly the case of many women, whose identity became completely submerged in their husband's. The historical research is excellent and well-documented. The writing is solid and communicates clearly without the dry, academic yawn factor. Ulrich presents her point, then supports it. From a historian, I expect no more...nor less. It's an outstanding read.
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