Presents the life of Martha Ballard, a midwife in Maine during the eighteenth century, by drawing on the detailed diary she kept for twenty-seven years of her life

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE Drawing on the diaries of one woman in eighteenth-century Maine, this intimate history illuminates the medical practices, household economies ...

Martha Ballard was a midwife and medical practitioner. Her diary recounts the sensational events of her neighborhood--whether it be the ex-minister's wife charging a local ...