Day at a Time: The Diary Literature of American Women Writers from 1764 to the Present

Despite editor's comments that unnecessarily nudge the reader toward obvious and broad conclusions, these excerpts from diaries composed over the past two centuries by 29 American women are a delightful treasure trove for those interested in the variety of women's experiences in the United States. Here are people from different classes, social levels, ethnic backgrounds. One woman describes her trip West to Oregon, at one point ""over the worst road that was ever made.'' A Victorian woman tells of her stormy courtships``I believe I am too glad and happy to be alive!'' Eslanda Goode Robeson, wife of Paul Robeson, writes of a bigot encountered during a trip through colonial Africa: ``Why am I sorry for this pitiful `superior' European?'' An 18th century woman recalls her husband's incest with their daughter: ``But as to my living with him in the most endearing relation any longer, after such horrid crimes, I did not see that I could, or ought to do it!'' A rich, eloquent collection. December