Ruby: An Ordinary Woman

From 1909 to 1969, Ruby Side Thompson, an English housewife and mother of seven sons, kept journals that recorded domestic details and expressed her rich inner life. The excerpts published here extend through 1938. Skillfully edited and annotated by Worster, a historian, and Glaser, a psychologist and Ruby's granddaughter, these diaries document constraints on wives in the early 20th century. The Thompsons lived in England and the U.S. Husband Ted was a perfectionist who kept Ruby financially dependent, belittled her abilities, ignored her sexual needs and forced his religion on her--he was a convert to Roman Catholicism. Overwhelmed by childbearing and rearing, the demands of housework and her husband's emotional cruelty, Ruby found relief by reading widely and writing fiction. After Ted ridiculed her literary efforts, she secretly poured her creativity into her journals. Her candid, witty, intelligent voice will speak to contemporary women and interest historians. (Apr.)