cover image Hearts of Fire: Great Women of American Lore and Legend

Hearts of Fire: Great Women of American Lore and Legend

Kemp Battle. Harmony, $25 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-517-70397-7

Battle wrote this volume to supplement her earlier work, Great American Folklore, which, she believes, did not ""account for the female dimension of American folk life."" The value of this text lies in the astonishing variety of experience lived by American women documented here. Utilizing excellent research skills, Battle draws on memoirs, letters, diaries, legend and historical portraits to tell compelling stories of women from all walks of life, encompassing wives and mothers, women on the frontier, women in wartime, lawbreakers, spiritualists and pioneers. Whenever possible, Battle allows her subjects to speak for themselves and, along with the famous words of Helen Keller and Sojourner Truth, she includes lesser-known writings, such as Anna Howard Shaw's account of moving to the frontier and an excerpt from Lydia Maria Child's Household Hints (1832). Battle has made a significant contribution to women's studies with this interesting collection. (Mar.)