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    Trials of the Earth: The True Story of a Pioneer Woman
    Trials of the Earth: The True Story of a Pioneer Woman
    Trials of the Earth: The True Story of a Pioneer Woman
    Audiobook10 hours

    Trials of the Earth: The True Story of a Pioneer Woman

    Written by Mary Mann Hamilton

    Narrated by Barbara Benjamin Creel

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The astonishing first-person account of Mississippi pioneer woman struggling to survive, protect her family, and make a home in the early American South.

    Near the end of her life, Mary Mann Hamilton (1866 - c.1936) began recording her experiences in the backwoods of the Mississippi Delta. The result is this astonishing first-person account of a pioneer woman who braved grueling work, profound tragedy, and a pitiless wilderness (she and her family faced floods, tornadoes, fires, bears, panthers, and snakes) to protect her home in the early American South.

    An early draft of Trials of the Earth was submitted to a writers' competition sponsored by Little, Brown in 1933. It didn't win, and we almost lost the chance to bring this raw, vivid narrative to readers. Eighty-three years later, in partnership with Mary Mann Hamilton's descendants, we're proud to share this irreplaceable piece of American history. Written in spare, rich prose, Trials of the Earth is a precious record of one woman's extraordinary endurance and courage that will resonate with readers of history and fiction alike.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateJul 12, 2016
    ISBN9781478932567
    Trials of the Earth: The True Story of a Pioneer Woman

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    Reviews for Trials of the Earth

    3.5/5

    45 ratings7 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Mary tells the story of her life. It was a very hard life, full of tragedy. She marries Frank because it was what her family wanted. She came to love him very much. I found it rather depressing with all the struggles they went though.
    • 3/5
      Fascinating story of a woman's day-to-day life in the late 1800's early 1900s.
    • 3/5
      Trials of the Earth is the autobiography of Mary Mann Hamilton, born in Arkansas around 1866. Her family ran a boarding house, where she met and married one of the guests, an Englishman with a mysterious past. After marrying, she and husband Frank moved to Missouri and then to Mississippi, where the majority of the story is set. They lived and worked near logging camps, and later switched to farming.

      I value this book for its historical significance. It is a time capsule of sorts and would make excellent reference material for those writing historical fiction about the era to get a feel for what life was truly like. And life was hard: hauling water, time-consuming constant cooking, building your own house, dealing with storms, floods, fires, wild animals (panthers, wolves, feral pigs), eating squirrels and bear meat. It was a common occurrence for babies and young children to die. Accidents and disease were commonplace. Doctors lived far away and sometimes did more harm than good, and there were few ways to communicate with anyone.

      This memoir provides a picture of a pioneering life in the deep south about 30 to 40 years after the American civil war ended. It is reflective of the time and place, so expect to encounter racism, racial slurs, ethnic stereotyping, and then-common physical disciplining of children. Hamilton makes many generic pronouncements of her opinions stated as facts.

      Contrary to the blurb, I found the writing lacking. Hamilton focuses on what happened, but little on why or how she felt about it. The style is blunt, rambling, and full of superfluous details. Having said that, I feel I should not be too hard on this author, since she never set out to be a writer and had a limited education. She was convinced by a friend to write her memories down, which she did in 1933, close to the end of her life. This book was published posthumously in 1992.
    • 4/5
      I found pretty much everything about this book fascinating, from the story of its publication (manuscript lost for 60 years) to the mystery of Mary Mann Hamilton's husband, to the stirring and straightforward narrative of a hard-working life in a new country. While her life has turns happy, tragic, harrowing and outright horrifying (her vignettes about their African American neighbors), it also illustrates the great strength in keeping a cheerful and loving house despite every challenge -- something that I think we should value more today.

      Advanced readers copy provided by Edelweiss.
    • 5/5
      Amazing true story about a 17 year old girl, Mary , who married a British man about 30 who was very secretive about his linage but from his life, appeared to be an honest, intelligent and generous man. This wrenching memoir of love, courage, and survival was waiting to he told. Withheld for almost a lifetime, it is a tragic story of a woman's trial of surviving against brutal odds. Near the end of her life Mary Hamilton (1866-c.1936) was urged to record this astonishing narrative. It is the only known first-hand account by an ordinary woman depicting the extraordinary routines demanded in this time and this place. She reveals the unbelievably arduous role a woman played in the taming of the Delta wilderness, a position marked by unspeakably harsh, bone-breaking toil.
    • 4/5
      Mary Hamilton is a truly remarkable woman, not well known, not famous but remarkable all the same. So glad her story has at last been published. One of the first women to homestead in the Mississippi Delta, was there when the Parchment prison system was started. My goodness but this woman lived what seems like many lives. Worked to incredibly hard, first feeding many in the camps, then the fields, bore seven children, though all did not live, picked, built, canned, sewed, anything to insure the survival of her family. I am almost ashamed to say she did more in one day than I probably do in a month. Was tired just reading about her day.

      All she ever wanted was a home, but she only had home of her own for a few years. She and her husband needed to go where the work was, her husband not in the best health, they often picked up and moved, from one property to another. Often lonely, her husband working, no other woman close by, her children became her solace and joy.

      "whether I was sewing, working in the garden, cooking, milking,
      tending my chickens, or helping the children hoe, my mind was
      always with them. And watching them at times like that gave me
      a thrill. They were my flower garden in my hard years of toil and
      loneliness. As each child was born it was a flower added to my garden,
      each a new kind, each needing different care."

      So beautiful, told in her own words, this is a special story written and told by a very special person. It was a joy to read about her and her life. Not easy, often stress laden, sadness and joy but an honorable and honest life lived to the fullest.
    • 5/5
      I was introduced to this autobiography at a novel study from a local college and it is one of the best autobiographies I have ever read. Mary Hamilton tells the story of her life in the Mississippi Delta (1866-1936) to Helen Davis in 1932, who asks Mary to record her memories. A year later, Mary gave Helen a manuscript of about 150,000 words. Married at a young age, Mary lived in lumber camps and cooked for the men who were in the lumber crews. Fighting poverty and trying to provide for her children, Mary faces the hardships of life with a quiet strength and determination.








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