Mariel's review

The Women of the House: How a Colonial She-Merchant Built a Mansion, a Fortune, and a Dynasty
by Jean Zimmerman

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1786440.The_Women_of_the_House_How_a_Colonial_She_Merchant_Built_a_Mansion_a_Fortune_and_a_Dynasty?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Women of the House: How a Colonial She-Merchant Built a Mansion, a Fortune, and a Dynasty" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1188334845m/1786440.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1786440.The_Women_of_the_House_How_a_Colonial_She_Merchant_Built_a_Mansion_a_Fortune_and_a_Dynasty?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Women of the House: How a Colonial She-Merchant Built a Mansion, a Fortune, and a Dynasty</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/218080.Jean_Zimmerman">Jean Zimmerman</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8179584?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 3 of 5 stars My students were assigned this book, and from my informal survey about 15 out of 75 actually read it. But the ones who did said that they found it much more readable than the textbook (high praise?), so I hope that if they open it, they will get something out of it. Zimmerman traces the descendents of a Dutch woman who came to New Amsterdam in 1659, had a family while building a merchant empire and left a fortune for her husband and children. In some ways, it reads like a novel, which I found frustrating at times because we don't really know if Margaret gazed off into the distance, envisioning her future house and the realization of her dreams. Footnote please? Citation? But I am willing to accept that the Prof. approved it and has no problem with her evidence, which is mostly pulled from other secondary sources. I concede. What is useful about this is the way it discusses the rights and independence of women under the Dutch, and the gradual contraction of rights as successive generations bowed to British rule. There is some interesting social history eked out along the way (like how Dutch women dealt with menstruation) and the evolution of the family is quite interesting. As Margaret's enterprise moves from importing Dutch goods to importing slaves to complete dependence on the slave trade, the personalities become less compelling and less sympathetic. I will be interested to see how my students react to the change from an independent woman who enjoyed greater independence than they thought possible for a woman outside of their own experience to an indifferent slave trafficker. I like that it is readable, that it has far greater to engage this particular audience more than their poor unread textbook, and that the information it gives is solid about Dutch women and their devolution under British rule. I am concerned that they will not see Margaret's experience as exceptional and that they will not be able to connect this story with the larger historical narrative. We'll see. 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/293695?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Mariel's review
rating:

bookshelves: history-general
recommended for: my students: for the love of God, do your homework
status: Read in October, 2007

My students were assigned this book, and from my informal survey about 15 out of 75 actually read it.

But the ones who did said that they found it much more readable than the textbook (high praise?), so I hope that if they open it, they will get something out of it.

Zimmerman traces the descendents of a Dutch woman who came to New Amsterdam in 1659, had a family while building a merchant empire and left a fortune for her husband and children.

In some ways, it reads like a novel, which I found frustrating at times because we don't really know if Margaret gazed off into the distance, envisioning her future house and the realization of her dreams. Footnote please? Citation? But I am willing to accept that the Prof. approved it and has no problem with her evidence, which is mostly pulled from other secondary sources. I concede.

What is useful about this is the way it discusses the rights and independence of women under the Dutch, and the gradual contraction of rights as successive g...more My students were assigned this book, and from my informal survey about 15 out of 75 actually read it.

But the ones who did said that they found it much more readable than the textbook (high praise?), so I hope that if they open it, they will get something out of it.

Zimmerman traces the descendents of a Dutch woman who came to New Amsterdam in 1659, had a family while building a merchant empire and left a fortune for her husband and children.

In some ways, it reads like a novel, which I found frustrating at times because we don't really know if Margaret gazed off into the distance, envisioning her future house and the realization of her dreams. Footnote please? Citation? But I am willing to accept that the Prof. approved it and has no problem with her evidence, which is mostly pulled from other secondary sources. I concede.

What is useful about this is the way it discusses the rights and independence of women under the Dutch, and the gradual contraction of rights as successive generations bowed to British rule. There is some interesting social history eked out along the way (like how Dutch women dealt with menstruation) and the evolution of the family is quite interesting. As Margaret's enterprise moves from importing Dutch goods to importing slaves to complete dependence on the slave trade, the personalities become less compelling and less sympathetic. I will be interested to see how my students react to the change from an independent woman who enjoyed greater independence than they thought possible for a woman outside of their own experience to an indifferent slave trafficker.

I like that it is readable, that it has far greater to engage this particular audience more than their poor unread textbook, and that the information it gives is solid about Dutch women and their devolution under British rule. I am concerned that they will not see Margaret's experience as exceptional and that they will not be able to connect this story with the larger historical narrative. We'll see. ...less

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message 1: by Melissa

10/27/2007 02:37PM

The term "she-merchant" makes me extremely uncomfortable. Kinda like "She-Hulk." In fact, I don't think that "She-" is ever an acceptable prefix.