The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy and the History of Christian Science

by Georgine Milmine

This controversial biography of the founder of the Christian Science church was serialized in McClure's Magazine in 1907-8 and published as a book the next year. It disappeared almost overnight and has been difficult to find ever since. Although a Canadian mewspaperwoman named Georgine Milmine collected the material and was credited as the author, The Life Of Mary Baker G. Eddy was actually written by Willa Cather, an editor at McClure's at that time.

In his introduction to this Bison Book edition, David Stouck reveals new evidence of Cather's authorship of The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy. He discusses her fidelity to facts and her concern with psychology and philosophy that would take creative form later on. Indeed, this biography contains "some of the finest portrait sketches and reflections on human nature that Willa Cather would ever write."

Also known as:
Mary Baker Eddy
Mary Baker Glover
Mary Baker Glover Eddy

495 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

Reviews

[Kyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must must must read. Willa Cather and Georgine Milmine author this beautiful expose on the life and times of the neurotic, deranged, and overzealous public figurehead of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy. It explores various peculiarities in Eddy's life, including her delusions about a mysterious force known as 'Malicious Animal Magnetism' (and how it allegedly killed her husband), her encounters with a woman who claimed her child was immaculately conceived, her struggles with her own health, and her taking on and losing a multitude of absurd lawsuits. Through public statements and letters, one can easily see that Mary Baker Eddy was angry, bitter, and hateful--far from the rose-colored image Eddy's followers so desperately try to paint her in. I recommend reading a pro-Eddy biography first, then taking on this delicious piece, because it will make the experience all the more enjoyable.