trials of the earth by mary mann hamilton

It was a joy to read about her and her life. So beautiful, told in her own words, this is a special story written and told by a very special person. As each child was born it was a flower added to my garden,Įach a new kind, each needing different care.' They were my flower garden in my hard years of toil and And watching them at times like that gave meĪ thrill. Tending my chickens, or helping the children hoe, my mind wasĪlways with them. 'whether I was sewing, working in the garden, cooking, milking, Often lonely, her husband working, no other woman close by, her children became her solace and joy. 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. Was tired just reading about her day.Īll she ever wanted was a home, but she only had home of her own for a few years.

I am almost ashamed to say she did more in one day than I probably do in a month. 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. My goodness but this woman lived what seems like many lives. One of the first women to homestead in the Mississippi Delta, was there when the Parchment prison system was started. So glad her story has at last been published. Mary Hamilton is a truly remarkable woman, not well known, not famous but remarkable all the same.

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. Eighty-three years later, in partnership with Mary Mann Hamilton's descendants, we're proud to share this irreplaceable piece of American history. It didn't win, and we almost lost the chance to bring this raw, vivid narrative to readers. 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.Īn early draft of Trials of the Earth was submitted to a writers' competition sponsored by Little, Brown in 1933.

Near the end of her life, Mary Mann Hamilton (1866-1936) began recording her experiences in the backwoods of the Mississippi Delta. The astonishing first-person account of a Mississippi pioneer woman struggling to survive, protect her family and make a home in the early American South.

Trials of the earth by mary mann hamilton