The Remarkable Mrs. Ripley : The Life of Sarah Alden Bradford Ripley

Goodwin, Joan W.

ISBN 10: 161168031X / ISBN 13: 9781611680317

Published by Dartmouth College, 2011

About this Item

Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

Seller Inventory # 53624855-6

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Remarkable Mrs. Ripley : The Life of Sarah Alden Bradford Ripley
• Publisher: Dartmouth College
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 161168031X
• ISBN 13: 9781611680317
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Good
• Weight: 1.382 pounds

About this title

Synopsis

A contemporary of Emerson, Hawthorne, the Alcotts, and other New England Renaissance figures, Sarah Alden Bradford Ripley (1793–1867) is largely unknown to today’s readers. Although she left no published works, Sarah is frequently mentioned in letters and journals written by her fellow intellectuals. She was a self-educated classical scholar who was well versed in languages and the sciences, ran a boarding school with her Unitarian minister husband to prepare boys for Harvard College, and raised seven children. Legend has it that she simultaneously rocked a cradle, shelled peas, heard one boy recite his Latin and another, his Greek. In this first biography of the remarkable Mrs. Ripley, Joan W. Goodwin draws on Sarah’s letters and the writings of her contemporaries to paint as full a picture as possible of a compelling figure known until now only as a literary footnote. Goodwin reveals the inner drama of a woman’s lonely struggle to reconcile the liberal Christian worldview with her own increasing skepticism, and her traditional domestic role with the pursuit of intellectual attainments. The author’s skillful presentation of primary materials allows Sarah to speak to the reader in her own voice, particularly through her correspondence with Mary Moody Emerson and Abigail Allyn Francis, lending insight into the anguish that shaped much of her life. In a biography as distinctive as the celebrated woman it depicts, the author re-creates the life and times of Mrs. Ripley and rescues an overlooked New Englander from obscurity. This is a captivating story that will appeal to historians and general readers alike.

About the Author

JOAN W. GOODWIN (1926–2006) was an independent scholar who worked for several years for the Unitarian Universalist Association.