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Trials of the Earth: The Autobiography of Mary Hamilton
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 ro
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Paperback
,
286 pages
Published
January 7th 1993
by University Press of Mississippi
(first published October 1992)
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Community Reviews
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Trials of the Earth is a true account of one of the first settlers of the Mississippi Delta. Mary Hamilton says she thinks she is the first white woman to cross the Sunflower River. Her recollections of this difficult yet fascinating period of history are as detailed as they are honest. If you enjoyed These Is My Words, you will love a nonfiction version of that book.
I grew up in the Delta and often played along the banks of the Sunflower River even though I was forbidden to do so. Reading Hami ...more
I grew up in the Delta and often played along the banks of the Sunflower River even though I was forbidden to do so. Reading Hami ...more
This book is an autobiography of (one of) the first white woman to move into the MIssissippi Delta east of the Sunflower River. She helped clear the woods, farmed, lived in timber camps and small towns around the Tutwiler, Parchman areas. Her tales of the floods, fires, daily life including her backbreaking work are amazing. How she and her mysterious husband raised their children in faith, hard work, love and respect is just as amazing. Their lives were so isolated that her children thought the
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True story. Can you imagine being stranded standing on a tall tree trunk in the woods, holding a baby and another child for hours as water slowly creeps up around your ankles, then shins, waiting for your husband to come in a row boat to save you? This is one of many true story in TRIAL OF THE EARTH.
Loved this book! A friend purchased several copies of this book in Oxford Mississippi and donated one to our library. She volunteers in our library department and has talked about his book over the y ...more
Loved this book! A friend purchased several copies of this book in Oxford Mississippi and donated one to our library. She volunteers in our library department and has talked about his book over the y ...more
Trials of the Earth is an autobiography that recalls the life of Mary Hamilton, which began in Illinois in 1866 and ended in the Mississippi Delta in 1936. Around 1883, her family moves from Missouri to Arkansas where she meets Frank Hamilton, an Englishman with a mysterious past. Although at first she wants nothing to do with him, they eventually get married and are devoted to each other until they are separated by death. During their marriage, they live in Arkansas and parts of the Mississippi
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Jun 22, 2014
Kieraanne
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
book-club-selection
,
non-fiction
This book was much more enjoyable than I imagined it to be upon first hearing about it. I'm not a fan of non-fiction in general (tends to put me to sleep) and autobiographies written from journal entries tend to be piece meal and broken up at best (yes I know it wasn't actually from journal entries, but that was my understanding before reading it). However this was written as a straight forward narrative and as easy to get into as any work of fiction. The only disappointing thing being that sinc
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Absorbing account of pioneering by the 'first white woman to cross the Sunflower River,' as she and her family headed east into the real Mississippi Delta, the geological alluvial fan on either side of the Mississippi River.
Hamilton's endurance put me to shame, and that alone made me endure her long autobiography. I love the spare way she writes, and there is enough detailed description to break up the bleak narrative.
The land was wild and raw and unforgiving in all seasons; Hamilton brings it t ...more
Hamilton's endurance put me to shame, and that alone made me endure her long autobiography. I love the spare way she writes, and there is enough detailed description to break up the bleak narrative.
The land was wild and raw and unforgiving in all seasons; Hamilton brings it t ...more
What a great frontier book. Makes you appreciate all we have today, as well as, all that the "pioneers" endured. Scary & facinating at the same time. Very much worth the read. The Mississippi flood depiction made me take in a huge, terrified breath and hold it, just from the enormous expanse of putting myself there!! It still does when I think of it.
Thank you Aunt Bec. This is not a well polished novel, but an account of the first women pioneers in the Mississippi frontier. I found the account of daily life and hardship truly amazing! The read was even more compelling as the Author was a neighbor and acquaintance of my Grandmother in Yazoo City MS.
Interesting because some of my family went to the Mississippi delta to live. I am sure their life was as hard as Mary's. I recommend reading this book to understand how blessed we are now and how hard life was just a couple of generations ago.
I can only say that at heart, I must be a pioneer because I love nothing better than such a yarn. But wait, Trials of the Earth is a memoir of a woman who settled the Mississippi Delta with her good manners in tact. A lesson for us all.
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Dec 02, 2012 07:46PM