Mistress Bradstreet

January 31, 2005
When Anne Bradstreet (1612?–1672) published her first book of poetry, The Tenth Muse,
in 1650, she called it the "ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain." Yet, as poet Gordon (Two Girls on a Raft
) demonstrates in this plodding and unilluminating biography, Bradstreet uttered those words more out of self-defense than regret. From her adolescence to the publication of her book, the Puritan poet viewed her work as a vocation that enabled her to worship God in vivid homespun images and to express sometimes complex theological ideas in plain language. Gordon depicts Bradstreet as a woman of her time, required to submit to her father and husband in religious and social matters. Gordon demonstrates that Bradstreet nevertheless benefited from the privileges of a literary education. Her family's social and religious circle included the most important figures of the early 17th century, from John Winthrop to Roger Williams. While her book was very popular at its publication, Bradstreet's reputation waned after the Civil War, to be recovered in the 20th century by her influence on poets such as Anne Sexton and John Berryman. Regrettably, Gordon's wearisome focus on the well-known facts of Bradstreet's upbringing leaves little room for a significant exploration of her poetic life and works. 8 pages of b&w illus. not seen by PW.
Agent, Bettne
Bloom.

April 1, 2005
This is a noteworthy attempt to bring Anne Bradstreet, one of America's lesser-known female poets, to light. Gordon's lengthy bibliography attests to the depth of her research; perhaps it was her immersion in the literature and history of Bradstreet's time that allowed Gordon, a poet herself ("When the Grateful Dead Came to St. Louis"), to fill the spaces between facts so confidently. Consequently, Bradstreet's life is well imagined, and it is this quality that makes the book a delightful read. As the pages turn, however, readers can't help but notice that Bradstreet's words and actions are always cast in a positive light, begging the question of whether much critical analysis was done. Ultimately, one's belief in the book is tempered with a measure of skepticism. Recommended as a supplementary source for all collections that contain biographies and critical essays about Bradstreet. -Maria Kochis, California State Univ., Sacramento

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2005
Adult/High School -The early days of colonial New England come to life in this biography. Bradstreet was born in England in 1612, into a prominent Puritan family. Her father taught her to read, write, and compose poetry, unusual activities for a female of those times. In 1630, she and her new husband, her parents, and her siblings made the dangerous journey along with more than 300 others to what is now Massachusetts. Gordon portrays his subject as a complex personality -a dedicated, hardworking mother of eight and loving wife as well as a talented, prolific poet. While her poems dwell mostly on the godliness of the mundane, some of her later work reveals a rebellious spirit, a mind of her own. She wrote in praise of women, such as the -warrior queen - Elizabeth, -an example of the glory of England. - Bradstreet's story unfolds against the backdrop of the settling of the New England frontier and the English Civil War. The author uses conjecture when she writes about the poet's thoughts and reactions, but the historical events on both sides of the Atlantic are well researched and lushly portrayed. Readers will enjoy learning about this fascinating and courageous woman whose ideas helped shape this country." -Susanne Bardelson, Kitsap Regional Library, WA"

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 1, 2005
The first American best-seller was a book of poems by one of Massachusetts' Puritan founders, Anne Dudley Bradstreet (1612-72), favorite daughter of first deputy governor Thomas Dudley and wife of future governor Simon Bradstreet. Gordon discovered Bradstreet when, in her first high-school gig, she had to teach a unit on early American literature and found that the colonial woman's subject matter--the domestic life of a pioneer and the political and religious issues and events of turbulent seventeenth-century England and its colonies--captivated her and, mirabile dictu, her students, too. Here, while she gives Bradstreet's prosodic skill its due, she really expatiates on Bradstreet's life, extrapolating its content and texture not only from Bradstreet's personally reticent writings (no journal or diary is among them) and those of her influential father, his associates, including first Massachusetts governor John Winthrop, and other friends of the Dudley family but also from documentation and research of the techniques of living in Bradstreet's England and Massachusetts--house-building and -keeping, emigration and trade by sea, founding new towns (fortunately, the colonizers already constituted a strong community), childbearing and -rearing, gardening and farming, and social organization and relations with cultural others (Native Americans and French). Written with maximal clarity and communicativeness, this is a vibrant, engaging, realistic portrayal of early colonial Massachusetts and of its fascinating biographical subject.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)