Customer Reviews

The Plantation Mistress: Woman's World in the Old South

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I read this book and found both good and bad points. First, I liked the writing style. The author kept my attention and had some interesting observations. Second, she used letters as primary source documents as the basis for the book.

The main problems I had with the book are that the author failed to write within a specific time frame and the book is one-sided. Ms. Clinton would make a statements about a women living in the one decade and then support the statement with a letter from a woman written fifty years later. Statistics based on sample groups also have the multiple year time gap problems. The time focus should be narrowed. I also believe that the author failed to find a "middle road." This book was too biased and obviously one-sided view for my taste. Granted, times were tough. But, the book had a continual "those poor, poor women" feel to it.

Overall, The Plantation Mistress was an interesting book. I personally just would never use it as a source for a history research project.

Catherine Clinton successfully parts the heavy drapes of Tara to reveal the truth behind the Scarlett myth created from the chimera of charming belles and courtly balls in the antebellum south. In The Plantation Mistress, the author skillfully reconstructs the realities facing a restricted and repressed class of women who have been historically eulogized by Hollywood and the popular press for over 150 years. The premise is simple: the leisure status of the planter's lady is a fairy tale told to spruce up the Lost Cause image. "The planter's wife was in charge not merely of the mansion but the entire spectrum of domestic operations throughout the estate, from food and clothing to the physical and spiritual care of both her white family and her husband's slaves." (Pg. 18)

With a writing style that effectively holds the reader captive, Ms Clinton also douses the romantic candle glow in the bedchamber to shine a more accurate spotlight on the relationships of men and women in this complex and euphemistic society. By artfully weaving contemporary observations such as -- "John Bernard, a British traveler, commented concerning southern women: `The one thing I did not approve of was the juvenile period at which they bloomed and decayed." Pg. 61 -- into the narrative, the author sculpts a dimensional profile of both gender and marital dynamics. Ms Clinton demonstrates that the view from a `lady's pedestal' was tainted by a dark cloud of ennui and the dismal fog of slavery.

A rich trove of letters, diaries and plantation records supports Ms. Clinton's scholarly conclusions without interfering in the textual flow. She also manages the pace of the material with a precision that unfolds each element eloquently and efficiently. I could not put this enlightening book down, as it is more than a treatment of women in the south. It is also a compendium of thought provoking issues, which encompass the horror of slavery as well as the inequality for women in the North.

The highest compliment that I can pay is that The Plantation Mistress did not sate my curiosity, but instead expanded my curiosity to search more thoroughly the intriguing directions pointed out by Ms. Clinton. However, I am positive that the next time I watch Scarlett threaten Miz Ellen's portieres, I will applaud her tenacity for taking charge of her life instead of thinking `the green dress is coming'. The Plantation Mistress in fact convinces me that an energetic, intelligent woman like Scarlett had few options in the old South for achieving any goal except by using subterfuge and manipulation. After reading The Plantation Mistress I want to compliment Scarlett for her determination, instead of slapping her for being a selfish brat.

First, let me state that I have read hundreds of books and have never written a bad review. This book is an exception.

I purchased this book hoping to read facts regarding women on plantations. I was disppointed as this book is based mainly on the writer's view versus historical facts. The book covers the period of 1780-1835. However, the author on multiple occasions refers to the Civil War period. Too much "bouncing" around throughout the years.

Yes, she does quote portions of historical letters but I felt these were used most likely out of context in order to support the writer's point of view without actual facts cited.

The writer's negativity toward other books written on plantation mistresses and their authors, which she refers to frequently in the book, are deplorable. Why mention them at all. It only makes one want to read the books that she things so little of.

Harsh...yes perhaps this review is harsh. Bottom line, I read the book and would not recommend it as good factual reading.

I think the negative reviewers who discredit the book for being biased are, in fact, displaying their own prejudices. I have searched through the available literature on this subject, which is incredibly sparse, and this is the first book I have found that even attempted to portray these women's lives with any detail or realism. The author researched this topic as thoroughly as possible and obviously strives to present a balanced view. I cannot understand the complaint that the author jumps from one time period to another, as I found the book very easy to follow. I suspect that many readers are buying this book expecting a romantic fantasy of plantation life. If you really want to know what life was like for a plantation misress - read this book.

An excellent and eye-opening book about the real lives the southern plantation women led. Far from the life of leisure, women were really prisoners of the southern male system of presenting a gracious, though false view, of the plantation home life. The romantic view of the plantation mistress is thoroughly dispelled in this book! The author's presentation is backed with statistics and correspondence of that period. The author's style of writing takes you from beginning to end effortlessly in a spellbinding manner. Her writing is superb! If you are a woman, after completing this book you can't help but breathe a sigh of relief that you weren't born to lead the life of a plantation mistress!

The author gives a fascinating insight into the world of the plantation mistress, which has been a subject of much romantic myth. She dispells this by quoting correspondence from women of the time, and summarising the dilemmas and problems faced by these ladies. She effectively dispells the notion that women of the Old South led idle, glamorous lives and shows, in eloquent style, the exhausting, often isolated existence they led. I believe this book is a wonderful introduction to the lives of women of the Old South and has increased my interest in other related areas, such as the lives of Black slave women.

This is an amazing example of what I've only heard about heretofore: The feminist attribution of motives that probably didn't even enter the minds of the plantation ladies Ms. Clinton has written about. Her research sample is small and perhaps overused, but quite interesting when letters are included in the text, and therefore there is some worth to the work. Often foolish, this book says more about the author's politics than the lives of plantation mistresses.

I enjoy reading about women in history and their roles in society. Southern history is an especially interesting topic for me. Ms. Clinton paints a clear picture of the plantation mistresses of the south, but I find it hard to sympathize with these women. In comparison to the lives of black women who were slaves at this time, the plantation mistress had it pretty good. They weren't expected to perform hard labor and they didn't have to worry about their husbands selling their children and families away. The southern ladies were able to come and go as they pleased, and were placed on a very high pedestal in society. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if there wasn't such a "poor pitiful white woman" undertone throughout the chapters. Although this book contains many details of the life of a plantation mistress, it didn't really contain any information that was new to me.

Most people know what they want when buying, and when completing a set like I was, most importantly was the shape and condition. The seller was correct and honest in his or her description which I find admirable. Thank you. I highly recommend this seller.

The Plantation Mistress by Catherine Clinton was an overall good book, and I recommend it for anyone interested in the lives of women in the Old South. I read it for a school project, however it was actually interesting. Some parts were boring, andthe author went into too much detail about some aspects of the life of a southern women, but other parts were really interesting. You will finish the book with a greater appreciation for women's status today, and a better understanding of women's role during the period 1780-1835. AN enjoyable read considering its a history book!!