“Scholars and teachers of the nineteenth century owe Carolyn Karcher a great debt for her efforts to bring Lydia Maria Child to the notice of twentieth-century readers. . . [T]his new collection of Child’s writings . . . make[s] Child’s work more available and hence, more teachable. Karcher has grouped her readings topically, arranged them chronologically within each topic, and has provided excellent introductions for each section. This, together with her readable and wide-ranging introduction and a carefully arranged and selected bibliography facilitate the use of the collection in a variety of courses. . . . The publication of . . . A Lydia Maria Child Reader gives us little excuse to continue ignoring such an interesting, accomplished, and important nineteenth-century writer.” — American Studies
“Students and teachers have much to be thankful for with the advent of Carolyn Karcher’s newly compiled and well-documented collection of the works of Lydia Maria Child. This volume is a well-chosen selection from Child’s prodigious production of written works. . . . Yet The Reader is more than a volume of the collected works of a woman heretofore buried in the historical past; it is an engaging involvement with one of America’s foremost women writers who concerned herself with the most important problems of America’s culture. . . . Carolyn Karcher’s considerable research and documentary efforts, excellent representative selection of Child’s work, and careful presentation of Lydia Maria Child’s life serve American scholars and the public admirably.” — H-Net Reviews
“Students, professors, and interested lay readers alike should appreciate the web of letters, short stories, newspaper articles, advice literature, magazine essays, tracts, histories, and children’s stories which reveal the accumulated social and political critiques of this ‘first woman of the republic.’ ” — Journal of Women’s History
“This comprehensive anthology reflects Child’s long, prolific career as journalist and reformer. . . . Much of her work has been buried in inaccessible newspapers and journals, and this collection returns her to the discourse of that century in which she played a vivid part.” — Choice
"Child’s writings are very impressive—and pertinent to the debates of our own day on race, sexual difference, gender, work, and education. Students will find them fascinating, a revelation. Karcher establishes Child as one of the foremost intellectuals of the nineteenth century, a compelling author of an extraordinary range of books and articles on a host of subjects." — William E. Cain, Wellesley College
"One rarely sees a body of documentation as richly varied in important themes. This is a cross-disciplinary treasure, especially since so many of Child’s concerns foreshadowed issues now central to our time." — Sterling Stuckey, University of California, Riverside