Introduction Summary and Analysis

This work, published in 1932, takes place from 1646 through 1724. The book presents an historical, non-fictional autobiography of Gluckel of Hameln as a Jewish mother and successful businesswoman. She bears fourteen children and raises twelve from infancy through betrothal and marriage to adulthood and the death of some. Gluckel is a faithful and fully God-fearing seventeenth century traditional woman who sets the gold standard for contemporary feminism.

Robert S. Rosen notes in his introduction that Gluckel's "Memoirs" are an invaluable reference source for historians and others interested in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Gluckel writes the book as therapy to recuperate from the untimely death of her husband in 1690. She believes writing it can help lessen her melancholy and get her through sleepless nights. Gluckel writes the story for her children to read as a chronicle of her life. However the story of...