This book does a masterful job of performing the task identified in the book's subtitle—it is a guided tour of the life and work of Anne Bradstreet, conducted by a wonderfully talented tour guide. This edition of the poet's poetry and prose does everything right: it provides a full introduction to the poet and her times, it includes an enticing array of illustrations from the poet's era, it presents the individual poems and prose pieces in a reader-friendly form with brief introductions to each text, and it includes a nicely selective bibliography of sources at the end. For anyone wishing to acquire or renew an acquaintance with Anne Bradstreet, this is the book of choice.

Author  Heidi L. Nichols is Assistant Professor of English at Lancaster Bible College. Ph.D. Literature and Criticism, Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the Society for the Study of American Women Writers. She and her husband Steve have two children.