This book is a resaerch report... and is written in that format! There are many interesting details in it.. that are all well documented. This is a book club selection for our book club as we are having a luncheon at an old plantation this week. I did not realize it was a research report until I had the book and began reading it... I greatly enjoyed learning a lot, but I probably would not have kept reading it except for the book club commitment because of the format and it is really outside my research areas of interest. This book was written by a good researcher who does not live in the south. As a result she seems to have developed an objective view. She has used many resources and all are cited to develop the ideas. This is an important research paper about history where there are many myths... and very little has been written about the real life of women at that time. Usually books show the glorified life of a Plantation Mistress. People always think of the lady of a large plantation as having a life of leisure and supportive care - which is not true. A Plantation Mistress actually lived a hard life with many responsibilities, usually arriving in this management situation without any training or experience. This is not a leisurely read... but a revelation of a Plantation Mistress' life. I am glad I did read this book in retrospect..particularly as a southern woman living in the south, it has increased my undestanding of what has gone before.