...a riveting and instructive read ... Hamilton is a natural-born storyteller, and her narrative never lags. She also has a sense for the telling detail ... [some] stories are unsettling, but they are part of the historical record. Hamilton’s first-person accounts are important testimonials about what used to be.
There’s nothing fine about the writing, nor provocative about her thoughts. But Hamilton’s matter-of-factness wins you over almost immediately, and unexpectedly. She can tell a story — carving fields from a wilderness of cane and snakes, living among panthers and wild hogs, losing children to death, and all with a husband who has a secret that remains just out of reach ... Most remarkably, this book somehow enables a reader not to feel abject guilt at complaining about the temperature of their latte, but only a genuine gratefulness and admiration for those who went before.
...despite her stoic cheerfulness, Mary is a blunt and candid narrator, especially when it comes to the relationship at the heart of the book: her complicated marriage to Frank Hamilton ... it's impossible not to root for this woman, who went years without seeing other women or children, and confronted their deaths, as she confronted everything else, alone.
...there’s not a whiff of self-aggrandizement or a hint of a woe-is-me mindset — a welcome departure from many of today’s memoirs. With every sentence, she indicates she believes her life was as routine as spring dandelions and as unremarkable as water flowing downhill ... underscores the huge power of unvarnished storytelling. And it reminds us of a time when even those who were uneducated could compel us.
...an inspiring read ... This compelling autobiography is fast-paced, detailed and fascinating. Modern women will marvel at Hamilton’s gruelling daily schedule ... Read Trials of the Earth. You’ll be inspired by the sensible pioneer’s capacity to cheerfully adapt to adverse circumstances. Mary Hamilton thrived in trying conditions that would break most people’s hearts.
...it's the backstory that will first grab a reader, but it's Hamilton's gift for storytelling in her blunt voice that makes this memoir such a standout ... Hamilton's sprawling recollections of pioneer life add to the historical value of Trials of the Earth, even if some sections are ugly and tough to read.
