The essays in this book examine the lives of fourteen ordinary Southern women who lived between the end of the Civil War and the mid-20th century--the period of "Southern womanhood" when women were largely restricted to lives centered on the home. The women profiled here are black and white, gentile and Jew, rich and poor, and they include a pioneering African American nurse, a Florida widow, a town founder, a suffragist, and the founder of a hospital for Key West's Cuban community. Their lives show the complexity of what is was to be a woman in the South, and how opportunities for achievement existed for women who were willing to take them. This book will appeal to readers interested in women's history, African American history, and the South. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)