Anne M. Butler (1938–2014)

5058. Across God's Frontiers Catholic Sisters in the American West, 1850-1920, by Anne M. Butler (read 27 Aug 2013) This book is well-researched and covers a lot of information about Sisters in the United States during the years indicated in its title. But it is kind of episodic, and jumps around a lot, sometimes in the same paragraph. The picture given impels one to much admiration for the Sisters during the time involved, many giving of themselves in truly heroic mode--with far too little show more appreciation not only by the people they did so much for, but also by priests and bishops in the areas where the Sisters worked. And one comes to feel the book merely scratches the surface. since, for instance, the Sisters who were so prominent in my family and in my own education do not even get a mention. It is an unusual study, and gives rise to admiration and to regret that the Sisters had so much struggle and work and often their reward was mostly in Heaven.. show less

I am giving this book four stars but with caveats. The 4-Stars are for being perhaps the most accessible study of prostitutes in this era. Certainly I have run across no other book that actually presents 'facts' and statistics, and Ms. Butler has certainly done her research and examined a variety of sources in order to produce a picture of this little studied area.

The Problems:

The author has an annoying habit of repeating herself. She will make a statement and then in the next sentence make show more the same statement again using slightly different words.

The author uses language that is 'emotionally' loaded and fails to keep a proper academic distance from the topic. We don't need to be hit over the head to realize that most of these women lived dreadful lives. The facts speak for themselves.

The author also appears to leap to conclusions that are not necessarily apparent -- at least not to me. Perhaps she has come to this conclusion as a result of extensive studies she has made, but if that is so the evidence is not presented (in my opinion) in such a way as to reach the level of 'proof'.

Summary:

By this time you are probably wondering why I gave an overall rating of 4-Stars given the problems I've listed. The fact is that there is no other source that comes close to being as authoritative. And if you can overlook the faults this is a tremendous study well worth reading.

Pam T
PageinHistory.com show less

This book is interesting, if a little dry. I haven't encountered a lot of serious writing on prostitution during this period, and I think this book could at least point you in the right direction if you're looking to do further research.

EXTREMELY dry. It followed the classic essay formula in each chapter: Introduction where you begin with a broad statement and narrow down to your thesis sentence, 2 supporting topics, restate your thesis. The supporting paragraphs were statistic tallies of her extensive research. It did convey how miserable these women's lives were, how few chances, how little opportunity, how awful.