Elizabeth De Wolfe's recent book on Shaker marriage reviewed by Sunday Telegram

Elizabeth De Wolfe's latest book, Domestic Broils: Shakers, Antebellum Marriage, and the Narratives of Mary and Joseph Dyer (University of Massachusetts Press), was reviewed in the Maine Sunday Telegram, Jan. 30, 2011 by William David Barry. De Wolfe, "in a rather short span of time, made a vivid and arguably lasting impact on the shape of and approach to regional history," Barry writes. "De Wolfe's growing knowledge makes this book and its predecessor two of the most important Shaker documents. ... The new perspective set by De Wolfe on the importance of family and individuals and their influence on local, regional and national affairs has not gone unnoticed. A younger generation of historians has taken up newspaper research, leading to the discovery of forgotten occurrences that did change things and that, if the historian is willing to be creative and work hard at locating manuscript sources, will actually change the way we see things." He concludes that "this is history at its most readable, poignant and I would argue, most important." De Wolfe is professor and chair of the UNE Department of History. She is the author of several books, including Shaking the Faith: Women, Family, and Mary Marshall Dyer’s Anti-Shaker Campaign, 1815-1867  and The Murder of Mary Bean and Other Stories.