Mary Baker Eddy, Speaking for Herself offers an unprecedented look at the woman hailed in 1907 as "...the most famous, interesting, and powerful woman in America, if not the world" (Human Life magazine). First in a series of books featuring her previously unpublished writings, this is a volume where Eddy's voice is heard as never before.
Mary Baker Eddy's accomplishments as a healer, author, publisher, and founder of an international newspaper and a worldwide movement are extraordinary when viewed in light of her nineteenth-century surroundings. Jana K. Riess, Religion Book Review Editor for Publishers Weekly, notes that Eddy "...persistently enlarged the boundaries of spirituality, womanhood, and medicine more than a century ago. She was a unique, strong, and visionary leader, a product of the nineteenth century who looked into the future and claimed its progress." Dr. Riess's insightful introduction looks at the societal context in which Eddy lived and made her lasting legacy.
As the current interest in spirituality continues to rise, Eddy's bold concepts about spirituality, health, and womanhood are more relevant than ever. In the words of Dr. Riess, "Her personal story could be any of ours, and it inspires us to transcend our circumstances as she did."
Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) broke through the restricting conventions of the nineteenth-century and achieved extraordinary success as an author, publisher, speaker, and church founder. As interest in her main work Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures has soared over the past decade, Eddy is being rediscovered as a powerful voice on spirituality, health, women's leadership, and biblical interpretation.
Jana K Riess has a Ph.D. in American religious history from Columbia University. She holds degrees from Wellesley College and author of The Spiritual Traveler: Boston and New England. She is currently Religion Book Review Editor for Publishers Weekly.