One Glorious Ambition Book Review

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One Glorious Ambition: The Compassionate Crusade of Dorothea Dix by Jane Kirkpatrick is a historical novel based off of the true life story of Dorothea Dix. The start of the book drew me into Dorothea's life as I watched her grow from a young girl to a woman. The story starts in 1814 and ends after the civil war, so it spans over quite a few years and travels to many places. Dorothea is not interested in focuses all of her gifts and life on finding a husband, so she decides to teach. Teaching becomes her passion and she continues to teach in various ways throughout her life. Different characters and friendships come and go in her life and the end of the book centers on her effort to help those considered "insane". This took her to politics as she saw a need for those people to be recognized as more than crazy people. 

I really enjoyed this first part of this book. Though it is fast paced, an entire lifetime summed up in one book, I did enjoy the overall story of her life. The book is split up into three main sections, the last was my least favorite because it dealt with a lot of politics. I find this story more fascinating because Dorothea was a real person in history who made a huge change for those who needed treatment in mental asylums. 

 Jane Kirkpatrick is not a new author to me but this is a very well researched book that must have been quite a task to finish.

This is not a typical historical novel, it is not romance, it is simply a life beautifully written about.

I recommend to those who enjoy biographies.  

 

This book will be available for purchase April 2, 2013.  

 "I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review."