Publisher's Synopsis
Daughter of Affliction is a religious memoir first published in 1858 by a rural, west-central Pennsylvania woman. The text was expanded and reprinted in 1871 and 1887. In her memoir, Mary Rankin reflects on her "protracted sufferings and religious experience." She also makes reference to many religious, social, and political happenings of her day, such as camp meetings, county fairs, the Civil War, and Lincoln's assassination. Additionally, her detailed descriptions of the medical treatments she received provide direct insight into the medical practices of the mid-nineteenth century. Dr. Robin L. Cadwallader's meticulous editing enhances Rankin's text with additional biographical, historical, geographical, religious, and medical information. Additionally, Cadwallader's afterword contextualizes Rankin's time and place, situating her life and memoir in the evangelical tradition of the nineteenth-century.
