Description: This book explores how women of the poorer and middling sorts in early modern England sought to make the best of their lives in a society that excluded or marginalized them in almost every sphere. It argues that networks of close friends ("gossips") provided invaluable moral and practical support, helping them to shape their own lives and to play an active role in the affairs of the local community.
Review Quotes: "Capp brings to the subject his wide knowledge of the political, social and religious history of the Interregnum ... The whole is based on the most meticulous scholarship in a very wide range of printed and manuscript sources."--Times Literary Supplement
"Perhaps the most fascinating, readable book on gender and social history by a historian this year."--Studies in English Literature 1500-1900