Within the common destiny is the individual destiny. So it is that through the telling of one Chinese peasant woman's life, a vivid vision of Chinese history and culture is illuminated. Over the course of two years, Ida Pruitt--a bicultural social worker, writer, and contributor to Sino-American understanding--visited with Ning Lao T'ai-ta'i, three times a week for breakfast. These meetings, originally intended to elucidate for Pruitt traditional Chinese family customs of which Lao T'ai-t'ai possessed some insight, became the foundation for an enduring friendship. As Lao T'ai-t'ai described the cultural customs of her family, and of the broader community of which they were a part, she invoked episodes from her own personal history to illustrate these customs, until eventually the whole of her life lay open before her new confidante. Pruitt documented this story, casting light not only onto Lao T'ai-t'ai's own biography, but onto the character of life for the common man of China, writ large. The final product is a portrayal of China that is "vividly and humanly revealed."

#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • “A landmark manifesto" (The New York Times) that's a revelatory, inspiring call to action and a blueprint for individual growth that will empower women around the world to achieve their full potential. In her famed TED talk, Sheryl Sandberg described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers. Her talk, which has been viewed more than eleven million times, encouraged women to “sit at the table,” seek challenges, take risks, and pursue their goals with gusto. Lean In continues that conversation, combining personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to change the conversation from what women can’t do to what they can. Sandberg, COO of Meta (previously called Facebook) from 2008-2022, provides practical advice on negotiation techniques, mentorship, and building a satisfying career. She describes specific steps women can take to combine professional achievement with personal fulfillment, and demonstrates how men can benefit by supporting women both in the workplace and at home.

". . . this gem of a book deserves a wide audience. Appropriate for African and women's studies courses and a must for college and university libraries." —Choice ". . . Mpho relates the story of her life with an integrity that makes for utterly compelling reading. . . . The fortitude of this woman, now in her late 60s, is a lesson to us all." —The Bookseller, United Kingdom "This is a fascinating autobiography . . ." —KLIATT ". . . a powerful autobiography of a Lesotho elder who tells her life as an African woman in South Africa. The focus on black culture and concerns as much as racism allows for an unusual depth of understanding of black concerns and lifestyles in Africa." —Reviewer's Bookwatch "An African woman's poignant and beautifully crafted memoir lyrically portrays the brutal poverty and reliance on ritual that shape the lives of her people, the Basotho. . . . A commanding and important work that will captivate readers with its unique voice, narrative power, and unforgettable scenes of life in Southern Africa." —Kirkus Reviews " . . . a stunning autobiography of a remarkable woman . . . Nthunya's telling is eloquent. Although her voice is generally one of dignified emotional distance, it is punctuated by her very human humor and pain." —Publishers Weekly ". . . recommended for collections in African folklore." —Library Journal "I am telling my stories in English for many months now, and it is a time for me to see my whole life. I see that things are always changing. I was born in 1930, so I remember many things which were happening in the old days in Lesotho and which happen no more. I lived in Benoni Location for more than ten years, and I saw the Boer policemen taking black people and beating them like dogs. They even took me once, and kept me in one of their jails for a while." —Mpho 'M'atsepo Nthunya A compelling and unique autobiography by an African woman with little formal education, less privilege, and almost no experience of books or writing. Mpho's is a voice almost never heard in literature or history, a voice from within the struggle of "ordinary" African women to negotiate a world which incorporates ancient pastoral ways and the congestion, brutality, and racist violence of city life. It is also the voice of a born storyteller who has a subject worthy of her gifts—a story for all the world to hear.

This volume is the first to identify a significant body of life narratives by working-class women and to demonstrate their inherent literary significance. Placing each memoir within its generic, historical, and biographical context, this book traces the shifts in such writings over time, examines the circumstances which enabled working-class women authors to publish their life stories, and places these memoirs within a wider autobiographical tradition. Additionally, Memoirs of Victorian Working-Class Women enables readers to appreciate the clear-sightedness, directness, and poignancy of these works.

This autobiography of the great female journalist and muckraker Ida M. Tarbell includes the following chapters: 1. My Start in Life 2. I Decide to Be a Biologist 3. A Coeducational College of the Eighties 4. A Start and a Retreat 5. A Fresh Start—A Second Retreat 6. I Fall in Love 7. A First Book—On Nothing Certain a Year 8. The Napoleon Movement of the Nineties 9. Good-Bye to France 10. Rediscovering My Country 11. A Captain of Industry Seeks My Acquaintance 12. Muckraker or Historian? 13. Off With the Old—On With the New 14. The Golden Rule in Industry 15. A New Profession 16. Women and War 17. After the Armistice 18. Gambling With Security 19. Looking Over the Country 20. Nothing New Under the Sun