In Mary Baker Eddy, Gillian Gill offers a powerful portrait of what she calls "Mrs. Eddy's astonishing life." Gillian Gill, Mary Baker Eddy (Reading, Mass., Perseus Books), p. 511. The biography admires the courage of this New England woman, who devoted her life to helping others understand and prove in their lives the healing power of God, the absolute supremacy of Spirit, and the nothingness of matter and evil. Dr. Gill's comprehensive account contains much new material from the archives of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and will be a valuable resource for those who know little about the woman who discovered Christian Science as well as for those who have long marveled at her accomplishments. The author of Agatha Christie: The Woman and Her Mysteries and the translator of a number of important French philosophical works into English, Dr. Gill approaches her subject from a broadly feminist perspective and with the skill of a fine scholar and the immediacy of good storyteller.
Taking no one else's word without careful research—not that of the church or of any biography favorable or unfavorable—she has thoughtfully examined the published record as well as the archival material, sifted through the many conflicting accounts, and given a fresh and often surprising view of events. She does not whitewash Mrs. Eddy; instead, she tries to see why she might have acted as she did, or, as the case may be, was alleged to have acted. Just as important, she subjects Mrs. Eddy's critics' allegations, credentials, and motives to intense scrutiny, painstakingly sorting facts from untruths or half-truths, some of which have been handed down for nearly a century by less scrupulous scholars.
Dr. Gill is among the few biographers not a Christian Scientist whose remarks about Mrs. Eddy's central work, Science and Health, demonstrate that she has read the book and not just what others have said about it. She has not only studied the final, authorized version but the historically groundbreaking first edition, appreciating its "uncompromising organization," lbid., p. 219. "strict economy" lbid., p. 225. of style, as well as the personal cost of its writing to its author. Calling it "one of the loneliest books ever written in modern times," she notes: "The real issue is the author's audacity, her daring to think that a woman like her, with her resources, could write, not the expected textbook on mental healing techniques, not the comfortable compendium of healing anecdotes, but a book that takes on the great questions of God and man, good and evil, and that rejects orthodox verities." lbid., p. 217.
