Marcie Nelson Women Writers Dr. Clementi January 2, 2014 The Promised Land Mary !

ntin " #ind that ins$iration seems to %e an a$$ro$riate &ord to descri%e Mary !ntin s auto%io'ra$hy detailin' her li#e as a Je&ish 'irl and her immi'ration to !merica. Just li(e "ncidents in the Li#e o# a )la*e +irl, " &ould say that this no*el &as a %ildun'sroman and an e,cellent e,am$le o# t&o transitions- mental and $hysical. The $oint that the author &as tryin' to ma(e &as t&o#old, in my o$inion. .irst, !ntin chose to &rite a%out her e,$eriences to shed li'ht /#or a non Je&ish, non immi'rant audience0 on the trials o# a Je&ish immi'rant. )econd, !ntin chose to care#ully $lace %itter tones and criticism on the o$$ressi*e reli'ious and social $ractices o# her o&n $eo$le to&ard &omen /#or Je&ish readers0. This dual audience is also similar to "ncidents in the Li#e o# a )la*e +irl. Throu'h her &riters *oice, her audience can clearly #eel the emotions %ehind her &ords as she reali1es that the un#air treatment she e,$eriences on a daily %asis cannot and &ill not %e $re*ented. The emotional side o# this no*el struc( me as not only com$letely 'enuine, %ut stron', %ecause !ntin did her a%solute %est to ad*ance throu'h the 2oston school system and $ro*e that as a 'irl, she &as &orth 3ust as much as any %oy. !s #ar as characters 'o, !ntins mother stood out to me in $articular %ecause o# the sad, $lainti*e &ay she &as #orced to raise her dau'hter. " #ound it incredi%ly sad that the one $erson &ho should ha*e %een a%le to $rotect !ntin, her mother, could do nothin' #or her.

4*erall, " &ould say " en3oyed this %oo( #ar more than the #irst one &e read. The &ritin' style &as a little easier to understand and the su%3ect matter a$$ealed to me much more than a sla*e narrati*e /%ecause my #ather &as an immi'rant to this country as &ell0.