One glorious ambition the compassionate crusade of Dorothea Dix Cover Image

One glorious ambition [large print] : the compassionate crusade of Dorothea Dix / Jane Kirkpatrick.

ISBN: 9781611737165
ISBN: 1611737168
Physical Description: 421 pages ; 23 cm
Edition: Center Point Large Print edition.
Publisher: Thorndike, Maine : Center Point Large Print, 2013.

Kirkpatrick, Jane, 1946- (author.).

Summary:

Born to an unavailable mother and an abusive father, Dorothea Dix longs simply to protect and care for her younger brothers, Charles and Joseph. But at just fourteen, she is separated from them and sent to live with relatives to be raised properly. Lonely and uncertain, Dorothea finds that she can't accept the social expectations imposed on her gender. She wants to accomplish something more than finding a suitable mate. Yearning to fulfill her God-given purpose, Dorothea finds she has a gift for teaching and writing. Her pupils become a kind of family, hearts to nurture. But long bouts of illness end her teaching, and once again Dorothea is adrift. An unexpected visit to a prison housing the mentally ill ignites an unending fire in Dorothea's heart, and sets her on a journey that will take her across the nation, into the halls of the Capitol, befriending presidents and lawmakers, always fighting to relieve the suffering of what Scripture deems the least of these.