7" x 10" trade paperback,
344 pages
ISBN 0-9767590-7-1
$24.95

Sample Pages

Contact Margaret Kelly, author, to purchase the book.

Portsmouth Herald Review 

Sarah ~ Her Story

by Margaret Kelly

Sarah ~ Her Story is a story of change and transition in America, and how they affected the life of one woman, Sarah Parker Rice Goodwin (1805-1896), a native of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and wife of New Hampshire's Civil War governor. The story of one woman, it is also the story of a family, a time, a region and a nation. Commenting on everyday life in 19th century Portsmouth, Sarah details history from a woman's point of view - from her particularly unique vantage point as a member of one of New Hampshire's leading families.

Based on memoirs she titled Pleasant Memories, her daily journals and other family correspondence, Sarah chronicles the many events, innovations and ideas that arose during her life and the impact they had on the city of Portsmouth during this pivotal period in American history. As the wife of the governor of New Hampshire at the outset of the Civil War, Sarah knew, hosted and commented on many of the prominent players on the world stage.

The Goodwin Mansion, Sarah's home for sixty-four years, is one of the historic homes on display at Strawbery Banke Museum, a ten-acre site dedicated to preserving a sense of everyday life over a span of almost 400 years of Portsmouth history. Author Margaret Kelly portrayed Sarah Goodwin at the home for almost a decade, and still appears as Mrs. Goodwin on special occasions at the Banke.