DATE: Sunday, March 2, 1997                 TAG: 9702270416

SECTION: COMMENTARY              PAGE: J3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Book Review 

SOURCE: BY JUDY ROSE, DETROIT FREE PRESS 

                                            LENGTH:   36 lines

THE PROSPECT BEFORE HER

THE PROSPECT BEFORE HER A History of Women in Western Europe, Volume One 1500-1800

OLWEN HUFTON

Alfred A. Knopf. 624 pp. $35.

In this excellent book, historian Olwen Hufton shows that, contrary to Freud's dictum about biology, for most people geography is destiny, and social class is destiny, along with that old classic, timing.

The Prospect Before Her looks at women's lives in Europe between 1500 and 1800. It deals not with dates and treaties, but with life as lived by most people at the time.

The Prospect is a terrific piece of scholarship, presented as a good read. Hufton writes like a magazine writer, which makes this a treat for history buffs. Free of polemics and blame, it can be enjoyed by both sexes.

During the 300 years covered here, except for a few well-off landholders, neither sex was having a day at the beach. The widest choice most people had was whether to labor for a neighboring farmer or go into town as a servant for the 10 or 12 years it took to earn money to marry. And once they married, most men and women entered a life of unremitting hard work.

At the start of this book, ``woman is refracted through a male prism,'' shown only in text and paintings by men, Hufton observes. ``By the end we are hearing articulated dissent,'' women raising their own voices, demanding ``access to the same professional outlets as their brothers.''

Hearing their voices, I can't wait for Volume Two.

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