In Slowly, By Thy Hand Unfurled, a nineteenth century nameless and uneducated housewife records a remarkable diary of her dark, disintegrating journey. Trying to make sense of herself and to form a judgment of her life, she struggles in confusion to pierce the narrow limits of her understanding--of her time and place, of the realities of her nature. Romulus Linney has written an exquisite exercise in self-destruction, but it's final strength...