Book Review: Twenty Years at Hull-House

Book: Twenty Years at Hull-House by Jane Addams
Genre: Non-Fiction
Published: 1910
How I Got the Book: library, for a class

Synopsis (from b&n.com): Addams's account about the founding and development of her famed settlement house in Chicago's West Side slums stands as the immortal testament of a woman who lived and worked among those in need.


My Thoughts: Not gonna lie this book was very very hard to get through. It was very boring. It was fact based with dry accounts of pretty much every season in Hull House. I'm not much into history (I had to read this for a TERRIBLE history class) so unless you want an acute look into social work history or sociology...I'd say skip this book. But I do not want to under estimate Jane Addams. She was a TRUE super hero. She's a great role model. My eyes were opened to the struggle she had to overcome opening and running of this house. There are some heartbreaking stories of people she meets but also some true triumphs. Addams helped create so many laws and got the ball rolling for social justice and equality in America. She did more in one lifetime than we can be expected to accomplish in 5 of them. Yet, a lot of ideas I felt were repeated over and over and got tiresome to read and accounts of happenings got blurry after a hundred pages or so.

Characters: Jane was the standout even though the book was really *about* her.

Cover Art: Straight forward and straight laced, a picture of Hull House is to be expected

Overall: ★★