Gluckel of Hameln was a marvel of her time: an accomplished businesswoman as well as the mother of twelve. Devastated by the death of her beloved husband in 1689, she proceeded to write the riveting memoir that would become a timeless classic, revealing much about Jewish life in seventeenth-century Germany. This volume also features an introduction by translator Beth-Zion Abrahams that provides a fuller background of the author's life and tells how Gluckel came to write the memoir that would provide insight for centuries to come into Jewish, European, and women's history.