Desire and Duty at Oneida

"Written between 1867 and 1879, this memoir by the most prominent woman of the younger generation at the Oneida Community is the first that deals explicitly and openly with the sexual conflicts there. It chronicles Tirzah Miller's social and sexual life, including her relations with her uncle and lover, founder of the colony John H. Noyes, and her participation in the eugenics experiment Noyes dubbed "stirpiculture." Miller was a sensitive observer of the internal life of this celebrated communal family, and she details the shifting political forces within the community just prior to its breakup in 1880. Her memoir is full of intimate conversations with John M. Noyes about issues and personalities, about her love affairs, about her doubts about communism and her love of music, and her anguish over the loss of two partners. Throughout the memoir she is torn by her desire for romance and her duty to the community."--BOOK JACKET.