Nancy Luce

Nancy Luce turned an intense attachment to her hens into poetry, prayer, observation, and advice. A Complete Edition of the Works of Nancy Luce gathers the writings associated with the West Tisbury author, including reflections on poultry care, illness among birds, affection, faith, and repeated loss. Nineteenth-century editions presented Luce's own voice directly, preserving unusual spellings and the earnest rhythms of a writer working outside established literary circles. The collection is both personal and practical: a hen may become the subject of mourning, while another passage records treatment or daily husbandry. Luce lived from 1814 to 1890 on Martha's Vineyard and became locally known for writing and selling her small books. A Complete Edition of the Works of Nancy Luce matters because it keeps together forms that conventional categories might separate, allowing devotional verse, animal care, autobiography, and rural experience to illuminate one another.