Anita J. Ellis delivers an excellent look into the life of famed ceramics artist Mary Louise McLaughlin. McLaughlin was the first American to develop a technique for decorating ceramics under glaze and this is the first book which addresses the life, struggles and times of this amazing woman. Anita Ellis writes on the many challenges McLaughlin faced during her career both as a woman in the arts in the late 1870s and her rivalry with fellow Cincinnatian, Maria Longworth Nichols, founder of Rookwood Pottery. Included in the book are also two color photograph inserts revealing some of the stunning work that McLauglin did during her lifetime.