Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson follows Phebe Delores Brown, the child of an enslaved woman and the master of their plantation. Phebe has avoided the harsh field toil by weaving and sewing alongside her mother on the Bell Plantation in Charles City, Virginia. Her mother is a strong influence on her life--teaching her healing… Continue reading Review: Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier is based on the life of Mary Anning, an early 19th century fossil hunter, collector, and paleontologist (although without a formal education.) I first discovered Mary Anning during a visit to the National History Museum in London. I was fascinated by this young woman, whom I somehow had never… Continue reading Review: Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus is an alt-history novel, of sorts, in which the US government agreed to the true to life request of the Cheyenne tribe to send white brides to them in order to help integrate the Cheyenne into white society and thus survive. In reality, President Grant refused, but Jim… Continue reading Review: One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus
Long after the slave trade had ended, slavers and merchants would still travel to the West coast of Africa to illegally purchase new "property," while at the same time avoiding any nation's govt ships to bring the "contraband" to the US. Such was the case with Cudjo Lewis in the early 1860s, right before the… Continue reading Review: Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston
The Tubman Command by Elizabeth Cobbs tells the true story of Harriet Tubman's instrumental involvement in the Combahee River raid which resulted in freeing about 750 enslaved people from plantations situated on that river. Cobbs brings Tubman from mythic figure of "Moses" down to earth as a woman conflicted with her emotions in relation… Continue reading Review: The Tubman Command by Elizabeth Cobbs
Whiskey When We're Dry by John Larison is a Western you know, as well as the Western you don't. That's namely due to Whiskey's main character, Jessilyn. The story is told from Jessilyn's point of view, and with that comes her unique speech and colloquialisms. In turn, the voice of Whiskey is extremely strong in… Continue reading Review: Whiskey When We’re Dry by John Larison
Becoming Belle by Nuala O' Connor is a Victorian-set novel about a women ahead of her time. Isabel Maude Penrice Bilton did indeed becoming "Belle," a modern woman who forged her own path and made her own money in a time when a woman's role was restricted and social mores were strict. I'll… Continue reading Review: Becoming Belle by Nuala O’ Connor
Women of the Blue and Gray tells the true stories of women on both sides of the Civil War who defied gender norms and were social pioneers despite the strict Victorian mores of the time. Although I had some knowledge of womens' involvement in the American Civil a la nursing and spying, Marianne Monson… Continue reading Review: Women of the Blue & Gray by Marianne Monson
Varina by Charles Frazier tells the story of Varina Davis, wife of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. From their first meeting, to the violent end of the war and her subsequent flight from the South to the frayed years of Reconstruction and beyond. Now I know what you may be thinking--why would you read a… Continue reading Review: Varina by Charles Frazier
Princess: The Six Daughters of George III by Flora Fraser tells the little-known lives and trials of Princesses Royal (Charlotte,) Augusta, Elizabeth, Sophia, Amelia, and Mary. The daughters of George III came of age during great changes in the British Empire, and experienced great changes themselves--outside of the norm for 18th/19th century princesses. What is… Continue reading Review: Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III by Flora Fraser
