Finish The Fight by Veronica Chambers and NY Times Staff

Finish The Fight tells the stories of the many women suffragettes who fought to secure for American women the right to vote. It would take almost a century to accomplish this for all women of all races who lived in America. Most have heard of Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, Emmeline Pankhurst and Lucy Stone. But what about African American women like Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and Mary Church Terrell? Or Susette La Fleche a Native American woman? What about Asian American women like Mabel Ping Hua-Lee?

Chambers begins the story with a chapter on the social structure and culture in the Haudenosaunee, a confederacy of six Native American nations. In Haudenosaunee culture, women held significant power. They voted on matters involving war and peace, they held property in marriage. In their matrilineal society in which families were aligned into clans based on the mother's family,  the clan mother's held the power to determine the clan's chief. Women participated alongside men in debates. For the suffragists, the Haudenosaunee model seemed to provide proof that their goal of getting women the right to vote was important.

The Civil War and the fight to end slavery had a significant influence on the suffrage movement. A petition demanding voting rights for all citizens, regardless of race or gender was present to Congress in 1866. In 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment granted black men and women born in America citizenship while the Fifteenth Amendment passed in 1870 strengthened the right of black men to vote. This made the women suffragists furious and their bias towards black people began to show in racist attitudes and remarks. The result was a fractured suffrage movement. Suffrage groups began to mirror what was happening in society where black and white people were being segregated. The National American Woman Suffrage Association allowed segregation in its groups in southern states while black suffragists began to form their own organizations. 

Chambers profiles Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, a black woman born to free black parents in Baltimore in 1825. Watkins Harper was active in the abolitionist movement and worked with white suffragists Susan B. Anthony  and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. 

As the suffragist movement continued to grow, women realized they needed to spread their message and inform women about their work and why they needed to have more say in the affairs of the nation. This need led Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin to start the Women's Era, the first American newspaper by and for black women. Its intent was to let black women know that they could aspire to more than just homemaking. Josephine also encountered racism within the suffragist movement by white suffragettes who believed that linking up with their black sisters would harm their chances of winning the right to vote. Josephine was refused attendance as a delegate representing a black group, to the General Federation of Women's Clubs in Milwaukee.

Finish the Fight goes on to chronicle the success of the suffragist movement in the "Wild West" states and territories of the 1800's. For example, Wyoming Territory was the first to give women the right to vote in 1869 and kept this provision when they became a state in 1890. Further success was achieved in the West by Elizabeth Piper Ensley, a black woman and Carrie Chapman Catt who was white, and who worked together to get the vote for women in Colorado in 1893. 

Finish The Fight explores the efforts of Mary Church Terrell who worked to stop the crime of lynching, and to encourage suffrage organizations to include and work with black women. The book also briefly touches the work of women who may have been lesbians in the suffrage movement. There are also chapters on Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, a Chinese American  and  Native Americans, Susette La Flesche and Zitkala-Sa and their efforts to bring about change not only in the area of women's rights but also more equitable treatment for their own races in America. 

Discussion

Finish the Fight is a fascinating account of the almost one hundred year struggle to obtain the right to vote for women. In telling this story, Chambers and the New York Times staff include photographs, historical images and numerous portrait illustrations by a number of artists which serve to create an engaging and informative book. 

Perhaps what is most remarkable about Finish The Fight is that it not only tells the story of the numerous women activists who worked for the right to vote but it also highlights the discrimination Black, Mexican and Native Americans endured in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Women of these communities found themselves pushing back against the racism and inequity they encountered in their own lives and were therefore primed to become part of the suffrage movement. 

This connection between the fight against racial discrimination and the women's movement to get the vote was a surprise to the authors of Finish The Fight . As they observed in their Author's Note at the back, "suffrage was not a movement that was happening in isolation." While the suffrages began their fight for the right to vote and greater participation in all aspects of society for women, it also came to encompass the fight for racial equality for Black, Chinese and Mexican Americans.  For example, the book profiles Ida B. Wells-Barnett, a suffragist who was an advocate for racial justice for Black Americans. She penned impassioned articles against racial violence and worked to try to stop lynchings which were become more and more frequent. She also helped to found the National Negro Committee which would one day become the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

At the same time, Native Americans were fighting for the right to live according to their traditions on their ancestral lands while Chinese and Mexican Americans were fighting for their right to be full American citizens and to be treated fairly. Susette La Flesche, a member of the Omaha tribe faced discrimination when she tried to become a teacher on her own Omaha reservation. Refused permission to leave the reservation to write the teacher certification exam, Susette had to sneak off the reservation and then later threaten to go public when the white government official balked at accepting her certification.

Finish The Fight will leave readers with a sense of just how difficult and long the fight has been to bring about change. It tells the story in a chronological way, focusing on the important figures, revealing the racism and bigotry that existed within the suffragist movement itself, while also highlighting those women who worked together regardless of  their racial or political differences. The authors also show their readers that getting the vote not just for women, but for these marginalized communities was key to changing discriminatory laws and practices.

Each chapter opens with a colourful portrait of an important but mostly little-known suffragette along with floral and plant symbols, the relevance of which are explained in the Illustrator's Note at the back.

Readers will also find an Author's Note, a detailed Timeline, a list of Brave and Revolutionary Women You Should Know, a comparison of women's achievements in the last one hundred years with 1920 vs. 2020, an Illustrator's Note about the flowers and plants used in each chapter illustration and a detailed Further Reading list of books. There is also a Selected Bibliography and an Index.

Book Details:

Finish The Fight: The Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought For The Right To Vote by Veronica Chambers and the staff of the New York Times
New York: Versify/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt       2020
132 pp.

The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee

Seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan has been working in Mrs. English's milliner's shop as a milliner's assistant for the last two years for a measly fifty cents per day. However, before she can ask for the raise she so desperately needs, Jo is fired by Mrs. English because she's Asian and a "sauce-box" who expresses her opinions about what a client would look best in. Not only that, but Mrs. English has spoken with the sixteen other milliners in Atlanta, effectively blacklisting Jo from being hired.

Nevertheless, when Mrs. Bell arrives to have a special Chinese knot embellishment placed on her hat, Jo is made to make the embellishments. Unbeknownst to the Bells, Jo and Old Gin live beneath the Bell's house in what used to be a cellar to hide runaway slaves. A listening tube, disguised as a vent allows those in the basement to hear what was happening in the upstairs.

While Mrs. Bell and Mrs. English are haggling over the price of Jo's work, Miss Melissa Lee Saltworth and Miss Linette Culpepper, whom Jo has nicknamed Salt and Pepper arrive. The daughters of "merchant aristocrats", Miss Saltworth is being courted by Mr. Quackenbush, the son of a financier who lost his fortune backing Confederate dollars.

That night Jo listens as the Bells discuss the dire circumstances of their newspaper The Focus. It has lost readers after the Bell's son, Nathan published an editorial against segregating Atlanta's streetcars. They need two thousand new subscribers by April or they will be forced to close and move to New York. This means Jo and Old Gin will likely lose their home too. Nathan questions what their newspaper is lacking and his mother states that it is an advice column. Their competitor, The Trumpeter has Advice from Aunt Edna and Mrs. Bell believes that an "agony aunt" column would help greatly.

The next morning, Jo attempts to find work but is unsuccessful. That night she decides that she will be the Bell's "Aunt Edna", writing an advice column for women, anonymously in order to help the Bell's newspaper obtain more subscriptions. Jo writes a letter to Nathan offering her services and sends along her first column which advises women to boldly ask a man to the Payne's eight-furlong race to be held in March in support of the Society for the Betterment of Women. She takes the pseudonym, Miss Sweetie, "...to temper the more provocative nature of the articles..." she will be writing.

While looking for another pair of gloves after losing one when she encountered Nathan Bell and his dog Bear, Jo discovers a man's navy suit, wool coat and shoes. Old Gin returns home and tells Jo that Mrs. Payne will see her about a job as a weekday maid for her daughter Caroline. However Jo is not happy about this because Caroline was always nasty to her when she was younger. She spent her childhood at the Payne's, first as a playmate to Caroline and later on working for them as a maid until she was suddenly let go over two years ago. Jo reluctantly agrees, hoping that finishing school has taken the nasty edge off of Caroline.

At the Payne's home, Jo settles in as Caroline's maid, working during the week, maintaining Caroline's quarters, her wardrobe and accompanying her when she goes out. Caroline however has no intention of having Jo follow her everywhere. On their first outing on horseback, Caroline tricks Jo, sending her to look for a dropped handkerchief, which allows Caroline to secretly meet her lover, Mr. Quackenbach. Mr. Q, as Jo calls him, just happens to be Melissa Saltworth's beau. Afterwards, Caroline threatens to have Jo fired if she reveals her secret but Jo counters with the threat to reveal her dalliance to Miss Saltworth. Her request is to be treated better by Caroline.

Upon returning to the Payne estate, Jo is disturbed to find Old Gin with Billy Riggs, a man with a nasty reputation as a "fixer". Old Gin tells her that one of the Chinese owed Billy's father money and warns her to stay away from him. Old Gin begins spending most of his days and nights at the Paynes helping Jed Crycks train the new Arabian stallion Merritt brought back to the estate.

At home, Jo discovers a partially made red silk garment which leads her to believe that Old Gin is working on finding her a husband. Meanwhile her Miss Sweetie column has become very popular, leading Mrs. Payne to buy extra copies of The Focus for her women's group, the Atlanta Belles. Jo decides to hand deliver her next column to the Bells. When she puts on the wool coat to run her errand,  she discovers a note addressed to "Shang" and signed with the letter "e" in the pocket.  Jo questions Old Gin about the letter and learns that Shang owed Billy's father a great deal of money. However he refuses to tell her much more than that. This mystery and the inconsistencies in Old Gin's story leads Jo to wonder if Shang might be her father. As Jo works to unravel the mystery of her past, Miss Sweetie's fame grows and the hunt is on to discover who is behind the provocative column that is having unexpected social repercussions across Atlanta! Eventually Jo uncovers the identity of her parents, Old Gin's connection to the debt to Billy and devises a plan to wipe out the debt.

Discussion

The Downstairs Girl is a novel with a strange plot. Set in 1890 Atlanta, Georgia, The Downstairs Girl incorporates the themes of racial tension, women's rights, class and identity. The novel, while historical fiction, is also part mystery and a coming of age story. Despite these many themes, the cleverness and  wit of main character Jo Kuan, a seventeen-year-old who is half Chinese, half Caucasian makes this novel an enjoyable and intriguing read.

In 1890 Atlanta, racial discrimination is common towards Black citizens. The Reconstruction Era in the southern United States is over and the southern states are back to governing themselves. Although Black men were given the right to vote by the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1870, many obstacles were enacted to limit this right in many states. At this time women were also unable to vote, but were beginning to agitate for greater involvement in society and for more rights. Women were beginning to see themselves as having a greater role in society and in the political process. Somehow Lee manages to incorporate bits of all these themes into her story, through her varied cast of characters.

For those who are not white, the opportunities in 1890 Atlanta are limited. Jo, who is of Chinese heritage, a talented milliner-in-training is fired and blacklisted simply because she is Chinese and outspoken. She doesn't know her place. There is also Old Gin, Jo's grandfather, who has worked at the Payne estate as a groom for years. There is Robby Withers, a Black man who is a delivery man at Buxbaum's. But as Jo notes, "We all must abide by the rules, but some of us must follow more than others. Robby can be a deliveryman but not a clerk. Mrs. English would never have promoted me to milliner, just as Mr. Payne will never promote Old Gin to head groom. Like Sweet Potato and her twisted lot, we have been born with a defect -- the defect of not being white. Only, unlike in Sweet Potato's case, there is no correcting it. There is only correcting the vision of those who view it as a defect, though not even a war and Reconstruction have been able to do that."

The character of Caroline Payne represents the privileged white class and the Southern gentry, but she is also used to portray the social restrictions placed on women. Caroline is a mean, thoughtless girl who is wealthy, lives in comfort and can go wherever she wants. However, her freedom is an illusion because her path is life is mostly determined by social convention. She is expected to marry a wealthy man. Despite the opening of the debutante season, Jo notes that Caroline doesn't want to marry and she begins to understand that Caroline's situation is just as constraining if not more so than her own.   "Caroline's scowling visage appears in my mind. With her wealth, every door is open for her. But maybe what she wants is not for doors to open, but for the walls to come down. When one grows up with walls, it is difficult to dream of a world beyond. Who knows what Caroline - what any of us -- could accomplish without the constant pressure to get married?" It is these observations that lead Jo to encourage Caroline's father to involve her more in the family printing business which she appears to have an aptitude for.

One of the many plotlines in the novel involves Jo's search into her past. All she knows at the beginning of the novel is that she was abandoned by her father and that she was left in the care of Old Gin. However, there are soon hints that not all is as it seems. "Wondering about my parents is a strange kind of agony, an itch that I can't help scratching until it causes pain." The revelation of the identity of her parents is devastating to Jo but she decides to show her mother that she won't be bound by the chains of shame but will live life on her own terms. Jo is determined, resourceful and forthright, with dreams of becoming more than what society tells her she can be. She represents the struggle for both women's and civil rights.

The Downstairs Girl is recommended for older readers because of some sexual innuendo as well as a scene involving male nudity in a house of prostitution. Those familiar with Lee's writing will find The Downstairs Girl similar in tone to her other novels with their unique settings and variety of characters.

Book Details:

The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
New York: G.P. Putnam & Sons Ltd.     2019
374 pp.

Suffragette

Suffragette attempts to portray the struggle of women in Britain to obtain the right to vote. It was never meant to be an encompassing film. Instead Suffragette attempts portray the intense struggle and vicious opposition women faced to obtaining their civic right to participate in the political sphere of their country by focusing on a small group of women.

The movie opens in 1912 with fictional Maud Watts (Carrie Mulligan), who works at Glasshouse Laundry, delivering a package for her employer, Mr. Norman Taylor (Geoff Bell). While doing this errand on her way home from work, Maud becomes caught up in an act of civil disobedience by the suffragettes who throw stones at shop windows. She escapes the ensuing melee between the suffragettes and police and makes her way home but not before recognizing a co-worker, Violet Miller (Anne-Marie Duff).

The suffragettes are encouraged by Alice Haughton, the wife of an MP, to speak before parliament regarding amendments to the suffrage bill. Maud tells Violet, who has been chosen to testify she will accompany her but when Violet shows up badly beaten by her husband, Maud is asked to step in. Reluctantly Maud prepares to read Violet's statement but she is questioned about her own situation by Prime Minister Lloyd George. The suffragettes are pleased with Maud's success and Edith Ellyn (Helen Bonham Carter) invites Maud to tea. Edith runs her husband's chemist shop. Her father opposed her getting educated but she was able to do so because of her mother. Her husband inherited the shop but she runs it, although she really wants to be a doctor.

When the suffragettes return to parliament they learn that the Prime Minister has not granted the right to vote. Furious, the suffragettes begin protesting but the police immediately begin kicking and punching the women. Many are arrested including Maud, Violet, and Edith and Alice Haughton. Alice wants her husband Benedict to bail all the women out but he refuses. He doesn't allow her to use her own money as she wishes. They are kept for a week in prison under harsh conditions. During this time Edith and Violet encourage Maud to be strong and introduce her to Emily Davison who is on a hunger strike.

When Maud returns home, her husband Sonny is angry over her involvement with the suffragettes and completely unsympathetic to what she went through in jail. Maud promises him she will not be further involved. Meanwhile Pankhurst is in hiding and the suffragettes await her further instructions. News arrives of a secret meeting where Emmeline Pankhurst will speak to the suffragettes and Maud attends with her friends. Pankhurst encourages the women to become rebels, to fight in anyway they can since their demands have been ignored now for years. She tells them "Deeds not words" is their motto.

The police raid the meeting arresting Maud and others. On the orders of Inspector Steed (Brendan Gleeson) who has been tracking the suffragettes, the women are taken to their homes so that their husbands can "deal" with them. Sonny, furious at Maud's participation refuses to let her back into their home or to see their son, George.

Haughton and Steed meanwhile decide they need to get into the East London group and hope to obtain an informer by publishing photographs of the women involved in the suffragette movement. Maud is shown her picture by a disapproving neighbour. When Taylor sees the pictures, he fires her. Ridiculing her for the abuse she has suffered at his hands, Maud burns his hand with the iron.

Inspector Steed who has been called to the factory tells Maud that she will go home provided she becomes an informant for the police. Maud tells him that Taylor deserved what happened because of what he's done to her and other women, but Steed reminds her that no one listens to "girls like you."

Maud meets with Edith who explains to the group that they will be bombing the King's post office boxes. Before she undertakes her part in this Maud manages to see George and spend some time with him but when she returns him to Sonny he tells her by law their boy is his and he can prevent her from seeing him. This results in Maud writing Steed to inform him that she has decided against his offer. She believes in fighting for her rights as a woman and if the law won't let her see her son, she needs to work to change that law.

All of this leads to Maud becoming more radicalized and more involved with suffragettes. With each arrest and jail time, she along with the other suffragettes become determined to win the right to vote and to obtain other rights for women too.

Discussion

Suffragette is a movie that provides an excellent starting point to create awareness of how different life was for women a century ago and that many of the rights women enjoy today were hard won. The women's movement in the United Kingdom began in the 1800's as more and more women desired to participate more fully in society. Women's rights became a national movement in the UK around 1872. Women began lobbying for more rights but change was slow and often piecemeal. For example, in 1882 women won the right to own property but as of 1912, women could still not vote, despite years of lobbying.

Emmeline Pankhurst emerged as a leader in the women's movement in the UK. She founded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) which challenged women to act in order to secure more rights. Conditions in Britain for women at this time were deplorable. Many worked long hours in factories in terrible conditions for pay that was far less than that of men. They had no parental rights and no say in the political process. They were unable to hold meetings because it was almost impossible to find a venue. Unable to secure the right to vote Pankhurst decided that a more militant approach was required and her group advocated civil disobedience in the form of smashing windows, bombing postal boxes and eventually arson. She and many of her followers were arrested and staged hunger strikes while in prison. Many were brutally force-fed.

Suffragette is set against this backdrop in 1912 to 1913. The movie, directed by Sarah Gavron, accurately portrays life for women during this time period. In Suffragette, as Maud experiences the injustice of laws which favour men, she becomes increasingly radicalized. The abuse by her employer, the loss of her husband and her son, the brutality of the police, the ridicule of those around her and torture by doctors in the jail all drive her towards supporting the suffragettes. Carrie Mulligan portrays Maud's increasing desperation and her transformation from reluctant mother and laundress to determined activist realistically.  It's gradual and not without conflict.

Helena Bonham Carter's performance as Edith Ellyn was wonderful. It was enjoyable to see her in a role where her considerable acting abilities could be brought to bear. She gave Edith a refreshing brashness that made her seem the most realistic of all the film's characters. Bonham Carter brought out Edith's resourcefulness and stoic determination to make things better for the next generation. She saw her own dreams of becoming a doctor and owning her own business thwarted merely because of her gender.  Yet she soldiers on and encourages the other suffragettes to do so too. Meryl Streep brief performance as Pankhurst was solid.

The event that forms the climax of Suffragette, Emily Wilding Davison's walking out in front of the King's horse at the Epsom Derby was a real event that occurred on June 4, 1913. Emily was struck by King George V's horse, Anmer and trampled to the ground as she tried to offer the women's vote flag to the rider. She died four days later in hospital. Her death and funeral made headlines around the world. As the movie does not fully develop the real life characters, Emmeline Pankhurst and Emily Wilding Davison, viewers are encouraged to research these women. Pankhurst's autobiography, Suffragette: My Own Story is worth reading.

Canadian women might be interested to know that women in Manitoba were the first to get the vote in Canada. That right was granted on January 28, 1916. They could run for provincial office and vote in provincial elections but they could not vote federally. The right to vote in federal elections was not fully granted to women in Canada until May 24, 1918. Aboriginal women did not gain the right to vote in federal elections until 1960.

The Cure For Dreaming by Cat Winters

This strange novel has the odd premise of a frustrated father attempting to hypnotize the free-thinking thoughts of women's rights out of his daughter's head so she will want to live her life as women are meant to - getting married and having children.

Synopsis

Olivia Mead is at the Metropolitan Theater in Portland, Oregon to celebrate her birthday, which happens to be on Halloween. She and her dearest friend Frannie Harrison, another friend Kate and their chaperone, Agnes are there to see The Mesmerizing Henri Reverie, a hypnotist. When Henri Reverie asks for a volunteer who is celebrating a birthday, Kate volunteers Olivia. Reluctantly Olivia takes the stage and is hypnotized by Henri who makes her body go so rigid that he is able to balance her between two chair and stand on her stomach.Olivia awakes from the trance but remembers nothing of what happened on stage.

After the show, Percy Acklen, son of Judge Acklen, whom Olivia has a crush on, asks to drive her home. Against the advice of Frannie, Olivia takes him up on his offer. Percy tells her that she is beautiful and that his father believes her to be "womanhood perfected....Silent. Alluring. Submissive." Shocked  Olivia questions Percy why he suddenly has shown an interest in her, especially since her father, Dr. Mead is a dentist with a reputation for enjoying seeing his patients suffer.  Olivia's father is happy to see Percy's interest in his daughter and tells Percy he's a fan of Judge Acklen's opinion pieces in the newspaper. Percy indicates that is father will be writing a new piece about the suffragettes protesting outside courthouse about their having no right to vote in next Tuesday's presidential election. Dr. Mead expresses his horror over the protest but is quite interested when Percy tells him that Olivia was hypnotized by Henri Reverie and that she did everything he asked of her.

After Percy leaves, Dr. Mead confronts his daughter, telling her that Mr. Underhill, the owner of  one of Portland's largest shipping firms, saw her yelling with the suffragettes outside the court building. Olivia tells her father that "...I would like to vote for president when I'm older." However, her father is not supportive, stating that it was his hope that she would "grow up to be a rational, respectable, dignified young woman who understands her place in the world." As a result of her participation, Mr. Underhill is no longer a patient of Dr. Mead's. But when a picture showing Olivia hypnotized  appears in the Oregonian, her father decides to hire Henri Reverie to cure her of her rebelliousness and her "unladylike dreams" of going to school. Olivia is horrified that her father believes her "future is to become a respectable housewife and mother." He tells her that "Women belong in the home, and inside some man's home you'll stay."

Olivia has been a good student and has been attending a progressive, coeducational high school with electric lighting, a library and a laboratory. At school Frannie warns her against being with Percy saying he's a "grabber". During choral practice, Olivia receives a note from her father telling her to come to his dental office after school. Olivia arrives at her father's office only to meet Henri Reverie whom her father has hired to help her accept the world the way it is." Fearing Olivia will be like her mother who abandoned the family and who also supports the right of women to vote, Dr. Mead decides to have Olivia hypnotized.

Henri hypnotizes Olivia against her will and tells her that she will say 'All is well' instead of arguing whenever she is angry. He also tells her that "she will see the world the way it truly is. The roles of men and women will be clearer than they have ever been before. You will know whom to avoid." When she awakens Olivia is shocked at what she sees; Henri looks incredibly delightful and someone she can trust but her father looks like a red-eyed fiend. As Henri instructed, when Olivia wants to scream at her father, all she can say is "All is well."

The hypnosis leaves Olivia seeing disturbing visions of people as they truly are. For example, the women opposed to women's suffrage are seen as caged and Frannie's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harrison, appear as perfect. Olivia flees to Frannie's home where she tells her friend what happened to her and what she's been seeing. At first Frannie believes this is because her friend has read Dracula too many times. However, Olivia tells her the disturbing visions began only after Henri's hypnotism at her home. When she returns home Olivia gives her father the answers he wants to hear so he is not suspicious that her suffragette thoughts have not be removed. In fact, Olivia is more determined than ever to work for the right to vote especially when she sees a letter in the paper, written by Judge Percival R. Acklen, who is Percy's father. Judge Acklen claims that scientific evidence supports the notion that women are not capable of higher thinking and belong in the home, and that should they become involved in politics, they will abandon their roles as wives and mothers and destroy American family life. This motivates Olivia to write a letter in response which she signs as "A Responsible Woman" and which she takes the next day to the offices of the Oregonian.

Meanwhile Olivia seeks out Henri Reverie and learns that his name is really Henry Rhodes and that his sister, fifteen year old Genevieve is sick with breast cancer.  At this time Olivia receives a birthday note from her mother who lives in New York, working as an actress. She sends Olivia a one-way ticket to the city and invites her to come stay with her. But before Olivia can leave Portland she needs to repair the damage done to her by Henri's hypnotism. Olivia wants to be free to speak her own mind and wants Henri to reverse what he did to her. She writes him a letter begging him to do this, asking him how he would feel if his sister were unable to cry out to protect herself or to protest when something harmful was being done to her.

When she meets Henri and his sister Genevieve, Henri reveals that her father has requested more hypnotism and he wants to demonstrate the ability of hypnotism in removing the desire for emancipation of women. He plans to show how Olivia becomes ill at the mention of suffragettes at a meeting of an organization opposed to women's suffragette, The Oregon Association Opposed To The Extension Of Suffrage To Women. He tells Olivia that in order to afford her treatments he needs the money her father will pay him for the second hypnotism. At this point Olivia explains how because of the hypnotism, she was unable to defend herself against the advances of Percy Acklen. Henri, now realizing the harm he has done to Olivia, promises her that he will help her. Can Olivia and Henri outwit her father, Mead the Mad, to restore Olivia's ability to make her own choices and to recover her ability to speak her own mind?

Discussion

The Cure For Dreaming is a very original treatment of the early women's suffragette movement in the United States when women were fighting for the right to vote and to participate more fully in society. It is set in 1900 Oregon, in the very middle of what was the suffragette movement that began in the mid 1870s and continued with the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, which granted female citizens who were twenty-one years of age and older the right to vote in all states, in 1920. At this time a woman's place, as so eloquently expressed by the educated upperclass such as Dr. Mead and Judge Acklen, was as a wife and mother, in the home. Her speech was supposed to be saved for supporting her husband and singing sweet lullabies to her children, not out on the street protesting.

However, Olivia has dreams and she wants to express those dreams and pursue them - something her father and his generation consider to be unladylike.  In the novel, Winters uses Olivia's hypnosis supposedly to demonstrate the world as it truly is. The women opposed to emancipation are seen as ghosts in cages, shadows of who they could be - the implication being that an unemancipated woman is not fulfilling her potential as a person. In contrast, the suffragettes are seen by Olivia as women illuminated by bright lights from within - women who believe they are equal are strong and vibrant people.

This sort of caricature continues with the male characters too. Those men who are more open minded and kindly towards women are seen by Olivia as beautiful and perfect. With the exception of Henri Reverie, most of the young men are portrayed as cads. Olivia's father is somewhat of a caricature of the men during this time period - many of whom were opposed to the emancipation of women. They felt it would upset the natural order of things and that women biologically were incapable of rational thought. Dr. Mead is immediately portrayed as a rather cruel, crazy man who seemed to delight in his patient's suffering. This sets the stage for his crazy idea that he will cure his daughter of her dreams which do not match his ideal of womanhood through the use of hypnosis. He hopes this "cure" can be used to stop the suffragettes. Because of this Olivia often sees her father as a vampire, even a fiend with red eyes.

Olivia is a strong protagonist, determined to forge her own path. She wants a career but also to be married. To do that she needs to outwit her father and with the help of Henri Reverie, who Olivia's "second sight" has shown to be a sympathetic man, she is able to prevent her imagination from being stolen from her. She never wavers from her goal, which is regain control over her mind and her dreams.

Winters succeeds in engaging her reader from the very beginning with an exciting opening chapter set in a theatre on Halloween night. She enhances her story by including interesting black and white photographs throughout the novel. For example, the cover and the opening picture are of a girl prone across two chairs. There are several images of dentistry in the early 20th century which fills in details on Dr. Mead and how he would have practiced his profession during this era. There are also pictures of suffragettes and women riding bicycles (considered a step towards emancipation by the suffragettes) which gives the reader some understanding of the women who were involved in the movement at this time.

The Cure For Dreaming is historical fiction with a paranormal twist, taking a genre that sometimes has a reputation for being boring, and making it more exciting.Overall this novel is an interesting story with a cover that makes the reader want to explore the story inside.

Book Details:
The Cure For Dreaming by Cat Winters
New York: Amulet Books      2014
352 pp.

Crossing Stones by Helen Frost

Set during the First World War, Crossing Stones is the story of two families who live across from one another on Crabapple Creek. Frost has structured her novel in a unique way, with four separate narrators who tell their stories in free verse.

The Jorgensen family including Muriel and her younger siblings, sixteen year old Ollie and seven year old Grace, live across Crabapple Creek from the Norman family which includes Emma and Frank and their parents.

The novel opens in April, 1917 with Muriel questioning her teacher, Mr. Sanders, during class as to why all the "real life" secretaries are women but in school they only learn about men secretaries. Muriel is angry to learn from President Woodrow Wilson, that the United States will send men to fight in the war. Ollie is still to young to enlist, but Frank has been in basic training in Kansas for the past six months. The President Wilson tells the nation he will need an army of five hundred thousand men.

Mr. Sanders talks to Muriel's parents telling them she has no "moral compass" when she questions America's involvement in the war. While Muriel's mother is ashamed, her father defends her freedom to express her opinions. Mr. Sanders tells them that if she continues to question the decision the president has made, other students "may wonder if their classmates are risking their lives for nothing." Papa tells Muriel that she must be careful in the future about people like Mr. Sanders who believe others have no right to different opinions.

Ollie wants to go to fight but he's too young yet. Instead he helps Emma's family while Frank is away by mending fences. Ollie figures by helping out he will build up his muscles so he can look older and enlist illegally. He tells Grace he will make her a playhouse out of the scrap wood.

In the poem, Socks, Muriel talks about the expectations of their families. Emma Norman is her best friend and Frank and Ollie are like brothers, but with Frank coming home on leave next week before he ships out, their mothers seem to have the expectation that Muriel will become the next Mrs. Norman. Muriel likes Frank as a friend but she knows she cannot marry him.

Frank arrives home for ten days of leave after which he will be shipped overseas. Both families have a huge dinner at the Normans home to celebrate his homecoming. During his leave, Muriel graduates from high school. Despite being smarter than all the boys, Muriel is not chosen as valedictorian because she received a "D" in comportment, likely the result of her questioning Mr. Sanders view on the war.. Instead, Arthur Anderson is valedictorian and Muriel feels his speech makes no sense.

                                 "Why is everyone just doing what they're told?
                         The presidents of all the countries should
                 meet somewhere and fight this war themselves
        if they think it's worth fighting.
What are they sacrificing? Have they asked the mothers
        who gave the best years of their lives to raise
                 these boys the presidents are sending into battle?
                            No! Women don't even get to vote -- it isn't fair!

Frank thinks Muriel sounds like the suffragettes. Muriel enjoys her graduation dancing with all the boys but Arthur. On the way home, Frank mentions about all the local boys who are enlisting and then suddenly asks Muriel for a kiss. Frank wants to have a girl back home to write to when he is in France, "someone to keep fighting for". Muriel refuses because she doesn't want to just be "someone" whom Frank hurriedly chooses before going off to war. Refusing Frank a kiss results in an argument with Emma who feels this might have been good for Frank while he's at war.

With Frank and many of the other men gone to war, women begin filling in for the men. Muriel's Mama decides to go work for a shop manager as a bookkeeper "for the duration" and the housework falls to Muriel. When Muriel's mother tells her how important mothers are because they raise their children to be honest, Muriel questions the wisdom of this when these children are then sent off to fight wars.

Shortly after Frank is sent overseas, Ollie slips away, taking the train to the city to secretly enlist. Muriel and her family find out when the mailman brings a letter later that day from Ollie explaining what he's done. Muriel's Papa wants to go retrieve Ollie, but Mr. Norman persuades him that doing so might land Ollie in jail.

Meanwhile in July 1917, Papa tells Muriel that the government has passed a law, the Espionage Act,  punishing people who speak out against the war. Papa warns Muriel to be careful and he worries about his sister, Muriel's Aunt Vera, who is involved with the suffragettes protesting for the right to vote for women.

Frank's letters to Emma and his parents tell of adventure. His letters to Muriel are heavily censored, leading Muriel to wonder, if the war is right, why are the soldier's letters blacked out? Ollie too is beginning to regret having signed up and wonders if Muriel was right. A letter from Aunt Vera tells about the protests by the suffragettes and that she is going to Washington to join the picket line in front of the White House. She plans to be in Washington only a week and will stop to visit Muriel.

However shortly after Muriel's father receives a letter from Vera telling them about a controversial sign the suffragettes have made equating President Wilson with the Kaiser of Germany. Vera has been arrested and is in jail. The protests in Washington with new suffragettes replacing those who are arrested mimic the war effort as new soldiers fill in for those who are killed. Frank writes to Muriel that they can't seem to stop a war that is consuming millions.

And then one Saturday afternoon, the lives of the Jorgensen and Norman families are changed forever with the news that Frank has been killed in action. While trying to comfort Emma, Muriel struggles to deal with her own grief for a man she did not want to marry but she certainly wanted to return home safe and sound. Frank's death marks the beginning of several crises that Muriel and her family must deal with leading her to make some hard but different choices about how she will live her life.

Discussion

Crossing Stones is an exquisitely crafted novel, from its expressive jacket art by Richard Tuschman to the uniquely structured poems within. Frost deals with two major historical events in her novel, the entry of the United States into the Great War and the suffragette movement to achieve the right to vote for women. These two dramas are the backdrop for the simple farm life of two families, knit together by the bonds of friendship and love. There are two prospective couples, Ella Norman and Ollie Jorgensen and Muriel Jorgensen and Ella's brother Frank. Ella and Ollie share a mutual affection for one another that eventually leads to love. However, Frank and Muriel, although good friends, do not know what they want. Frank seems to feel an attraction to Muriel but he's a cautious person by nature and without the encouraging cues from Muriel only decides to push their friendship before he leaves for France. This makes him seem a bit calculating which puts Muriel off. And Muriel doesn't like their families' expectations that she will some day marry Frank.

Frank's final letter to Muriel, which comes with his personal affects weeks after his death, reveals the deep conflict he felt over fighting and killing other men, how the truth of the war was being kept out of the newspapers and how Muriel's questions about the war lead him to doubt deeply about what was happening and to hesitate to kill. For Muriel, these revelations have a lasting effect.

"A bullet and a bandage for the wound
         it causes, all in one small envelope.
                  My questions may have caused a hesitation
                           that cost Frank his...his certainty.
                  His life? However long I live, it won't
         be long enough to silence that suggestion."


Grace's drawing is a foreshadowing of Frank's death; the picture showing the crossing stones with Emma and Ollie and "a stone with no one on it, my hand stretched out toward it, reaching out to someone who's not there."

While everyone is struggling to come to some kind of terms with Frank's death, Ollie arrives home, having lost an arm while saving a fellow soldier from being run over by a tank. Emma who is trying to cope with the loss of her brother, now has to deal with what has happened to Ollie. Despite being changed by his experiences in the war, Ollie is helped to heal by the wonderful acceptance and love of Emma.

Besides exploring the issues surrounding the First World War, Frost also includes much information about the suffragette movement in the United States during 1917. This is done through the eyes of Muriel who writes about the picketing women and their treatment by men in Washington, their arrest and the forced feeding of the suffragettes.

Another aspect especially appealing in Crossing Stones was Frost's positive portrayal of family life at the turn of the century. The Norman family suffers the loss of their only son, Frank, and in response to this tragedy, Muriel's Mama goes over to stay with Mrs. Norman. When Ollie returns home recovering from the loss of his arm, Muriel's family pulls together to help him recover, but Muriel also offers him the space on their walks to talk about the war and what he experienced. It is these talks that help Ollie to begin to heal.  When Grace becomes ill with the influenza that is sweeping through the towns, Emma carries her to the stream so Ollie can take her and Mrs. Norman brings soup for Grace.

The poetry in this book is nothing short of impressive. In her Author's Note at the back of the book Helen Frost provides her readers with some information on the form and structure of her poetry which she wanted to reflect the idea of "stepping from stone to stone across a creek". Muriel's poems look like a meandering river while Ollie and Emma's poems are representative of the stepping stones. Their poems are " 'cupped-hand sonnets,' fourteen-line poems in which the first line rhymes with the last line, the second line rhymes with the second-to-last, and so on, so that the seventh and eighth lines rhyme with each other at the poem's center." However, while the rhyming words are found at the end of the lines in Emma's poems, in Ollie's poems the rhyming words are the first in each line. Frost goes on to explain further how Ollie and Emma's poems are connected to each other.

Crossing Stones is a wonderful historical novel that conveys both the horror of World War 1 as experienced by both the men who fought and their families back home, as well as the determination and pluck the suffragettes demonstrated as they fought for the right to be politically equal to men. Creative, unique, poignant and sensitive in its treatment of these issues and of families torn apart by a senseless war and a changing social order, Crossing Stones is a true gem.

Image credit: https://encyclopediavirginia.org/13676-0502d6193039c90/

Book Details:

Crossing Stones by Helen Frost
New York: Frances Foster Books      2009
184 pp.

A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller

Today is International Women's Day and this wonderful novel by Sharon Biggs Waller provides young women with the opportunity to reflect on how far women have come  in their struggle for equality over the past one hundred years. Set in London, in 1909, Waller combines the interesting elements of the suffragettes and the art world to create a dynamic, fascinating novel.

Over a century ago, the struggle by women's movement in Britain to obtain the right to vote was in full swing. Women were specifically excluded from voting by the Great Reform Act which passed in 1832. The act used the word "male" instead of "people", thus excluding women from having a say in their national government.  The right to vote movement began shortly after this but seventy years on, in 1903, little had been accomplished.

In October of 1903, the Womens Social and Political Union (WSPU) was formed and it was decided that stronger measures were necessary. At the center of the struggle for women's rights was the Pankhurst family; first Richard Pankhurst and then Sylvia and Christabel Pankhurst.

Members of the WSPU began demonstrations in front of Parliament, chained themselves to the iron fence outside of Buckingham Palace, and committed arson. Many women were jailed but even in prison they continued to fight on by going on hunger strikes. The movement became increasingly violent and was only interrupted by the advent of World War I. The war effort which saw many women take over jobs formerly done by men, eventually resulted in women achieving the right to vote. (The above was taken from the BBC web, The History of the Suffragettes)

The novel opens in March 1909 and introduces readers to seventeen year old Victoria Darling who is living in Trouville, France, attending Madame Edith's Finishing School For Girls. Victoria has been sneaking out of her boarding school with the help of her friend Lily Northbrook, to work alongside other artists in Monsieur Tondreau's atelier. At Tondreau's atelier, the artists study the nude, referred to as the undraped figure by artists. In Edwardian society such a thing is considered highly scandalous. No self-respectable woman from the upper class would behave in such a way. When the model for the class doesn't show one day, Victoria feels pressured to volunteer so she will be taken as a serious student of art. This decision will life altering consequences for Victoria.

When her posing nude is discovered by a classmate, Victoria is expelled from the finishing school and sent back home to England. She is met by her brother Freddy who has only recently come back into favour with their father, after refusing to be a part of the family business, Darling and Son Sanitary Company. The repercussions for Victoria are just beginning. Her mother informs Victoria that a lady's maid has been hired for her, and that she will make her debut into society shortly. This causes Victoria distress because she knows that the only reason for a debut is marriage. However Victoria's mother hopes that she will still receive an invitation to be presented to the King, as this will be an indication that Victoria's father who supplies plumbing fittings and fixtures will receive a Royal warrant to supply the same to King Edward. Victoria's escapade in Trouville has jeopardized her father's chances at such a warrant.

Victoria also learns that she is to be married off to Sir Henry Carrick-Humphrey's younger son, Edmund. Victoria tries to explain to her mother that she wants to study art, but her mother tells her this is not realistic for a young woman of her class. She tells her that women in polite society do not work and that Victoria is not talented enough to earn a living.

Stunned by her mother's revelations, and determined to discover what she needs to do to apply to the Royal College of Art, Victoria sneaks out of the house and takes a cab to the RCA. There she meets Mr. Earnshaw who tells her that she must submit a sketchbook by the end of April, and as she already suspects, that very few women are admitted.

Christabel Pankhurst

Bouyed by this Victoria decides she will draw the suffragettes who are demonstrating in front of the Parliament buildings. She especially wants to draw Christabel Pankhurst, the beautiful leader of the women's rights movement in Great Britain. During the demonstration the police show up and arrest Victoria along with the suffragettes including Victoria who loses her sketchbook. Distraught over the loss of her sketchbook, she begs a police man named William Fletcher who seems sympathetic to the suffragettes to save her book.  Fletcher helps Victoria get released from jail and he escorts her to the home of her brother, Freddy.

Freddy tells Victoria that Edmund is more forward thinking than his father. He tells her that once she's married to Edmund, she will have her own money and be able to attend college to study art. Victoria decides that she will marry Edmund by the end of the summer so she can attend attend the RCA in the fall. All she needs is to apply by the end of April, write the exam and be accepted in August.

The next day Victoria is lectured by her father to focus on marriage and becoming a wife and mother. He tells her that her duty in life is "to be pretty and entertaining" to her husband. However, when the Carrick-Humphreys come for dinner, disaster strikes as Edmund gets Victoria drunk and she argues with Sir Henry. This is the final straw for Victoria's father and he has her art supplies removed.

Furious, Victoria vows to live her life on her own terms. She becomes involved in the WSPU working on Sylvia Pankhurst's mural for the Women's Exhibition, and more importantly, she enlists Will Fletcher to pose for her an artist's model in return she will illustrate his short novels. In an unexpected turn of events, Victoria's new lady's maid turns out to be the youthful and very capable Miss Sophie Cumberbunch. Victoria finds Sophie to be both an aide and a sympathizer, who will help her complete her application for the RCA despite her parents objections. In Will she finds a muse and true love.  As her love for Will grows, Victoria becomes more distraught over her forthcoming marriage to Edmund who seems less suitable with each passing day.

When Sir Henry threatens to destroy everything Victoria has worked, for she must make a decision to either accept her fate marrying Edmund and live life as a society lady and lose forever her dream of being an artist, or stand up for herself and her dreams.

This beautifully crafted novel truly captures the essence of early 20th century society when industrialization was leading rapidly to modernization and a changing society. Waller weaves an intricate tapestry of domestic and public life in the early 1900's throughout the novel. Readers see life as it was for the very wealthy through the Darlings and the Carrick-Humphreys,  as well as the ordinary workers such as Will Fletcher's family. Women of privilege looked down on the lower classes, refusing any contact with them.

But society was changing. Many women were no longer content to remain in the home, relatively uneducated or uninvolved in the life of the nation and society. They were demanding a voice in society through the vote.

The world was fresh out of the Victorian age in which many contradictions existed. For example, in the novel, Victoria remarks that great works of art portraying the nude, such as Waterhouse's Mermaid, are admired and displayed, yet the process of creating those works is considered "unspeakable".

Waller has created a strong heroine in Victoria Darling. Victoria is resourceful and determined,  and has an almost mercenary approach to achieving her dream of someday become an exhibiting artist. She's willing to marry a man she doesn't love which might make her seem like she is using Edmund - and to an extent she is just as his family is using Victoria to settle Edmund in his way. This shows how marriage in Edwardian times was rarely for love and often for arranged for other reasons such as wealthy and social status. Victoria also considers that she has a social responsibility to the women who will come after her. While staying with her brother Freddy and his wife Rose, while watching her little niece sleeping, Victoria decides that she does not want her niece to face the same limited choices for her life. This is when Victoria knows she has to take a stand, so that future generations of women will be able to live their lives as they choose.

Waller also sets up a wonderful contrast between the two men Victoria must chose between. William Fletcher is everything Edmund Carrick-Humphreys is not. Will and Edmund are at opposite ends of the social spectrum, their lives as different as could be imagined. Will is frugal and hard-working, saving his money to purchase a gift for Victoria that was well above what he could afford. In contrast, Edmund has a gambling problem, lives in luxury that he doesn't have to pay for. Will deeply cares for Victoria's well being and understands her passion for art because it is similar to his passion for writing. Edmund's indifference to Victoria's desire to attend art school and his reluctance to stand up for her to his father, finally make Victoria understand who he really is. 

Although this is a long novel, it is well paced, packed with historical detail and has a suspenseful but satisfying ending. Sharon Biggs Waller has done her research and it shows. A Mad, Wicked Folly, whose title is a reference to Queen Victoria's remarks about the women's movement,  is chock full of many interesting themes including identity, the role of women in early 20th century, women's emancipation, the effect of industrialization on society and women artists.

For an interesting blog post in which Sharon Biggs Waller writes about the research process for this novel check out this entry over at Corsets, Cutlasses and Candlesticks.

Christabel Pankhurst image taken from http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.ca/2012/12/17-mothers-delight-christabel-pankhurst.html

Book Details:
A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller
New York: Viking     2014
431 pp.