The Women’s Suffrage Movement is something that I love. I mean I minored in Women’s Studies in college. Alice Paul and I went to the same high school, and then she became a bit of personal hero of mine. So any book that talks about the work that getting the 19th Amendment passed is a book I will read.

The thing that I loved most about this book is that even though it is historical fiction it doesn’t stray away from the ugly parts of of the suffrage movement, the segregation of women of color. Having the book also be told from the view of of Ida Wells-Barnett also helped convey that message well. This is the first time that I have found a work of fiction that doesn’t stray away from the ugly parts makes this work feel even more genuine.

I also learned something while reading this book. Maude Malone was a new member of the women’s suffrage movement that I had never heard of so it was interesting to learn more about her and her place in the movement. Honestly her story was the most interesting to me, not because it was the one that I didn’t know about previously, but because she was the most ballsy of them all. Interrupting candidates during their speeches demanding that they state their position on suffrage, that was a genius idea. And while all of her contemporaries may not have agreed with the tactic, it was the most direct way to get a response, even if she was well aware that she wasn’t going to get one.

I highly recommend this read for anyone who is interested in the suffrage movement and learning about the prominent figures. While this book isn’t a full picture of the movement at all, it does discuss some of the more pivotal moments that lead to the passage of the 19th Amendment. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐