Today I’m reviewing Margaret Fuller: A New American Life by Megan Marshall for TLC Book Tours. As always, I am provided with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
From the publisher:
From an early age, Margaret Fuller dazzled New England’s intellectual elite. Her famous Conversations changed women’s sense of how they could think and live; her editorship of The Dial shaped American Romanticism.
Marshall tells the story of how Fuller, tired of Boston, accepted Horace Greeley’s offer to be the New York Tribune’s front page columnist. The move unleashed a crusading concern for the urban poor and the plight of prostitutes, and a hunger for passionate experience. In Italy as a foreign correspondent, Fuller took a secret lover, wrote dispatches on the brutal 1849 Siege of Rome, and gave birth to a son.
When all three died in a shipwreck off Fire Island shortly after Fuller’s fortieth birthday, the sense and passion of her life’s work were eclipsed by tragedy and scandal. Marshall’s inspired account brings an American heroine back to indelible life.
My review:
Before I read this biography, I was aware of the name Margaret Fuller but had no real knowledge of her life or accomplishments. And I am not usually drawn to biographies. However, Megan Marshall’s book, amazingly detailed but never boring, is one I would highly recommend. She paints a vivid picture of Fuller’s life, drawing from Fuller’s writings and the accounts of others.
Think of it: Fuller grew up in Cambridge, MA, the daughter of a lawyer and congressman who gave her a classical education in a time when Harvard, just down the road, didn’t admit women. She was brilliant and fiercely intelligent, described by some as a genius. She grew up with Oliver Wendell Holmes; she later counted Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Alcotts as her friends. She edited some of Thoreau’s writings. She was most definitely a woman ahead of her time. As her world expanded, she left Cambridge for New York to work for Horace Greeley and the New York Herald Tribune as a columnist. Eventually, she went to Europe and worked as a foreign correspondent. All this in a time where women held the traditional roles of wife and mother and weren’t expected to do much more than that. Fuller’s heroines, however, were George Sand and Mary Wollstonecraft, women who disregarded society’s conventions as to marriage. Fuller sought more. She believed strongly in the rights of women. She championed the causes of those in need. She wanted to live a fully realized life and she did.
Perhaps her best known work was Women in the Nineteenth Century, which grew out of her famous Conversations, which were seminars for women. The Dial, a Transcendentalist publication, was started by Fuller and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Born in 1810, she died at the age of 40 – too young, by far. But in that time, she forged a life that few women of that time could have hoped to imagine. Megan Marshall’s book is beautifully written. She paints a vivid portrait of her subject and recreates that era for her readers in rich detail. We see and experience life in Cambridge, New York and Rome in the first half of the 19th century. We meet those people, some rather famous to us now, that Margaret counted as her friends and colleagues. We learn much about the social ills that Margaret fought to change. And most importantly, we learn about Margaret, whose fierce intellect and passionate embrace of life led her on a groundbreaking journey.
I find her utterly fascinating. And I thank Megan Marshall for writing such a brilliant biography.
About the author:
Megan Marshall is the author of The Peabody Sisters, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her work has appeared the New Yorker, The Atlantic, New York Times Book Review, and Slate. A recipient of Guggenheim and NEH fellowships, Marshall teaches in the MFA program at Emerson College. She lives in Massachusetts.
If you leave a comment, you just might win a copy of this book! Make sure to leave your comment on this post. I will choose a winner on Thursday evening.
Happy Monday.
I’d love to win a copy of this book. Biographies fascinate me. Thanks for a great review.
Love biographies! This sounds really intersting.
I would love to have a copy. It sounds like a good book.
Thank you for such an in-depth review. I really want to know more about Margaret now.
Off to check out the Peabody Sisters as well!
Claudia, I love to read your reviews! This sounds so interesting and entertaining too!
Hi, Claudia, Biographies are not usually my first choice, but your review on this book makes me want to read it. I think I’ll have to check out the Peabody Sisters as well! Thanks for the interesting review–it’s always so nice to have another book to add to my must-read list!
I did not know much about Margaret Fuller, but want to, now.
The book sounds like the pages come alive. I like period books and would love to win this one. Thank you for the chance.
This looks interesting. I have read biographies on the Alcott family ( mostly Louisa and her father) . I think I would like this also.
Your review has left me wanting to learn more about Margaret Fuller. I love stories about strong women, especially those who are wander far off the beaten path. Thanks for the introduction to this woman, and to this author.
Sounds like she was way ahead of her time. While I don’t normally read biographies, this one sounds interesting. Thanks for the opportunity! ;)
I always love your reviews. This book sounds very interesting. Thanks for giving away a copy. Someone is going to enjoy this freebie. I added The Peabody Sisters to my list of must-reads too.
I never knew about this amazing woman..I love reading about women who fought for other women’s rights so long ago..How brave they were in a time when women were treated as unequal..
She sounds so interesting! I would love to read this book.
This book sounds fascinating. I have always loved biographies. Even as a child, I read biographies of Clara Barton, George Washington, etc and loved the history and life of these people. Today I lean toward biographies in a lot of my reading. I would love to win a copy of this book. I’m putting it on my To Read list just in case I don’t.
Thanks,
I find myself at the crossroads of my life, and because of circumstances out of my control my choices are limited. I try to imagine what a woman like Matgaret Fuller would do if she were to faced with the same situation, and the same roadblocks I have come upon. If I am going to be completely honest with myself I will bet that she wouldnt have allowed the roadblocks that I have faced stop her from living her life fully. Quite the wake up call wouldn’t you say? Thank you Claudia for the review and for your willingness to share your life through your blog.
This book sounds really inspiring. I read a biography of Louisa May Alcott, who was part of the same circles: Thoreau, Emerson, Hawthorne, et al. I’d love to win a copy of this book! Thank you for the chance! xo Jennifer
I may be wrong, but I seem to remember Wollstonecraft from taking Women’s Studies classes in college. As always, you write brilliant reviews. How you have not been picked up to review books for big publications, I don’t know. You bring a book to life,
Brenda
I love biographies. When they are well written it is like making a new friend. This one sounds just like that.
Biographies are my favorite Non-Fiction books! This one sounds great!
Hugs,
Linda
Although Margaret Fuller’s name is somewhat familiar, I simply didn’t know why. Now I want to know about her. We need strong women.
kKathy
Wow! What a woman, she crashed through the glass ceiling, even before it had been thought of! Blessings
I don’t read as many books as I used to. But I enjoy biographies, especially of a historical nature. Your great book reviews make me want to start reading more! I definitely want to find out more about her. What a courageous, inspiring woman.
Thank you for the review of this book- it sounds wonderful, and I love biographies. I am inspired to see if it is available at my library.
Thanks for your blog!
I have to admit that I’d never heard of Margaret Fuller prior to this book but it sounds like she was an amazing woman, and way ahead of her time.
Thanks for being a part of the tour. I’m featuring your review on TLC’s Facebook page today.
Terrific review! I’ve just posted mine, which is quite different than yours (although I also relished the book).
I am new to your blog–it has a lovely design! :)