Genre: Historical Fiction

Allison Pataki’s Finding Margaret Fuller narrated by Barrie Kreinik happily brought me back to one of the best nerdy vacations that my family has ever taken to Concord, MA. I double checked with my daughter who confirmed that sadly, we learned very little about Fuller in our literary tours there. In an effort to bring to light the remarkable accomplishments of Margaret Fuller - Pataki places her readers directly into the lives of the Concord writers. She fully explores Fuller’s relationships with Emerson, Thoreau, the Alcotts, and Nathaniel Hawthorne as she comes into her own as a philosopher and writer, bringing the time alive. She follows her then to Rome - where Fuller works as the first female war correspondent and finds fulfillment in her personal life.

I know it’s fiction, but I really enjoy seeing the ways in which these characters - most of whom (with the exception of Fuller ironically enough) I’ve both read and taught - interact in their daily lives. The narration of Barrie Kreinik brings each individual to life - and as they are most different, this can’t have been easy. So I loved the time the book spent in Concord and could easily picture the walk from Emerson’s house to Orchard House from my time there. Much as I loved this insight, I didn’t always understand Margaret - at one point I asked out loud, rather frustrated, “Margaret, why do you keep going back to Concord?” Ultimately, Margaret herself ends up a bit bored with the inaction there as well. I was a bit relieved when she spent time in New York and finally Europe. The time she spent in Italy revolutionized the expectations for the role of women in journalism. Her reports back to Horace Greeley supported her and opened the eyes of her readers. Her dedication to her craft in the face of gender bias, poverty, love, and even war is astonishing. I will be exploring some of her work for sure. I haven’t read from the transcendentalists in some time. In Italy she also found love and family. Isn’t it funny how these can be found when the finder isn’t even looking?

I have had a good run with historical fiction that highlights strong women. See The First Ladies, Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule, and When Women Ran Fifth Avenue. These authors and their works are so important. I am grateful for them. I still feel like I have work to do, but I have been spinning my wheels in terms of the reading and study I thought I’d do in my retirement. I’m not doing it. I gathered up some of the books I’d acquired for such a time as this and they are still gathered in a pile. Perhaps the role model found in Allison Pataki’s Finding Margaret Fuller will provide a starting point. I have so much to learn. Perhaps.