"A resonant tale of public and private lives during a time of staggering societal shifts. . . . This is a big American story. . . . deeply felt." —Boston Globe
Post–Civil War New York City is the battleground of the American dream. In this era of free love, emerging rights of women, and brutal sexual repression, Freydeh, a spirited young Jewish immigrant, toils at different jobs to earn passage to America for her family. Learning that her younger sister is adrift somewhere in the city, she begins a determined search that carries her from tenement to brothel to prison—as her story interweaves with those of some of the epoch's most notorious figures: Elizabeth Cady Stanton; Susan B. Anthony; sexual freedom activist Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for president; and Anthony Comstock, founder of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, whose censorship laws are still on the books.
In the tradition of her bestselling World War II epic Gone to Soldiers, Marge Piercy once again re-creates a turbulent period in American history and explores changing attitudes in a land of sacrifice, suffering, promise, and reward.
"Piercy powerfully dramatizes the early feminists' zeal and the high stakes of the gender wars it set in motion, and offers a wealth of period detail." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"In this mesmerizing, sexy, and forthright historical novel, [Piercy] portrays heroic women determined to control every aspect of their lives, from birth control to finances. . . . spectacularly engrossing and truly moving." —Booklist
"Fascinating and all too relevant. . . . Piercy has a gift or conjuring the texture of an historical era." —Washington Post