Megan Marshall

Megan Marshall’s book is a wonderfully readable account of the life of Boston-born Margaret Fuller (1810-1850), an early feminist. Her father was her primary educator, “designing” her course of study at home. A tough taskmaster he was, which turned out to be of great value to her, for he died young. She needed then to provide for her mother and her siblings. After a short teaching gig, she realized that, although she was successful, it was not her passion - she desperately wanted to write. Another passion was engaging women in developing their intellect. To this end, she led a series of Conversations, to which the women of Boston subscribed, meeting weekly to discuss literary topics. These two passions served to support her family.

Though not born of wealth, she was a friend of the Transcendalists in New England, in particular of Ralph Waldo Emerson whom she held in thrall. She wrote constantly, letters and essays, always looking to Emerson for intellectual commentary and discussion. In fact, she probably would have liked a closer union, but he couldn’t be moved in that direction, and sometimes treated her harshly.

The book traces the life of a woman ahead of her time. In her early years, she envied her friends who married and had children. Though that would come later for her, she was content to be a woman of intellect and action. A trip to the Midwest that opened her eyes to a world away from Boston, the publishing of two well-received books and numerous articles, the “plum” job as literary editor of Horace Greeley’s New York Tribune where she finally gained confidence and received the accolades that she deserved, and the trip as foreign correspondent in Europe that was to prove so momentous for her and bring her fulfillment of the wish for a child – all these events unfold beautifully with Marshall’s prose to guide the reader and with Fuller’s words that are liberally quoted throughout.

Not only did Fuller’s writing display her wide range of literary knowledge, but it is styled so beautifully with just the right turn of phrase. In the 1970’s, during the heat of the women’s liberation movement, T-shirts were printed with a quote from her famous book, Woman of the Nineteenth Century. Taken out of context from her belief that women should be able to be what they want to be, the quote was “Let Them Be Sea-Captains.” But it’s probably not one she would have picked. Instead, believing as she did that women should be taught and held to high standards, she might have preferred this one:

"Who would be a goody that could be a genius"
… (mais)

was looking forward to this so much. Margaret Fuller was Louisa May Alcott's role model, she was deep into Transcendalism, a subject I love, she did things that were out of the norm for that time period. But this Pultizer Prize winning book was a big let down for me.

The author does excell in storytelling. she clutters up her book with numerous details and quotes. When I got interested part of Margaret Fuller's life, the author left me hanging and then changed the subject. I trudged through the entire book because I thought might get better. It did not. I think something that would have really improved the book would have been if the author had tried to read it out load, even once.

The back of the book in Notes indicates that a tremendous amount of research had been down. Usually I love a book that is very well researched but I daresay that Margaret Filler would have been disappointed with how her life had been put together in a dreary slog of detaills. I would not recommend this book for letting yourself go into the life of a vibtant, and very intelligent woman.… (mais)