Librarians will recommend this book...Lends itself well to book club discussions and reading circles on women's historical fiction.
An epic story of Annie Osborn Anthony, a woman striving to define herself amid Civil War atrocities, betrayal, and scandal. In this spiritually gripping and beautifully written novel, Jeanne Gehret reveals the woman behind the tempestuous Daniel Read Anthony-abolitionist pioneer and fiery publisher in Bleeding Kansas-drawing on dozens of newspaper articles, scrapbooks, archives, and artifacts.
Though Daniel vows to begin anew with Annie at his side, his volatile actions repeatedly pull her into his turbulent wake. Three refugee women confront her with the complexities of war, even as her troubled marriage forces Annie to seek the strength to become a woman in her own right.
Based on real people, Born of This Fire blends meticulous research with stirring narrative to illuminate a marriage tested by history, a woman shaped by resilience, and the enduring cost of love in a nation at war.
From Midwest Book Review:
"The Civil War, women's issues, and questions of passion and integrity coalesce in Born of This Fire, a novel about a war that affects not only a woman's life, but her belief system and values. Annie Osborn Anthony enters unfamiliar waters from her staid Martha's Vineyard home by journeying to Kansas, the state her husband Daniel fought to keep free for all.
The contrast between these two very different worlds captures a "you are here" feel from the start:
She wasn't on the road anymore. And yet, even as her limbs rested, her mind drifted eastward-back to the mercurial Atlantic Ocean, the salt air of Martha's Vineyard, the well-tended lanes and whitewashed fences. Everything she had once called home now seemed impossibly distant.
Annie faces many challenges in her new life, from armed civilians and Kansas politics to Daniel's wartime tactics and the rumors that haunt their marriage.
More than a story about war, pioneers, shifting politics, or changing attitudes, Born of This Fire captures the passion and purposes of the times. It contrasts alliances with underlying horrors, the impact of Susan B. Anthony's purpose and vision upon this changing environment, and Annie's own consideration of how conventions need be set aside in order to embrace new possibilities for the lives of women, enslaved people, and all manner of men.
Jeanne Gehret builds thought-provoking contrasts between the social mores and politics of these times, viewing events through the eyes of a married woman who becomes caught up in new ideas and ideals for her future and that of her children.
As the point of view shifts between Daniel and Annie, different perspectives are contrasted and influences become cemented in a growing series of confrontations that test the boundaries of guilt, innocence, and survival.
History melds nicely with emotional and political realizations as the lives of Annie and Daniel Read Anthony come to life, firmly rooted in the hopes and expectations of their times.
Librarians will recommend this book to patrons seeking books about strained marriages, women's courage in the face of loss, and the moral challenges of a divided nation. It lends especially well to book club discussions and reading circles seeking astute women's historical fiction.
With its sterling reflection of powerful personalities whose choices influenced the era, Born of This Fire is hopeful, invigorating, and hard to put down."
