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mrsvikingreads's review against another edition
4.0
The Anarchist's Wife is an eloquent and poignant read that showcases the family behind the scandal in an emotive re-imagining of the infamous 1920s Sacco & Vanzetti Case. A brilliant debut, Margo Laurie is one to watch.
Margo Laurie weaves tenderness and grief into this eloquent and emotive debut.
We are taken into Rosa Sacco's world as she composes a diary for her daughter Ines, recounting the story of her marriage to Ines' father and his subsequent arrest and execution. Whilst the story of Nicola Sacco is relatively well known, the story of the woman who stayed by his side throughout is more enigmatic.
The Anarchist's Wife is gracefully constructed and though it is a work of fiction, Margo evidences her care for the true events with exceptional research that is carefully presented via the Acknowledgements chapter of the book. It is not very often that even the Acknowledgments are a genuine joy to read! I genuinely feel as though this is a book that would make it into English Literature lessons!
I found this book to be very well written, it flowed with ease and really pulled me into Rosa's world and her feelings at being left behind to raise the children and continue without her life partner. The earlier chapters telling the story of Rosa and Nic's love story were breathtaking and filled with sweet romantic details that made their separation more achingly difficult to read.
All in all, an eloquent and poignant read.
I was provided an advanced ebook of The Anarchist's Wife in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the wonderful Margo for inviting me to provide feedback and for trusting me with your debut novella!
Margo Laurie weaves tenderness and grief into this eloquent and emotive debut.
We are taken into Rosa Sacco's world as she composes a diary for her daughter Ines, recounting the story of her marriage to Ines' father and his subsequent arrest and execution. Whilst the story of Nicola Sacco is relatively well known, the story of the woman who stayed by his side throughout is more enigmatic.
The Anarchist's Wife is gracefully constructed and though it is a work of fiction, Margo evidences her care for the true events with exceptional research that is carefully presented via the Acknowledgements chapter of the book. It is not very often that even the Acknowledgments are a genuine joy to read! I genuinely feel as though this is a book that would make it into English Literature lessons!
I found this book to be very well written, it flowed with ease and really pulled me into Rosa's world and her feelings at being left behind to raise the children and continue without her life partner. The earlier chapters telling the story of Rosa and Nic's love story were breathtaking and filled with sweet romantic details that made their separation more achingly difficult to read.
All in all, an eloquent and poignant read.
I was provided an advanced ebook of The Anarchist's Wife in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the wonderful Margo for inviting me to provide feedback and for trusting me with your debut novella!
booklvrkat's review against another edition
4.0
“Your brother asked me to write this for you: a memoir about our family.” The author catches us here and takes us on the story of her life, with her husband, with her children, running, hiding from the government, and farther. Based on a true story located in Massachusetts, of accused payroll robbers Nicola Sacco & Bartolomeo Vanzetti. The author has done her homework on this story and has given her research to you at the end to corroborate this fiction. As we wind through the tale you feel at once that there is something big coming. Told from the perspective of Rosa Sacco, my heart was with her the entire tale. From the start of the telling at two in the morning on the 14th of December 1927 through the chapter titled Happiness, I was engaged. When I reached the acknowledgements from the author I was captivated. I love getting the backstory on a work of fiction, how the author came about her story, how she was able to wind the truth around the fiction to make a story truly hers. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
bookphile_belle's review against another edition
4.0
As we all know… I love historical fiction especially when it takes place in the early 1900’s or the world wars.
I absolutely love how this story was written. This is a retelling of the rather well known case involving Nicola Sacco and Bartolommeo Vanzetti from 1920. It’s told from the perspective of Rosa’s daughter as a memoir. So clever and I absolutely loved reading about it in this perspective.
This case was a great controversy back in its day and this new perspective relayed so many interesting details.
One complaint - why isn’t it longer? Or can there be a sequel?
I absolutely love how this story was written. This is a retelling of the rather well known case involving Nicola Sacco and Bartolommeo Vanzetti from 1920. It’s told from the perspective of Rosa’s daughter as a memoir. So clever and I absolutely loved reading about it in this perspective.
This case was a great controversy back in its day and this new perspective relayed so many interesting details.
One complaint - why isn’t it longer? Or can there be a sequel?
ashley_schulte's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
This was an interesting read during a period of history that I am woefully ignorant of. It take place in the 1920s Boston area and tells the story of a group of anarchists from the perspective of one of their wives. I don’t remember learning about anarchists and this period of unrest in school. This author told this story from an fascinating and heart wrenching viewpoint of the wife of Mr. Sacco. It was quite a sad story from any perspective and it touched the lives of so many. The author wraps you into their lives from the beginning and adds interesting historical bits throughout. I thought this was a great historical fiction. The only reason I give it 4.5 stars instead of 5 is because I do not think it will be on my repeat read list. But, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and would recommend it to any historical fiction fan.
rachelleoliver's review
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I enjoyed the way this was written, as a memoir from a mother to her daughter. The characters came alive even though most of them didn't have much "page time" due to this being a novella. I liked the pacing and the length. I emotionally connected with Rosa as she was telling this story, but I think the author could have been more clear about why her husband was an anarchist. Why did these men come from Italy to the US and feel such passion toward violence and revolt? I didn't understand what they were trying to accomplish. It made me feel inclined to dislike him for what he was putting his family through.
ravensandlace's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Title: The Anarchist’s Wife
Author: Margo Laurie
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: Kindle eARC from book sirens and the author
Series: NA
Star Rating: 4 stars
A special thank you goes to Book Sirens and Margo Laurie for giving me a copy of this book. Please know that this does not influence my rating or thoughts on the book itself.
tw: gun violence, mentions of assassinations, child death, mentions of war, miscarriages, bombings.
So when the author reached out to me about this book through my account on Book Sirens, I will be completely honest by saying I had no idea about this case the book is based on. I was a little iffy about it but I have had a goal for the past few years to read books outside my favorite genres. I honestly don’t know a lot about American history besides what we learned in school. But even then, that wasn’t super accurate as I am finding out.
Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book. It was written in the second person as one long letter from Rosa, the main character, to her daughter. It's about her (Rosa’s) husband’s life and what led to his arrest which is the Sacco and Vanzetti case of the 1920’s, in case anyone wants to do some more research on it. I knew absolutely nothing about this case. I didn’t even realize that there were anarchists in the United States during that time. I really have to go to learn more about my country’s own history, even though I know it really sucks.
My heart broke for poor Rosa. The case against her husband was just awful. A total miscarriage of justice. There was some information on the characters after the end of the book, so I learned more about the case. I’m glad that at least now, it’s being recognized. It’s a bit too late but at least it’s a start. I just love the United States government. It’s just as corrupt today as it was back then.
Alright. I will get off my political soapbox now. Y’all are here for a book review, not for me to spew my less than positive thoughts on my oh-so-amazing country’s legal system.
As for the book itself, it started out a bit slow. I was a little confused about what specifically was going on but after about the 25 percent mark, things started to make sense. I think it might have had something to do with the way the book was written since it was written as a letter. But after I reread a few paragraphs and took my time, I was able to figure out what was going on. And then I breezed through the rest of the book. It was very interesting.
Overall, I love a book that ends up surprising me by being good despite me not knowing anything about the topic. I also usually don’t read American history, as I mentioned above but lately, the American history books I have been reading have been pretty good. I can’t wait to read what else this author has.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Grief, and Murder
sallyluvs2read's review against another edition
4.0
I love historical fiction. Especially when I learn something new.
This story is told from the persepctive of Rosa Sacco, the wife of an anarchist, who was used as an example in a murder trial in 1920s Boston.
This is written in a diary format to her young daughter, Ines. The story was easy to follow and flowed quite well. I liked how it showed her perseverance and her commitment to her husband to the very end.
Such a fascinating piece of history.
This story is told from the persepctive of Rosa Sacco, the wife of an anarchist, who was used as an example in a murder trial in 1920s Boston.
This is written in a diary format to her young daughter, Ines. The story was easy to follow and flowed quite well. I liked how it showed her perseverance and her commitment to her husband to the very end.
Such a fascinating piece of history.
ellensbookishcollection's review
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬.
Before I read this novella, I knew nothing of the anarchist movement or the Sacco and Vanzetti case. The research that has gone into this novella is evident in the information located in the acknowledgements. I feel like it could have been a full length novel vs a novella. This was a very nice read though, just quick.
This is a fictional retelling from the perspective of the wife of one of the accused. It's written as if she is writing the story down for her daughter to read, and starts on the day she first met him, until the day she starts the story.
𝐈 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬.
I thought the novella was well done, but the chapter pacing was off. The story overall didn't flow badly, just the chapters. For a debut novella, I would definitely recommend it. Even if you know nothing of the case as I did.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5
𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘙𝘊, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.
Before I read this novella, I knew nothing of the anarchist movement or the Sacco and Vanzetti case. The research that has gone into this novella is evident in the information located in the acknowledgements. I feel like it could have been a full length novel vs a novella. This was a very nice read though, just quick.
This is a fictional retelling from the perspective of the wife of one of the accused. It's written as if she is writing the story down for her daughter to read, and starts on the day she first met him, until the day she starts the story.
𝐈 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬.
I thought the novella was well done, but the chapter pacing was off. The story overall didn't flow badly, just the chapters. For a debut novella, I would definitely recommend it. Even if you know nothing of the case as I did.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5
𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘙𝘊, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.