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A review by karnaconverse
The Women's March: A Novel of the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession by Jennifer Chiaverini
3.0
More than 5,000 women marched down Pennsylvania Avenue on March 3, 1913 and more than a quarter of a million participated as spectators. Their destination was the White House; their message for President-elect Woodrow Wilson was that of women's suffrage and the need for a constitutional amendment.
Inspired by the actual event, Chiaverini lays out this story of the march in alternating chapters that highlight the individual, combined, and competing efforts of National American Woman’s Suffrage Association parade organizer Alice Paul, librarian Maud Malone, and journalist/activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett.
I listened to the audiobook but felt "The Women's March" read more like nonfiction than fiction. I couldn't help but compare its structure and tone to [b:The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote|40765598|The Woman's Hour The Great Fight to Win the Vote|Elaine F. Weiss|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1551461640l/40765598._SY75_.jpg|57247753], Elaine Weiss's narrative nonfiction account of the 1920 Tennessee legislative session— and its role as the final state to ratify the 19th Amendment. That book includes a bibliography and is highly footnoted and indexed. Reviews of this book note that it is not footnoted nor does it include a list of sources the author used in her research or her suggestions for further reading. For these reasons, reviewers have been quick to question what is fact and what is fiction. In the Author's Note at the end of the book, Chiavenini writes about the "artistic license" she took as a historical fiction writer—which I support—but one point in particular* has caused me to change my four-star rating to a three. That said, each of these three women were important to the fight for women's suffrage and we should be as familiar with them as we are with Susan B. Anthony.
2023 selection: Plymouth Church Faithful Readers
*Spoiler alert: it's not clear that Maud Malone actually participated in the march.
Inspired by the actual event, Chiaverini lays out this story of the march in alternating chapters that highlight the individual, combined, and competing efforts of National American Woman’s Suffrage Association parade organizer Alice Paul, librarian Maud Malone, and journalist/activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett.
I listened to the audiobook but felt "The Women's March" read more like nonfiction than fiction. I couldn't help but compare its structure and tone to [b:The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote|40765598|The Woman's Hour The Great Fight to Win the Vote|Elaine F. Weiss|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1551461640l/40765598._SY75_.jpg|57247753], Elaine Weiss's narrative nonfiction account of the 1920 Tennessee legislative session— and its role as the final state to ratify the 19th Amendment. That book includes a bibliography and is highly footnoted and indexed. Reviews of this book note that it is not footnoted nor does it include a list of sources the author used in her research or her suggestions for further reading. For these reasons, reviewers have been quick to question what is fact and what is fiction. In the Author's Note at the end of the book, Chiavenini writes about the "artistic license" she took as a historical fiction writer—which I support—but one point in particular* has caused me to change my four-star rating to a three. That said, each of these three women were important to the fight for women's suffrage and we should be as familiar with them as we are with Susan B. Anthony.
2023 selection: Plymouth Church Faithful Readers
*Spoiler alert: it's not clear that Maud Malone actually participated in the march.