Confessions of a Book Addict
It's 1836 in Concord, Massachusetts and Margaret Fuller is spending time at Ralph Waldo Emerson's house. He is her mentor and friend, which brings her into a literary social circle like none other with Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the Alcott family. Margaret is known to be highly educated, well-read, and extremely intelligent. She is unconventional for her time in that she has no interest in settling down with a man, but has higher aspirations for herself. Over the years, she has taken on jobs, such as teacher, journalist, writer, editor, and more. Some of these jobs she never was paid for, but once she writes an important book on women, her career takes off. She holds conversations with like-minded women to discuss important issues of the time and before she knows it, she is offered a job at the New York Tribune as the first female war correspondent. Her boss sends her to Europe to write about Italy's fight for independence. While there are many important events that occur in Italy, the most important is meeting her future husband, Giovanni Ossoli. He is a Roman soldier and not someone she would necessarily see herself with, but sparks fly and they end up having a child together. She must escape Italy's fighting more than once to bring her child to safety with the end goal of hopefully getting back to America. Allison Pataki's sweeping saga Finding Margaret Fuller highlights the life of an important woman often forgotten in the pages of history. Margaret Fuller is captivating. I am not sure Pataki made her entirely interesting every second of Finding Margaret Fuller as some parts were pretty slow. The first half of the book where Margaret struggles to find her place in Massachusetts and jumps from job to job is a bit boring, to be honest. Her romantic tension with Ralph Waldo Emerson definitely kept it interesting, but I knew she had bigger fish to fry as he was already married and seemed pretty needy. For me, the story took off once she was sent to Italy as a war correspondent. I found this really captivating and her life in Italy jumped off the page. By this point, like any good biographical fiction, I was googling facts about Margaret, because I wanted to see what would happen to her during Italy's fight for independence and was surprised by some of the details about her life. I was also surprised that I didn't know much about Margaret Fuller. She is an important person when it comes to women's rights and Transcendentalism, so I am glad Pataki is highlighting her amazing life in Finding Margaret Fuller. I think readers can agree that Margaret led an important life, one to be remembered, and even though Pataki kept a slow pace at times in Finding Margaret Fuller, I think it was an important and very memorable read--one that I kept thinking about long after I turned the page. |
If you click on the book title, it will take you to the Amazon page so that you can order it.FLAMINGO BOOK CLUB - 2025
Jan (1/09) Housekeeping @Darci Feb (2/13) FINDING MARGARET FULLER by Allison Pataki @Shelly Leader: Alice Mar (3/13) THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS by Lisa Jewell @Susan Leader: Donna Apr (4/10) THE MAID by Nita Prose @Alice w/Xochi Leader: Pam May (5/08) THE GIRL WITH 7 NAMES by Hyeonseo Lee @Pam Leader: Susan JUN (6/12) THE ISLAND OF MISSING TREES by Elif Shafak @Nancy Leader: Nancy JUL (7/10) MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig @Mary Leader: Mary AUG (8/14) BE READY WHEN LUCK HAPPENS by Ina Garten @Alice Leader: Pat ***** Everyone bring a dish - Food Meeting***** SEP (9/11) THE WHALEBONE THEATER by Joanna Quinn @Pat Leader: Darci OCT (10/9) THE FROZEN RIVER by Ariel Lawhon @Donna Leader: Shelly NOV (11/13) THE SECRET WAR OF JULIA CHILD by Diana Chambers @Jennifer Wilster Leader: Jennifer DEC (12/11) THE WOMEN by Kristen Hannah @Sheila Leader Sheila *****Christmas Party - Bring a wrapped book for exchange***** |