Readers hit the jackpot; Cora and her friends defy the Victorian stereotype” Kate Kelly, The Huffington Post “A controversial businesswoman, her headstrong daughter, and a tug of wills make for a deliciously detailed saga of scandal and redemption.” A’Lelia Bundles, author of On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker. In 1884, the notorious Mrs. Dr. Rebecca J. Keck sent her daughter to Vassar to raise the family’s social status; Cora Keck's unexpected educational opportunity opens a window to a turbulent era that greatly resembles our own. Raised in the gritty Mississippi River town of Davenport, Iowa, she could have walked straight out of a Susan Glaspell story, except everything in this amazing tale is true. In 2007, Cora’s great-granddaughter discovered a trove of diaries and photos that reveal the inner life of a spirited heroine who ultimately faced a stark life and death crisis that would force her to re-examine her doubts about her mother’s medical integrity.

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