Finding Margaret Fuller, Allison Pataki, author; Barrie Kreinik, narrator
This is a rather remarkable story about a little-known early feminist. The novel offers a veritable tableau of the many famous, near famous, and creative people of her era, like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Emily Bronte, George Sanders and David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allen Poe, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Louisa May Alcott, and so many more. Margaret Fuller was able to interact with all of them as an equal, the young and the old, the famous and the not-yet-famous. Her character and her demeanor seemed to encourage others to accomplish whatever goals they hoped to achieve. Born in 1810, this story of Margaret Fuller begins around 1836, when she was single and approaching her 26th birthday. It continues until her untimely and tragic death in 1850, when she was just 40 years old.
When the novel about Margaret’s life begins, the reader learns that she was raised by a demanding father who insisted on educating her far beyond what was considered necessary or appropriate for most women of her time. As a result, she had few friends and few male suitors. They found her intimidating, but not Nathaniel Hawthorne. He found her work and conversation stimulating and encouraged her to do more. For her part, Margaret was thrilled to discover a man who would entertain conversations with her without feeling threatened by her knowledge or intelligence. Hawthorne had admired the work she was doing and invited her to be a guest in his home. At that time, his wife was pregnant and often in bed a little under the weather. Thus, Margaret often went walking with him and their friendship grew with each conversation. His inspiration encouraged her independence and success.
For several years, Margaret, a journalist, wrote columns for The Tribune. She was their first female foreign correspondent and had been living in Italy. There, she met and married an Italian soldier in the service of the Pope. When the people revolted against his rule, the Pope fled. However, the violence turned back in his favor, with soldiers firing upon unarmed citizens; he soon returned to power. Although her correspondence was valuable, alerting the world to the plight of the people, they were soon in further danger. Her husband had been a soldier opposing the Pope, and he was now being hunted. They now fled, and soon they decided to relocate to America. The journey home, unexpectedly, turned out to be more treacherous and more dangerous.
Margaret was a woman ahead of her time. She was unafraid to explore the world without a chaperone, which was generally considered unwise and unsafe. It was thought that women needed the protection and support of a man in order to flourish and survive. For example, the author George Sanders, was a woman who wrote under the persona of a man. All the power resided in the hands of men. Had Margaret lived longer, she would have accomplished so much more for the cause of women’s rights and civil rights. She was an inspiration to so many.
Perhaps Margaret Fuller was scandalous, living a life of freedom that was unknown to women, but she was aware of the shortcomings of her time, of the unequal opportunity afforded to men and women, white people and people of color, the rich and the poor, the religious and the secular and she endeavored to right those wrongs.