A Right Worthy Woman
A Novel
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
In the vein of The Personal Librarian and The House of Eve, a “remarkable and stirring novel” (Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author) based on the inspiring true story of Virginia’s Black Wall Street and the indomitable Maggie Lena Walker, the daughter of a formerly enslaved woman who became the first Black woman to establish and preside over a bank in the United States.
Maggie Lena Walker was ambitious and unafraid. Her childhood in 19th-century Virginia helping her mother with her laundry service opened her eyes to the overwhelming discrepancy between the Black residents and her mother’s affluent white clients. She vowed to not only secure the same kind of home and finery for herself, but she would also help others in her community achieve the same.
With her single-minded determination, Maggie buckled down and went from schoolteacher to secretary-treasurer of the Independent Order of St. Luke, founder of a newspaper, a bank, and a department store where Black customers were treated with respect. With the help of influential friends like W.E.B. DuBois and Mary McLeod, she revolutionized Richmond in ways that are still felt today. Now, “with rich period detail and emotional impact” (Tracey Enerson Wood, author of The Engineer’s Wife), her riveting full story is finally revealed in this stirring and intimate novel.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Watson (Cranberry Winter) offers an illuminating if straightforward fictional biography of pioneering African American banker and entrepreneur Maggie Lena Walker (1864–1934). The story begins in 1876 Richmond, Va., when Maggie's father dies under suspicious circumstances and her mother suspects his killing was racially motivated. The Independent Order of St. Luke, a Black fraternal group in Richmond's Jackson Ward neighborhood, helps the Mitchells pay for the funeral. The order's commitment to the community so impresses Maggie that she becomes a member. After working as a schoolteacher for a few years, during which time she makes a point of educating young children about the value of money, Maggie meets Armstead Walker at one of the order's meetings. In him, she finds a man who works equally as hard as she does and supports her endeavors. Through WWI, the 1918 flu, the Great Depression, and the passage of Jim Crow laws, Maggie makes Jackson Ward thrive, opening a bank and a department store that both cater to Black customers and earning the neighborhood the nickname "the Black Wall Street of the South." Though the story is simplistic, Watson adds plenty of drama as Maggie perseveres in dangerous situations involving physical intimidation from white men. This appealing portrait would be perfect for a high school classroom.
