Harriet and Isabella
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4.1 • 7 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
It is 1887, and Henry Ward Beecher lies dying. Reporters from around the world, eager for one last story about the most lurid scandal of their time, descend on Brooklyn Heights, their presence signaling the beginning of the voracious appetite for fallen celebrities we know so well today.
When Henry Ward Beecher was put on trial for adultery in 1875, the question of his guilt or innocence was ferociously debated. His trial not only split the country, it split apart his family, causing a particularly bitter rift between his sisters, Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and Isabella Beecher Hooker, an ardent suffragist. Harriet remained loyal to Henry, while Isabella called publicly for him to admit his guilt. What had been a loving, close relationship between two sisters plummeted into bitter blame and hurt.
Harriet and Isabella each had a major role in the social revolutions unfolding around them, but what happened in their hearts when they were forced to face a question of justice much closer to home? Now they struggle: who best served Henry -- the one who was steadfast or the one who demanded honesty?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Smooth flashbacks carry this inventive romp through a 19th-century New England scandal, which opens at the deathbed of Henry Ward Beecher, "the most brilliant preacher in America," in March of 1887. Around him are his many siblings, notably his famous sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. The deathwatch mirrors the moment when, 15 years earlier and further on in the book, the clan assembles to discuss a front-page story in Victoria Woodhull's newspaper that, in veiled language, accuses Henry of having an affair with parishioner Elizabeth Tilton, in which the two conduct "orgies" in front of her children. The result is (among other things) a punishing church committee hearing. Three years later, Henry's former prot g and parishioner, Theodore Tilton, files suit against Henry, charging alienation of affections. O'Brien (coauthor of I Know Just What You Mean) takes the reader into the courtroom, a scene of such twists, betrayals and revelations that it will entertain even those who know how it ended a tricky business since even Elizabeth, who has confessed, denied and confessed, wonders, "Which of my stories was true?" That the question remains just makes the telling juicier, and O'Brien delivers just enough history to make a reader feel virtuous while savoring the gossip.
