I choose to read this book because I was intrigued by the description of Abigail Scott Duniway, Oregon's leading suffragist (not suffragette as I learned from the book). I had never heard of this woman who led the campaigns for women's right to vote in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Wife, teacher, mother were among her many titles. This seemed like exactly the type of book I would want to read.
I have probably never disliked a protagonist more than I disliked Abigail. For the majority of the book she comes across whiny, constantly complaining about her work. She treats her husband like a lesser person than herself. She travels to get away from him every chance she can get. Taking care of him is a burden. Later, she treats her older daughter with contempt. She is continually worrying about money. Her other children are merely pawns used in working for the cause. I was waiting for some great redemption of her character. When later on in the book she starts quoting scripture, I'm not even sure why.
Her sole passion is gaining the right to vote. The rest of her life is viewed as something that is getting in her way of the goal. She seems to care about the trials and rights of women, but I was never sure why. Her sympathy for others when she has little for her family was quite confusing.
This is an events-driven book. We move rapidly from one plot point to another with little character development in-between. Having not read this author before, I was torn as to whether or not this was the author's style or merely symptomatic of the person she was depicting.
If you, like me, knew nothing about this woman, this perhaps was a good introduction.
I received a complimentary copy of this book as part of the Revell Reads Blogger Team in exchange for my honest opinion.