What if I told you one of the most exciting thrillers I ever read was about the passage of the 19th Amendment that finally gave women the vote in 1920? It’s true! That book is The Woman’s Hour by Elaine F. Weiss. Even though I knew the amendment passed –women have had the vote since 1920—I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, wondering how on earth it managed to pass when so many people were determined it would not.
When the US congress finally passed the amendment in June of 1919, it seemed an easy task to get 36 of the then-48 states to ratify it so it would become the law of the land. If it was not ratified, the amendment would die, and the Suffragists would have to start their 80-year fight all over again. But passing it wasn’t easy. A year later, only 35 states had ratified. Twelve states had either voted not to ratify or their governors had refused to call a legislative session to even consider ratification. That left only one state, Tennessee, to turn the tide, but could they do it? Every other Southern state had already refused to ratify.
Suffragists celebrating the victory. L to R in back row: Banks Turner with Catherine Flanagan, Anita Pollitzer shaking hands with Harry Burn, Front row: Thomas Simpson, Betty Gran and Sue White. These people played key roles in passing the 19th Amendment and are featured in City of Betrayal.
Thousands of people converged on Richmond in the devastating heat of August to influence the outcome of the vote. Bags of money arrived from the various groups interested in keeping women from political power. Women would surely insist that the newly passed prohibition laws be strictly enforced. Women wanted an end to child labor and to get fair wages paid to women. They wanted reform, and powerful men did not. Bribes were paid. Legislators who were average working men suddenly were given lucrative jobs with railroads. Those who refused bribes were threatened. Their mortgage might be called in and they would lose their homes. Rumors would be started in their hometowns, blackening their names.
Men who had supported Woman Suffrage for years suddenly found themselves unable to vote in favor of it. Betrayal followed betrayal and the necessary votes slipped away day by day. How could the amendment possibly pass?
I have to admit, I was worried, and I already knew it passed! What a great story, I thought, and I never remember hearing it before. I wanted to tell this story, just like I had wanted to tell the story of the women who were jailed for freedom a few years earlier for demonstrating for Woman Suffrage outside the White House. I told that story in City of Lies, the first book in the Counterfeit Lady Series. Now I could tell the story of how the Amendment finally passed in City of Betrayal.
My heroine, Elizabeth Miles Bates, is a reformed con artist who, after accidentally getting arrested with the Suffragists and ending up imprisoned in a workhouse, starts to use her grifting skills to help other people. She is among the Suffragists who travel to Richmond to lobby in favor of ratifying the amendment, and when she sees all the shenanigans the Antis are pulling, she realizes the Suffragists need her skills very badly. She uses her training to charm or trick legislators into supporting the amendment, but even still, the Suffragists are short of votes.
To say the decision came down to the very last minute wouldn’t even be correct. It came after the very last minute, and one vote made the difference. Elizabeth Miles Bates made a bold move that may have changed the course of history and helped give women the vote after 80 years. Read all about this exciting feminist moment in City of Betrayal. I promise you will be surprised!
Counterfeit Lady
Elizabeth Bates's latest con just might change the course of history in an all-new Counterfeit Lady Novel from USA Today bestselling author Victoria Thompson.
A year has passed since Elizabeth Bates ran her last con. Life has been simpler, although not nearly as exciting, but she has thrown herself into working to get the 19th Amendment ratified by thirty-six states to become the law of the land. Since every other Southern state has already rejected the amendment, it seems unlikely Tennessee will be an exception . . . but it's their only hope, so the suffragists descend on Tennessee for the final battle.
Elizabeth’s ability to interact with difficult men and to persuasively explain all the advantages of allowing women to vote—all skills she perfected as a grifter—have made her a valuable member of the team. But she would never have expected the lengths to which some would go to keep the vote out of women's hands. She'll need to devise the perfect con or the suffragists' life's work could all be for nothing.
Mystery Historical [Berkley, On Sale: December 5, 2023, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593440605 / eISBN: 9780593440629]
Victoria Thompson is the USA Today bestselling author of the Edgar and Agatha Award nominated Gaslight Mystery Series and the Sue Grafton Memorial Award nominated Counterfeit Lady Series. She lives in Illinois with her family.
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