For the month of Valentines, we’ll look at stories about pioneering women we’d be proud to call our Galentine’s. Warriors, artists, scientists and experimenters, all were unique talents who, though living in the nineteenth century, would have been exceptional in any era.
We begin with Vanessa Riley’s SISTER MOTHER WARRIOR which features two little-known women who played important parts in the largest slave revolt since Spartacus--and unlike that revolt, one that led to freedom and independence for the people of Haiti. The French colony of St. Dominigue was the richest in the Western Caribbean, and like all those European colonies, its wealth was based on a brutal system of slavery. Riley’s novel provides an excellent picture of a complex, highly stratified society made up of upper and lower-class whites, mulatoes, free people of color, island-born enslaved blacks and (because of the high mortality rate among the slaves) successive waves of African-born blacks. Her two main characters, Duchess Gran Toya and Empress Marie-Claire Bonheur, are drawn from two different ranks: Toya, an enslaved, West African-born warrior and Marie-Claire, island-born of free black parents. When repeated efforts by the French government to abolish slavery or at least ameliorate some of its harshest practices fail, beginning in 1791, the enslaved population rises up against the white planters, finally gaining its independence in 1804. Its chief general through those struggles, Jean-Jacques Dessolines, was tied to both women: the orphaned enslaved child was raised by Gran Toya, who fought at his side, and he married Marie-Claire, making her his empress. Amid a brutal revolution, Marie-Claire continually sought to heal and protect people of all races. Riley’s novel casts a bright light over a turbulent, little-known episode of history and two remarkable women who devoted their lives to the welfare of their people and the dream of freedom.
While Riley’s ladies recognize their strengths, Caroline Herschel in THE WOMAN AND HER STARS by Penny Haw lives most of her life hampered from realizing her own abilities by the Georgian bias against female intelligence and her own insecurity. Believing her only choice is to care for others, Caroline opts to leave her difficult mother and accompany her brother William, the newly appointed court astronomer to King George III. Resolved to learn all she can about astronomy so as to be a better assistant to William, Caroline gradually becomes just as keen an observer of the night skies as her brother. But it will take years of study and gradually acquired confidence before the self-effacing Caroline can recognize and appreciate the astronomic discoveries for which she, too, should be lauded. Readers will cheer her on every slow step of the way!
Our next heroine must also push back against the prejudices of society to make her own (and oh, so delightful!) discoveries. MADAME POMMERY: THE CREATOR OF BRUT CHAMPAGNE (CHAMPAGNE WIDOWS BOOK 2) by Rebecca Rosenberg introduces us to a strong, determined woman who, widowed at age 40, decides to support her family by expanding her late husband’s small winery—with the vision of producing a champagne, then known only as a sweet dessert wine, that is crisp, dry and enjoyable to drink at any time. Rejected when she asks champagne makers to teach her their techniques, she perseveres on her own while excavating her own champagne caves, continuing even after the Franco-Prussian war conscripts her son and all her workers into the army. When war reaches her doorstep, Prussian General Franz taking over her house as his headquarters, she hides French resistance fighters in her secret caves beneath the city. Rosenberg’s novel paints a fascinating picture of a determined woman whose vision and persistence in the face of every obstacle gifted the world with one of its most unique and beloved vintages.
We close near the end of the nineteenth century with THE CASSATT SISTERS by Lisa Groen, which, like our first selection, features two heroines. Mary and Lydia Cassatt’s Pennsylvania parents want their daughters to marry and live traditional lives. But gifted painter Mary has a different vision and after the death of her beloved fiancé, her devoted sister Lydia is determined to help her realize it. The sisters settle in Paris, where Mary meets and falls for avant-garde painter Edgar Degas, who brings her into the circle of impressionist painters that include Monet, Manet, Pissarro, and Renoir. Though Degas and Mary share a tumultuous affection, for both, their passion for art overrules all. Throughout Mary’s ascent to become a famous painter in her own right, her sister Lydia serves as model, supporter and confidante. Groen’s story immerses the reader in the sights, sounds and smells of Paris, from music halls to galleries to restaurants to gardens, while it draws us deep into the development of this exceptional artist—and her loyal sister.
For a sweet (and non-fattening) Valentines treat, settle in and immerse yourselves in the lives and loves of women you can admire, whose successes and triumphs you can cheer for, and whom you might wish could be one of your own circle of close friends.
Real, intense, passionate historical romance
Award-winning romance author Julia Justiss, who has written more than thirty historical novels and novellas set in the English Regency and the American West, just completed her first contemporary series set in the fictional Hill Country town of Whiskey River, Texas.
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