Hallman has also embedded Anarcha’s story in gloriously rich detail from the nineteenth century, ranging from comet showers to train derailments to international espionage in the court of Louis Napoleon. That panorama alone makes the book a riveting read. But despite the scope and the glitter, Hallman never allows us to lose sight of Anarcha: her exploitation, her humanity, the embodied Black womanhood that left her so exposed to others’ whims and schemes. Hallman’s novelistic writing and brisk pacing had me eagerly turning pages, alternately aghast at and elevated by this story of human depravity, ambition, resilience, and vulnerability. It is surely one of the most important books of the year, and certainly among the most compelling.
BAR HARBOR — By 1830, Lydia Maria Child had established herself as something almost unheard of in the American 19th century: a beloved and self-sufficient female author. Best known today
Paul Theroux, the quintessential travel writer, has also enshrined his Massachusetts roots in his writing. Here are his recommendations for those who come to visit.
The election of 2016 inspired Colby College professor Lydia Moland, a BU alumna, to write a new biography of Lydia Maria Child, a leader of the abolitionist movement.