This collection is the first academic study of the captivating life and career of expatriate artist, writer, and activist, May Alcott Nieriker. Nieriker is known as the sister of Louisa May Alcott and model for "Amy March" in Alcott’s Little Women. As this book reveals, she was much more than "Amy"—she had a more significant impact on the Concord community than her sister and later became part of the creative expat community in Europe. There, she imbued her painting with the abolitionist activism she was exposed to in childhood and pursued an ideal of artistic genius that opposed her sister’s vision of self-sacrifice. Embarking on a career that took her across London, Paris, and Rome, Nieriker won the acclaim of John Ruskin and forged a network of expatriate female painters who changed the face of nineteenth-century art, creating opportunities for women that lasted well into the twentieth century. A "Renaissance woman," Nieriker was a travel writer, teacher, and curator. She is recovered here as a transdisciplinary subject who stands between disciplines, networks, and ideologies—stiving to recognize the dignity of others. Contributors include foundational Alcott scholar Daniel Shealy and Pulitzer Prize winner John Matteson, as well as Curators, Jan Turnquist (Orchard House) and Amanda Burdan (Brandywine River Museum of Art). In this book, readers will become acquainted with a dynamic feminist thinker who transforms our understanding of the place of women artists in the wider cultural and intellectual life of nineteenth-century Britain, France, and the United States.

The Pre-Raphaelites were determined to liberate art and love from the shackles of convention. Ned Burne-Jones had never had a painting lesson and his family wanted him to be a parson. Only young Georgie Macdonald - the daughter of a Methodist minister - understood. She put aside her own dreams to support him, only to be confronted by many years of gossip and scandal. Dante Gabriel Rossetti was smitten with his favourite model, Lizzie Siddal. She wanted to be an artist herself, but was seduced by the irresistible lure of laudanum. William Morris fell head-over-heels for a 'stunner' from the slums, Janey Burden. Discovered by Ned, married to William, she embarked on a passionate affair with Gabriel that led inexorably to tragedy. Margot Burne-Jones had become her father's muse. He painted her as Briar Rose, the focus of his most renowned series of paintings, based on the fairy-tale that haunted him all his life. Yet Margot longed to be awakened to love. Bringing to life the dramatic true story of love, obsession and heartbreak that lies behind the Victorian era's most famous paintings, Beauty in Thornsis the story of awakenings of all kinds.

Debra lape spent 40 years researching the story of her great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth Rogers. Lizzy was the owner-operator of the White Pidgeon, a brothel located in Ohio.

Lizzy Albright and the Attic WindowSummaryThe mage council in the Kingdom of Ailear is up in arms over a sorceress who has assembled an army of grackles. She is invincible. They decide their highest priority is to find a missing princess that was taken to another world far away.It's Christmas Eve 1964 and Lizzy Albright is celebrating her 10th birthday with her family in Overland Park, Kansas. Later that day the family make a journey to Cordelia, Kansas to spend Christmas week in the old family mansion with Lizzy's granny, Esther McHale.That night, Lizzy discovers an old quilt in a secret drawer of the cedar chest in the attic. The names of the quilt blocks spark her imagination. She is allowed to sleep under the quilt but is awoken by a tapping noise. She discovers a goose outside the attic window as a winter storm is raging. The goose urges Lizzy to come with her because their kingdom has befallen a curse. The goose believes that Lizzy is the lost princess and is the only one who can break the curse.In the Kingdom of Ailear, we learn that Calixta, a sorceress, and Beatrice, the queen, are related. Beatrice is barren and desperately wants a child. Calixta assists by making a fertility potion, with the caveat that Queen Beatrice's first grandchild is handed over to the sorceress.Beatrice has her child and years pass. The royal grandchild is born, Beatrice has schemed to betray Calixta by sending the child with a goose through the Tunnel of Stars. The sorceress returns and puts the Groaning Stone Curse on the castle and its inhabitants and informs everyone that the only one who can reverse the curse is the royal child.For ten years the mages are doing what they must in order to find the child, but also find a way to save her from the hands of the sorceress. The plot ultimately succeeds and the kingdom is saved. There are unexpected plot twists that are revealed during the final chapters of the story.Ricky Tims - Kat Bowser 2020

From Beverly Cleary's novels to Judy Blume's whole oeuvre, "Shelf Discovery" looks at the importance and, for many adolescent girls, life-changing nature of young adult literature.

"I am even I" Rossetti and Alcott Resisting Male Authority -- Secion I: "Left-handed Societies" Women's Life Writing -- "Renunciation is the law, devotion to God's will the gospel" The empowerment of others in the Alcott women's life-writing -- "For every human creature may claim to strength" The Rossetti women's elevation of the left hand -- Section II: "A Loving League of Sisters" Alcott and Rossetti's promotion of Christian values through the ties of sisterhood -- We are all relative creatures The transformative power of sisterhood in Rossetti's Maude -- "Happy Women" Alcott's sisterly utopia -- Conclusion -- Coda: Nineteenth-century women's matrilineal theologies of renunciation -- List of Works Cited -- Appendix 1: "Rolf Walden Emmerboy" Transcription -- Appendix 2: "Two Scenes in a Family" Transcription -- Appendix 3: "Wealth" Transcription -- Appendix 4: "Our Madonna" Transcription -- Appendix 5: "Story of An Apple" Transcription -- Appendix 6: "Hymn For Ascension Day" Transcription -- Appendix 7: "Extracts From Bradley's Sermons" Transcription -- Appendix 8: "A Morning Hymn" Transcription -- Appendix 9: "The Maid of Sorrow" Transcription.

This biography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton is as spirited as the women's rights pioneer herself. Who says women shouldn't speak in public? And why can't they vote? These are questions Elizabeth Cady Stanton grew up asking herself. Her father believed that girls didn't count as much as boys, and her own husband once got so embarrassed when she spoke at a convention that he left town. Luckily Lizzie wasn't one to let society stop her from fighting for equality for everyone. And though she didn't live long enough to see women get to vote, our entire country benefited from her fight for women's rights. "Fritz imparts not just a sense of Stanton's accomplishments but a picture of the greater society Stanton strove to change. Highly entertaining and enlightening." — Publishers Weekly (starred review) "This objective depiction of Stanton's life and times makes readers feel invested in her struggle." — School Library Journal (starred review) "An accessible, fascinating portrait." — The Horn Book