Women’s March: A Novel of the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession

The Women’s March by Jennifer Chiaverini is the story of the days leading up to the March 3rd, 1913 march down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. and three of the important women who bravely fought in different ways for the women’s right to vote.

Alice Paul, returning to her home in New Jersey from England, has witnessed first-hand the suffrage movement in Great Britain. She has suffered a recent imprisonment and hunger strike for her involvement in the more militant tactics of her suffragette sisters abroad. She believes that the American Suffragettes must embrace the same battle tactics to advance their cause. Ida B. Wells-Barnett is a journalist and civil rights activist, who insists that women of color be included in the march and legislation. There must be no color divide in this fight. Maud Malone is willing to go to jail repeatedly for interrupting politicians with pointed questions about women’s and worker’s rights.

Although I was excited to see a work of historical fiction about this important moment in time, sadly this novel did not live up to my expectations. The author clearly does her research, but historical fiction should read less like a scholarly text and more like an engrossing tale.