Synopses & Reviews
* Nominated for a New York Historical Society Book Prize in American Historyand#160;* Honorable Mention in General Nonfiction from the American Society of Journalists and Authorsand#160;Here is the first authoritative biography of Margaret Fox, the world-famous medium and cofounder of the Spiritualism movement that swept America in the mid-1800s. In 1848, fifteen-year-old Maggie and her sister Katy created rapping sounds by manipulating their toe joints, practicing until they convinced their parents that their farmhouse was haunted. What started as a prank soon transformed into a movement: By 1853 more than thirty thousand mediums were at work, with Maggie among the most famous. But when she denounced the faith in 1888-appearing before a packed auditorium in her stocking feet to demonstrate-Spiritualism withered almost as quickly as it had bloomed.
Through the memoirs of the Fox sisters, the letters of Maggie's Arctic explorer husband, contemporary newspaper accounts, and other primary sources, Nancy Rubin Stuart creates a vibrant portrait of a Victorian-era woman at the heart of the tumults of her time.
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"In this painstakingly researched biography, Stuart opens an illuminating window on an era and a movement." andlt;brandgt;
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"Diligently researched biography...capably chronicles this period of religious ferment....A persuasive study of an unusual life."
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"Fast-paced. Highly readable and entertaining."
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"This Victorian seance book becomes right-on."
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"Fascinating. Stuart convincingly places the Fox sisters at a nexus of social and political change."andlt;brandgt;andlt;brandgt;
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"A richly sympathetic portrait of a fascinating, tragic woman, trapped by her family, her times, and her own aching heart."
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PRAISE FOR AMERICAN EMPRESS
"Not only a tribute to one of the century's great ladies, but a fascinating social history . . . [Marjorie] Post seems entitled to every accolade in this vibrant and thoughtful biography."-Los Angeles Times
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Absorbing. This lively account sets the workings of these talented con artists in a broad historical context.
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PRAISE FOR
THE RELUCTANT SPIRITUALIST"Fascinating . . .The great strength of Stuart's book is that she provides the necessary historical context, and shows the deception gathering force by slow degrees against a climate of willing belief." - The Washington Post
"Stuart has created a richly sympathetic portrait of a fascinating and tragic woman, trapped by her family, her times, and her own aching heart." - The Boston Globe
About the Author
Nancy Rubin Stuart is the author of several books, including American Empress: The Life and Times of Marjorie Merriweather Post and Isabella of Castile: The First Renaissance Queen. Her articles have appeared in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, among other publications. She lives in New York City.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Humble Beginnings
2. The Spirit of a Dream
3. "A Mere Fraud Could Not Live So Long"
4. "So Continuously in the Public Eye"
5. "Justice is sure, though sometimes very slow"
6. "Remember then, as a sort of dream"
7. "But for the Polar Ices"
8. Hope Deferred
9. "A Sort of Sanctuary"
10. "That You May Know the Sacred Love"
11. "A Cloud of Reproach"
12. The Highest Right
13. Great Magnetism and Remorse
14. "A Clean Breast of All Her Miracles and Wonders"
15. "An Unmistakable Individual Intelligence"
epilogue
acknowledgments
end notes
bibliography 365
index 381