The Renegade Queen Book Review

The Renegade Queen

by Eva Flynn

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GENRE: Historical fiction

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BLURB:

So controversial she was erased from history.
She was the first women to run for President; campaigning before women could vote.
So feared by the powerful, she was thrown in jail on Election Day. 
Her social revolution attracted the outcasts who were left out of the new wealth in New York; the immigrants, the freed slaves, the prostitutes, and the radicals.

Who was she?

This is the true story of Victoria Woodhull.

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EXCERPT:

I was conceived in a whore’s tent at a Methodist revival. I know this because my father recounted the story often and with some pride. In those days, a meeting was not in a big tent but rather in an empty field surrounded by small tents. Prostitutes, hawkers, and every unsavory fool who had something to sell to the downtrodden camped out in tents, perching themselves like hawks ready to scoop up feeble mice. The preacher man encouraged them to stay, wanting to turn each one into a tick mark indicating a saved soul. Mama, who would weep uncontrollably for the world’s sins and dry her tears with the most stomachchurning stream of never-ending underworld profanity, begged Father to attend the revivals. Once Father realized that fancy ladies would be surrounding the meeting, Mama didn’t have to beg no more. He always said both the preacher and the whores had a way of saving men. The preacher kept a tally in his Bible, and the whore kept a tally by counting the cash in her hand. Father, a smooth talker who could convince Saint Peter to open his gates for the devil, always made friends with the whores. Without the money to make a tent of their own, Father wormed his way into the whores’ hearts, all the while keeping his eye on the prized dirty canvas. It didn’t take long before a boyish wink won the tent, if only for an hour.


My Review:

Sometimes I enjoy historical fiction, and I enjoyed this one. I had heard of Victoria Woodhull, but I didn't know much about her. She had a horrible childhood, enduring poverty, incest, rape, and abuse, but she rose above her circumstances to be a major player in the women's rights movement. It cost her everything, even the man of her dreams, yet she never gave up on her fight. 

I wish I could say that conditions described in the book never happen in the modern world, but they do. It seems that though a long time has gone by since Ms. Woodhull's death, women still don't always get the respect and civil rights they're entitled to.

5 stars.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Eva was raised on bedtime stories of feminists (the tooth fairy even brought Susan B. Anthony dollars) and daytime lessons on American politics. On one fateful day she discovered two paragraphs about Victoria Woodhull in the WXYZ volume of the World Book Encyclopedia. When she realized that neither of her brilliant parents (a political science professor and a feminist) had never heard of her, it was the beginning of a lifelong fascination not only with Victoria Woodhull but in discovering the stories that the history books do not tell.

Eva was born and raised in Tennessee, earned her B.A. in Political Science from DePauw in Greencastle, Indiana and still lives in Indiana. Eva enjoys reading, classic movies, and travelling. She loves to hear from readers, you may reach her at eva@rebellioustimes.com.

Website: www.rebellioustimes.com

Twitter: @evaflyn

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EvaFlynnAuthor/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Renegade-Queen-Rebellious-Times-Book-ebook/dp/B018TOPIH8/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_til?tag=wwwwilltownco-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=3LOXFTOZMU6EVPBF&creativeASIN=B018TOPIH8

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/The+Renegade+Queen?_requestid=323299

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