Harriet and Isabella

Harriet and Isabella is a novel based on the history of the Beecher family. I like stories that are based on history because I learn a lot about those people and that time in a captivating way. This story weaves in all sorts of people like Samuel Clemens and Susan B. Anthony and the events of that time, slavery, suffragettes, feminism. This book was not so much action packed as it was a story about relationships. Henry Ward Beecher, a well loved pastor in his day, is accused of adultery. The story revolves around the Beecher family's reaction and opinions about the veracity of the claim. To be a faithful Beecher you must believe Henry innocent, to do otherwise is to be banished from the clan. Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, faithfully believes her brother innocent. Isabella, the radical feminist sister, believes him guilty... but still loves him. The loving him doesn't matter to Henry's wife, Eunice; Isabella is never welcome at Henry's home again and Eunice makes sure she never gains admittance. As the Beechers all grow old, some hearts soften in regret and others harden to stone. It's a great story and a sobering character sketch.

This book has it all: timeless themes of truth and loyalty... family psychodrama... guilty pleasures (gossip)... and a fascinating historical backdrop of one of the most important periods in American life. But what I loved most was how the passions and issues of the scandal O'Brien writes about resonate so well both backward and forward across time. She tells the story of Henry Ward Beecher's adultery trial in 1875. It feels completely modern to me. And at the same time, it strikes me as only a slight variant of moral dilemma Sophocles wrote about in "Antigone." Does family loyalty trump standards of public virtue? Or vice verse? But this is no philosphy tract: it's a gripping page turner of a novel. A terrific read. And all the more satisfying because the two women -- one a prominent suffragette, the other, author of the most influential anti-slavery book perhaps of all times -- were fascinating characters in their own right. They were also spokespersons for two huge social movements. All in all, this book is a smashing libretto for a real-life operatic drama.

"Harriet and Isabella" is an engrossing, compelling page-turner that animates the past in ways few historical novels manage to do. It is many things at once: a timeless family saga, a gripping tale of pride, betrayal and redemption, and a vivid recreation of a fascinating, tumultuous era in America. O'Brien's characters seem to leap off the page, their story as relevant today as it was in the 19th century. I couldn't put this book down!

This terrific story really brings the Beecher family back to life. We all know who Harriet Beecher Stowe was and have read "Uncle Tom's Cabin," but didn't know that the Beechers were the Kennedys of their time. What I loved about this book is that it's a 19th and 21st century story at the same time, about sex and religion, sisters and sisterhood. All the scandals and family troubles that we think we invented were happening back in the 19th century. The preacher, Henry Ward Beecher was caught in a sex scandal. When he denied it and the case went to trial, his sisters took sides. Harriet chose family loyalty over everything, and Isabella chose truth over loyalty. The story that Patricia O'Brien wrote takes place after the sisters had been estranged for a long time and their brother is dying. I loved the real life cast of characters! Victoria Woodhull and Susan B. Anthony. It's a great book group read because it sets off so many conversations!

In March 1887 in Brooklyn Heights the great American abolitionist preacher Henry Ward Beecher lays nears death. His extended family has gathered to pay their last respects while the media also arrives seeking a story especially since his two famous sisters have publicly feuded over him in the past fifteen years. The gathering is mindful of a similar family meeting that happened a decade and a half earlier to discuss how to handle the scandal. On the front page of the newspaper is an accusation that Henry is having an affair with his parishioner Elizabeth Tilton witnessed by her children. A church committee conducts a kangaroo hearing into the matter and in 1875, he stands trial for committing adultery while his former parishioner, Theodore Tilton, sues him. Henry's sisters split as Harriet the renowned author supports him and Isabelle the ardent suffragette condemns her sibling. This is a fabulous historical fiction tale that could be easily read in the headlines of today. Other flashbacks round out the tale, but it is the deftly handled celebrity trial of Henry Ward Beecher that makes this worth reading. Reconstruction Era historical buffs will appreciate this fine telling of the events that caused a schism amidst the first family of mid nineteenth century human rights. Harriet Klausner