Finding Margaret Fuller

A “sweeping” (Entertainment Weekly) novel of America’s forgotten leading lady,the central figure of a movement that defined a nation—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post “Whether exploring Margaret’s remarkable friendships or delving into her crucial legacy as a journalistwriterand feministFinding Margaret Fuller promises to transform every reader it touches.”—Marie Benedictco-author of The Personal Librarian Youngbrazenbeautifuland unapologetically brilliantMargaret Fuller accepts an invitation from Ralph Waldo Emersonthe celebrated Sage of Concordto meet his coterie of enlightened friends. There she becomes “the radiant genius and fiery heart” of the Transcendentalistsa role model to a young Louisa May Alcottan inspiration for Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Hester Prynne and the scandalous Scarlet Lettera friend to Henry David Thoreau as he ventures out to Walden Pond . . . and a muse to Emerson. But Margaret craves more than poetry and interpersonal dramaand her restless soul needs new challenges and adventures. And so she charts a singular course against a backdrop of dizzying historical drama: From Bostonwhere she hosts a salon for students like Elizabeth Cady Stanton; to the editorial meetings of The Dial magazinewhere she hones her pen as its co-founder; to Harvard’s librarywhere she is the first woman permitted entry; to the gritty New York streets where she spars with Edgar Allan Poe and reports on Frederick Douglass. Margaret defies conventions time and again as an activist for women and an advocate for humanityearning admirers and critics alike. When the legendary editor Horace Greeley offers her an assignment in EuropeMargaret again makes history as the first female foreign news correspondentmingling with luminaries like Frédéric ChopinWilliam WordsworthGeorge Sand and more. But it is in Rome that she finds a world of passionromanceand revolutiontaking a Roman count as a lover—and sparking an international scandal. Evolving yet again into the roles of mother and countessMargaret enters the fight for Italy’s unification. With a star-studded cast and sweepingepic historical eventsthis is a story of an inspiring trailblazera woman who loved big and lived even bigger—a fierce adventurer who transcended the rigid roles ascribed to women and changed historyall on her own terms.