The Woman's Hour

I got The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine Weiss on audiobook from the library after seeing it somewhere. (It caught my eye because I recently saw the musical Suffs about the women's suffrage movement.) The book description says, "Nashville, August 1920. Thirty-five states have approved the Nineteenth Amendment, granting women the right to vote; one last state–Tennessee–is needed for women’s voting rights to be the law of the land. The suffragists face vicious opposition from politicians, clergy, corporations, and racists who don’t want black women voting. And then there are the 'Antis'–women who oppose their own enfranchisement, fearing suffrage will bring about the nation’s moral collapse. And in one hot summer, they all converge for a confrontation, replete with booze and blackmail, betrayal and courage. Following a handful of remarkable women who led their respective forces into battle, The Woman’s Hour is the gripping story of how America’s women won their own freedom, and the opening campaign in the great twentieth-century battles for civil rights."

This was a really inspiring read. I learned so much about the movement and the different sides and the effort it took to win the vote. The details were a little hard to keep track of at times since there were so many people to keep track of, but I didn't worry about following every person exactly and just focused on getting the overall gist/message. I'm glad I read this book and just saw there's a young reader's edition, so I'll recommend that to my daughter. At the very end (after ratification was won), there was a quote from Carrie Catt that I really loved: "The vote is the emblem of your equality, women of America, the guarantee of your liberty. That vote of yours has cost millions of dollars and the lives of thousands of women. Money to carry on this work has been given usually as a sacrifice, and thousands of women have gone without things they wanted and could have had in order that they might help get the vote for you. Women have suffered agony of soul which you can never comprehend, that you and your daughters might inherit political freedom. That vote has been costly. Prize it!"

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)