At a time when few women entered the public sphere, the Beecher sisters made an impressive splash. Harriet Beecher Stowe became world famous after publishing her antislavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin,
in 1852: 300,000 copies were sold in the United States that year, and she became the unofficial "spokesperson of the anti-slavery movement." The oldest sister, Catharine Beecher, founded the Hartford Female Seminary in the 1820s and published over two dozen books on women's education and religion. Isabella, the youngest sister, has been less celebrated, and White chooses to focus this joint biography on her in part because no full-length biography of her exists, in part because a great deal of primary material on her life is available. The decision to focus on Isabella is a good one. She becomes a leader in the women's movement, intimately associated with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but she is just controversial and flighty enough to ruffle feathers and show the frayed edges of central alliances within the movement. The same holds true for her relationship with her sisters—the three women represent very different perspectives on how women ought to participate in the public sphere, and it's usually Isabella's liberal leanings that create rifts within the family. White, professor emeritus of women's studies at the University of New Hampshire, brings to life the details and the ethos of an era; this volume provides not only a rich, varied, sensitive account of the sisters' lives, but a compelling overview of the many groundbreaking acts performed by intelligent, steadfast women during the 19th century. B&w photos. (Nov.)
