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    The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe: A Biography
    The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe: A Biography
    The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe: A Biography
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe: A Biography

    Written by Elaine Showalter

    Narrated by Hillary Huber

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    About this audiobook


    Julia Ward (1819-1910) was an heiress and aspiring poet when she married Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, an internationally acclaimed pioneer in the education of the blind. Together the Howes knew many of the key figures of their era, from Charles Dickens to John Brown. But Samuel also wasted Julia's inheritance, isolated and discouraged her, and opposed her literary ambitions. Julia persisted, and continued to publish poems and plays while raising six children.

    Authorship of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" made her celebrated and revered. But Julia was also continuing to fight a civil war at home; she became a pacifist, suffragist, and world traveler. She came into her own as a tireless campaigner for women's rights and social reform. Esteemed author Elaine Showalter tells the story of Howe's determined self-creation and brings to life the society she inhabited and the obstacles she overcame.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateApr 5, 2016
    ISBN9781515975397
    Author

    Elaine Showalter

    Elaine Showalter, Emeritus Professor of English at Princeton University, combines scholarly expertise in English and American literature with a passion for a wide range of cultural subjects. She has written ten books, most recently The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe: A Biography and A Jury of Her Peers: American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx, which was awarded the Truman Capote Prize for Literary Criticism. Her writing has appeared in the Times Literary Supplement, People, and Vogue.

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    Reviews for The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe

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    • 4/5
      I'd picked up a remaindered copy of this because after our Civil War reading group, I'd been left with the feeling: BUT WHAT ABOUT THE WOMEN? Then I picked it up to read once I'd started buddy reads with my dad so I'd have other reading to report on (and have someone to talk about it all with!)While at first I primarily enjoyed seeing the ways her life intersected with those I was already aware of to some degree or another -- the transcendentalists, John Brown, Helen Keller & Annie Sullivan, her life is a splendid illustration both of the rising women's suffrage movement and also the way creative women have been suppressed throughout history -- both by society at large and also by individuals, at home. That she could write something as effective and well known and loved as the Battle Hymn of the Republic and be lauded for it on one hand, while the other says "Oh, that was cute, you should go back to raising babies now."I do wonder if there is an insightful take on her husband out there somewhere. How he could have chosen to marry Julia, only to immediately suppress everything about her that most others (including herself) found valuable. Ugh.
    • 3/5
      This is a study of the life of Julia Ward Howe, first through the lenses of how she was suppressed by her strict father and then by her domineering husband. It then shifts to show how through publishing her poetry and giving talks on philosophy and, later, women's rights, she came into her own talents and became a beloved American icon. Of course, this rising fame came predominantly through her poem, The Battle Hymn of the Republic.This book is very engaging and reads quickly--my copy only had 300 pages, the last 50 being references/notes/index. I finished it in 3 days, so I would recommend it to anybody looking for a fast-paced nonfiction.My Transcendentalism-loving heart enjoyed this book due to the fact that Julia and her husband were very much on the fringes of Transcendentalism. Julia interacted with Louisa May Alcott (who found Julia snobby!), Margaret Fuller, Theodore Parker, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and basically all your Transcendentalist faves.On the whole, Julia was a privileged women with a love for socializing and the finer things in life who eventually found a passion for speaking out for underprivileged groups, including women, slaves, immigrants, and more.