BLOOMERS & BALLOTS: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Women's Rights

by Mary Stetson Clarke ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 30, 1972

This is the second biography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton to appear this year, and it in no way improves upon Doris Faber's ambitious, often charming Oh Lizzie! (p. 9, J-9). The primary difference is that Clarke sets Mrs. Stanton's life in a novelistic framework -- including lots of dialogue and narrative interjections on the order of ""alas for her hopes!"" and ""But oh, how long it took to effect reforms!"" Similarly we find that doughty Quaker Lucretia Mott ""her voice deep with emotion"" looking ""deep into Elizabeth's eyes"" as she charges her with organizing a convention on women's rights, and Elizabeth herself reacting to Henry Stanton's proposal of marriage thusly: ""What was this soaring happiness that was sweeping her up and up into the clouds? 'Oh, Henry,' she whispered."" Faber's superior characterization and emphasis on Mrs. Stanton's mature accomplishments (over her girlhood efforts to replace her dead brother in her father's esteem) would give her the edge in any case, but Clarke's florid prose makes the comparison almost superfluous. Alas!

Pub Date: Oct. 30, 1972

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1972

Categories: NONFICTION