FAMILY LAW

In 1979 Alabama, a sheltered teen befriends a feminist firebrand.

When Margaret Morris decides to divorce her husband, her first call is to Lucia Gilbert—a hard-charging family lawyer known for championing the Equal Rights Amendment and striking fear into the hearts of her opponents. Margaret proves unsettled by Lucia’s candor and elects to find representation more suited to her timorous temperament. Margaret’s 13-year-old daughter, Rachel, however, is awed by the confident, ambitious Lucia, who is the polar opposite of every female role model she’s ever had. After Rachel discovers that Lucia and her husband, Evan, live down the street from her Aunt Molly, she begins visiting them—a habit that continues into high school. Lucia and Evan genuinely enjoy the girl’s company, and through them, Rachel learns that, contrary to all she has seen and been taught, marriages can be true partnerships. But when an act of violence aimed at Lucia endangers Rachel, the attorney starts questioning whether her influence is entirely positive. Rachel’s first-person narrative alternates with third-person chapters written from Lucia’s perspective, their experiences combining to paint a nuanced portrait of the era and its volatility. The pace is languorous and the plot feels like a bit of an afterthought, but Phillips’ keenly drawn characters and their realistically flawed relationships will hold patient readers rapt until the book’s uplifting close.

An incisive, warmhearted exploration of women’s roles in shaping society, the future, and each other.