STARTING FROM SENECA FALLS

Bridie, an Irish orphan fleeing a fate of indentured servitude, meets Rose, a free black girl, as both test the limits of what they can do with their lives.

Bridie’s release from the poorhouse after her mother’s death is not what she had hoped. The Kigleys, a white family, bring her to their farm on trial before contracting her as an indentured servant, but the abuse Bridie suffers at Mr. Kigley’s hands leads her to run away. When she meets Rose, they become (improbably) fast friends, and Rose helps Bridie find work at the home of Mrs. Stanton, an educated white woman with property who organizes conventions for women’s rights. (Knowledgeable readers will identify her fairly quickly as Elizabeth Cady Stanton.) At first confused about Rose’s desire to study science, Bridie discovers a love of typesetting. When Frederick Douglass visits Mrs. Stanton, and Mrs. Kigley and her daughter beg for help escaping their abuser, both girls find themselves tested. The third-person narrative is steeped in historical facts and details, which will particularly fascinate history buffs. Bridie’s well-paced story is engaging enough to carry the multilayered questions of gender, class, and race that are addressed in the text. The combination of plain narration with period dialogue is slightly awkward; without a glossary, young readers may need a dictionary on hand. A historical note providing context discusses Stanton’s racism, which is not addressed in the story.

The political is personal in this effective introduction to 19th-century society and women’s rights.