An inspiring account of a courageous lady. Good use of relevant pictures too. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.

Kimberly Hamlin's "Free Thinker" is an insightful and seemingly thorough look at the life of Helen Hamilton Gardener.
There were many great things about this book. A few include the comprehensive coverage of Gardener's life from birth through death, the included information about the lives of the influential people in Gardener's life, and the in-depth exploration of the women's movement in the US. Gardener lived numerous lives in one human lifetime. Hamlin effectively explains to readers the life of Alice Chenoweth and the longing she felt to be more, the hardships she faced due to the American Civil War, and the hardships she faced due to her choice to be a long time Paramore of a married man during the time. I had heard of Gardener, but I have never learned as much about her impact as a lecturer, writer, and political activist as I did from this book. This book shows the in-depth research Hamlin conducted to produce this work, and the passion she has to put this information out to the world. I only have one negative, and that is Hamlin's interjections of something possibly happening, or imagining something happened rather than sticking to the facts. I see the narrative impact the interjections were supposed to have, but for me, those moments seem to take away from the power of the life Hamlin is telling readers about.

Overall, a well-written book with a wealth of information that will soon become a book on my history shelves.