I tried and tried so many times to get into this book but it just didn’t work for me. I love historical fiction generally but after trying to read it, then getting the audio to see if that helped (actually was worse, I thought the narrator was tough to listen to and there was not a lot of distinction between voices), I think I’m going to DNF. It’s been waiting to be reviewed here for so long that I’m just going to have to be honest with myself and admit defeat. So sorry!

Actually 2.5 stars

John Brown was an abolitionist who was famous for fighting in the events of Bleeding Kansas and for leading a failed slave revolt at Harper’s Ferry. This novel tells the story of three women who were related to John Brown. The first is his second wife, Mary Brown. The second is his daughter-in-law, Wealthy Brown, and the third is his daughter, Annie Brown. John Brown’s Women shows the hardships and struggles these women face as John Brown pursued his mission to abolish slavery.

John Brown’s Women feels like a collection of short stories surrounding the women in John Brown’s family. The first part is Mary’s story. The second part shifts its focus to Wealthy. The third part then tells Annie’s story. The novel then concludes with Mary Brown. Throughout, I could not connect to any of these women, which is sad because Mary and Wealthy go through many hardships. This is because the novel was told in a passive voice. Therefore, I was emotionally detached from all the characters.

Mary Brown was a young girl who was a housekeeper for John Brown and his family. Mary’s sister was supposed to marry John Brown, but John chose Mary instead. While Mary does not have much of an education and lacks in female penmanship, she does have a sound mind. There were a few actions I did not agree with, but for the most part she was very reasonable. Mary loses many children. Because the novel tells and not shows, I didn’t feel anything about the pain she was going through. Those scenes were written like a dry textbook so I had no reaction to the story. There are very few scenes between John and Mary because John spends most of his time away. Mary takes care of the farm. This novel shows that Mary is the matriarch and kept the family together.

Wealthy Brown’s story is the most interesting, but is written the same way as Mary. She is married to John Brown Jr. She gives up the life she has known to follow her husband into the wilderness. She faces many hardships. When John Jr. is arrested for being part of the events of Bloody Kansas, she remains with him. She offers him comfort and guidance. Therefore, Wealthy is shown as a devoted and faithful wife.

Annie’s story seemed like it would be an interesting tale. I thought it would show the strong bond between her and her father. I did not get that. Instead, Annie’s story focused on a cheesy teen love triangle. The writing in Annie’s storyline was very juvenile and consisted of instant love. Therefore, out of the three women’s tales, this was the least interesting.

Overall, this novel is about injustices, freedom, and family. All the characters, especially John Brown, were flat and undeveloped. This novel suffers from being told and not shown. The author did an excellent job in portraying the issues of the pre-Civil War era. The novel is meticulously researched. John Brown’s Women had the potential to be a very moving and heart-wrenching story yet it was written like a textbook. I honestly think John Brown’s Women should have been written as a nonfiction work instead of historical fiction. It would have been more enjoyable. Instead, this novel was very slow and tedious with flat characters. Still, this novel does shine a light on the women behind a famous man. I recommend this for fans of This Side of the River, The Tubman Command, and The Spymistress!

This book examines the lives of three of the women in John Brown's life. His daughter, his daughter-in-law and his wife.
It looks at the roles that they played in his dedication and execution of the raid at Harper's Ferry to end slavery.
Women are so often ignored in history and this book does a fine job of illuminating these women.

I loved this book, it was powerful, moving and brilliantly written. It made me cry and want to find out more about these remarkable women.

I can honestly say this book was not what I expected. I truly struggled through it and almost gave up on it but I forced myself to finish. I found it very slow and just hard to follow.

This was an interesting and enjoyable read. Very well researched. John Brown's women were a very important part of the history.

Wonderful account of a fascinating period of history. Well written and researched. Thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for my arc

A must read for historical literature. The book is divided into four parts. The first features his second wife Mary, the second his daughter in law Wealthy and the third his daughter Annie. The fourth section circles back to Mary. The book also includes a detailed epilogue that covers what happened to various members of the family after John Brown’s hanging. Well researched.

Very interesting and informative book. Even though I live close to where a lot of the John Brown incidents took place I wasn't overly informed of exactly what took place.
The author has really done her research here. This is not only detailing the life of John Brown and his beliefs but of his marriage,his children and his children's death.
It also has historical information detailing his wife's life after his death and what became of the family he had left.
A must read for history fans.

Pub Date 07 Dec 2021
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

This book gives an account of John Brown as seen from a lens not often delved into in historical accounts: the women who knew and loved him. Susan Higginbotham brings to life a figure that is criminally neglected today, often talked about, but rarely celebrated for the large part he held in history, and does so from the viewpoint of others who had a hand in aiding him yet are remembered as little more than a footnote--if that. She truly shines a light on the agony and pain that he and his family suffered in their quest for justice, and the story is a gripping read, albeit an incredibly tragic one.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

One of my favorite things about historical fiction is you get a good story, and you learn some history. This is exactly the case of in John Brown’s Women by Susan Higginbotham. While John Brown’s place in history will always be controversial, in this novel we learn about the ladies in his family, his wife, his daughter and his daughter-in-law. It is a story of loyalty, resilience, caring, love, and many other virtues that these ladies possessed while under the most difficult of circumstances. While each lady has her own story, difficulties, struggles and strengths, all of them have one thing in common. Love of family, especially love of John Brown. They believed in his cause and respected his decisions. This a story about family solidarity. The ladies displayed understanding, calmness and togetherness while facing great diversity. They were there for each other and there for John.

I have to confess, I knew little about John Brown beyond the song when I started this novel. It demonstrated to me how much my knowledge of American history is seriously lacking. All I knew of John Brown comes from the song about his body ‘a-mouldering in its grave’. I knew he had something to do with abolitionism, but to what extent and what he did to merit the song about him, I was sadly unaware. I had heard of Harper’s Ferry, but hadn’t realised how significant an incident it was,, nor what spark it ignited that would burn into the American Civil War.

John Brown’s Women: A Novel by Susan Higginbotham tells the story of John Brown and his family through the eyes of three women; his second wife, Mary, his daughter-in-law Wealthy and his daughter Annie. Not merely spectators, these three women played active roles in the family’s mixed fortunes and endeavours against slavery. This is the story of a family living in an emerging nation, trying to build a family and farm whilst also fighting against that most abhorrent of practices, slavery. John Brown appears to have been one of those men who was steadfast in his beliefs and managed to draw in those around him.

John’s family, with his first wife and then with Mary, was large and at times disparate, often living in different states, but they were always close. And it is this closeness, often facilitated by Mary, that draws them into the conflicts in Kansas, and later at Harper’s Ferry, that saw the family devastated by loss. John Brown’s Women: A Novel tells their story in a sensitive, thought-provoking manner, that will draw the reader in from the very beginning. Mary’s compassion and John Brown’s quirks provide a fascinating insight into this famous family.

Beautifully written and thoroughly researched, John Brown’s Women: A Novel shows America’s struggled with its identity and ethos in the mid- nineteenth century. And the extent of the research undertaken by Susan Higginbotham to produce such a novel is evident in every page. From the methods of farming, to new medical treatments and the historical events themselves, the author’s descriptions are replete with detail and serve to transport the reader back in time.

John Brown’s Women: A Novel is an endearing read, giving the reader an insight into the lives, loves and tragic losses that the family Brown had to endure. Susan Higginbotham allows you be a fly on the wall, watching the tragedies and hardships, that the family had to go through, but also showing you their strength and resilience, and how much of each they took from each other. The strength of John Brown’s convictions resonate throughout the family and its generations.

John Brown’s Women: A Novel by Susan Higginbotham takes you on an emotional rollercoaster – you will need tissues, I can guarantee it. I read the last few chapters through eyes streaming with tears.

For anyone interested in life in 19th century American, whether on a social, political or simply entertaining level, I cannot recommend John Brown’s Women: A Novel highly enough.

John Brown's Women is historical fiction at it's best! We have all heard of John Brown but how about his wife, daughter and daughter-in-law? The story alternates with their POV's. You know a book is great when you want to learn more about the story after you finish reading it and that's exactly what I did! Highly recommend!

John Brown’s Women by Susan Higginbotham. Pub Date: December 7, 2021. Rating: 🌟🌟🌟.5. This story follows the life of John Brown, an abolitionist, and three women who are intricately related to him. A book based on true life scenarios, this is a heavily researched work of historical fiction. I loved the perspectives of women during this time in America and the varying ages of the women added character and feeling to the time period. At times I felt it was too heavy on the facts and disrupted the flow of the novel. Overall, a great work of historical fiction about an important time in America’s history. Thanks to Onslow Press and Netgalley for a free e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

This is a masterful, deeply researched page-turner of a novel that left me more knowledgeable about John Brown and his family and feeling as if I'd lived through their experiences. I recommend this to anyone interested in United States history, especially the years leading up to the Civil War.

This book covers the lives of three women intrinsically linked by the abolitionist John Brown: his wife, Mary; his daughter-in-law, Wealthy; and daughter, Annie. Covering thirty years of personal history intertwined with the ever growing conflict of American politics, this novel sheds light on the overlooked stories of these women.

The best part of this book is the subjects themselves. Too often are historical women forgotten in favor of their more notable spouses, fathers, friends, etc. But Susan Higginbotham gives them the voices the historiography forgot about.

I only wish I liked it more. I very much struggled with the pacing. Sometimes pages would go quickly, especially if characters were in conversation with one another, but often times the chapters felt dense and difficult to wade through. I would put my phone down a few times then come back to the novel later. I do appreciate how much this novel reads similarly to books contemporaneous to the time period of the setting. I’m not sure how to describe it, but the heaviness of it fit with some of those stories. It’s obviously well-researched, something not always common in historical fiction. Sometimes it felt like reading a textbook, rather than a creative novel.

John Brown’s Women reimagines the lives of an abolitionist family of John Brown. The family prizes actions over words, along the way affecting three courageous women and the nation.

Pennsylvania, 1833. Mary Day accepts John Brown’s proposal of marriage. He is a widower with five children - man twice her age - but Mary is a practical person, looking for certain qualities in a person and letting love find its way in later. His father was strong anti-slavery and he taught his children to think likewise - another quality that appeals to Mary. Whatever has befallen the family over the years, including financial hardship and losing children to pestilence, they remain steadfast in their convictions, with their home a stop on what is now called the Underground Railroad.

Wealthy (married to John Brown Jr) knows if her husband catches a fever, there is no way of changing his mind. He has just caught the Kansas fever, and Kansas is a place where you can find rich land and strike a blow for freedom, too. Brown men have one trait in common: restlessness. They follow the path where they can make the biggest impact for humanity. They don’t settle for what feels comfortable. In Kansas, they deal with the Border Ruffians. They organize protests while risking hanging for treason. Throughout those challenging times, the Brown women remain loyal to their men and supportive of their honorable cause.

Strong-willed Annie Brown follows her father and brothers to Maryland, and witnesses even a stronger will of men who all agreed that they couldn’t justify their contentment with so many sufferings. Thus, they all fight for the right cause.

The novel authentically creates the atmosphere of a revolutionary family, who dedicates their lives to a noble cause. It brings a family of men who at some point take drastic measure. When the father stands over the grave of his one son and sees the wrist scars on another, he realizes that there is no peaceful solution to ending slavery. Thus, he decides to eradicate slavery by whatever means necessary, which leads to another tragedy.

The story is portrayed through the eyes of three women. Women, who are understanding in their husbands’ cause. Many times, they are separated, not knowing if they see each other again. While they remain supportive and dedicated, they make their own contributions to the cause of human freedom.

Written with such evocative prose that a reader can feel mother’s grief after losing her children, and get emotional when John Brown’s coffin is laid down to ground, a loss of a great life can be felt greatly. Written with a narrative that is crisp and carries the story forward constantly, including the dialogue that matters and is sharp. In the process, leaving no doubt how believable the characters are and how close a reader can get to them, creating a superb transportation of going back in time and being right there and witnessing history in the making.

Review originally posted at mysteryandsuspense.com

John Brown was a historical figure that I learned very briefly about in high school history class. Susan Higginbotham brings him to life through the eyes of the women in his life starting with his wife. What tragedies his wife, daughter-in-law and daughter had to live through and endure to support John and his beliefs. The characters are excellently drawn and the scenery exceptionally described. The clash between those who believe in slavery and abolitionists is starkly drawn. This book is highly recommended.

I received a copy of this book from Net Galley.

I am a huge fan of historical fiction. Higginbotham does a great job of bringing John Brown’s family to life. I loved the focus on his wife, daughter -in- law, and daughters. I am most interested in the families as a social historian so this novel was right up my alley. I appreciated the historical note, which led me to hunt down some books for further reading. It’s a great addition to the canon Of American historical fiction,

I definitely recommend this engaging and historically fair fictionalized story centered on the abolitionist John Brown's second wife, his daughters and daughters-in-law. Although we learn about the various Brown children in general, Higginbotham focuses on Mary, on John Junior's wife Wealthy Hotchkiss Brown, and on the strong-minded Annie Brown. The facts of John Browns life are well known: He had a huge family; he experienced modest successes and abject failures in trying to make a living; he traveled constantly, he was deeply religious and he was radically anti-slavery. Ultimately, he turned to violence as a means of trying to end slavery in the US, first in Kansas, then at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. He had four boys and one girl living when his first wife died. Mary bore an additional six girls and seven boys. The Browns were close knit, valued education for girls as well as boys, were hard working and shared strong political and social views that led Mary to support John's activism and dangerous decisions while writing faithfully and keeping their farm going. In a similarly strong marriage, Wealthy emigrated to Kansas with John Jr. and other family members, along with John Sr. who went in part to consider a move there and in part due to the political climate. The violence between those who wanted Kansas to be a free state and those who wanted it to be a slave state resulted in the destruction of all their property. Some of the Brown's were involved in killing five pro-slavery men. John Jr. was imprisoned and tortured, then charged with treason. We see first hand how Wealthy handles all their hardships and loss including her care for her husband during a complete mental breakdown. Annie at 15 went with her pregnant sister-in-law Martha to a farmhouse in Maryland to help keep house for John Brown and the men he was recruiting for the raid at Harper's Ferry. The intent was to make it look like a normal household/farm, not just a household with a bunch of unrelated men. The Black men that joined the group had to be hidden. Annie played a critical role of distracting and redirecting potentially suspicious neighbors. Shortly before the raid, the two young women went home to New York state. This is a fast and satisfying read and captures the unusual and yet ordinary day to day lives of an extraordinary family, in particular the women. John Brown is often portrayed as a caricature. His views and actions were certainly extreme even when presented in a factual rather than a sensational manner. I appreciated Higginbotham's decision to show John Brown's humanity throughout this story, as well as her multi-dimensional portrayal of each of her primary subjects. We often lose women in history. To tell their stories, Higgenbotham made good choices on what to include from the voluminous amount information available on the Brown family. This is a novel, with imagined conversations and some characters that are made up, but it was refreshing that nothing central to their lives had to be made up about the women in this piece of historical fiction.