A lot of information in this that I didn’t know about Helen Keller. She was a crusader -
Giving to the NAACP and protesting Jim Crow era policies in the South (where she was from). Whether it was facism or Apartheid she was a woman not only ahead of her time but unhamperes by her “handcicap” -

After the Miracle is a well outlined book that seems to have lost something in translation because Max Wallace while crafting a story that seems interesting but never fully hits an area where I was hooked. I wish I had enjoyed this book more but I did not

After the Miracle
The Political Crusades of Helen Keller
by Max Wallace
Pub Date 11 Apr 2023 | Archive Date 11 May 2023
Grand Central Publishing
Biographies & Memoirs | History | Nonfiction (Adult)




Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley have provided me with a copy of After the Miracle for review:


The biography of Helen Keller always intrigues me and honestly it is her story that inspired me to pick up a pen and write my own stories. Therefore, it would be an understatement to say that I was excited to receive After the Miracle.


Raised in Alabama, she sent shockwaves through the South when she announced her opposition to Jim Crow and donated to the NAACP. During World War I, she used her fame to oppose American intervention. In 1933, she spoke out against Hitler's rise to power and supported the anti-fascist cause during the Spanish Civil War. She was one of the first public figures to alert the world to the evils of Apartheid, raising funds to defend Nelson Mandela when he faced the death penalty for High Treason, and she lambasted Joseph McCarthy at the height of the Cold War, while her contemporaries shied away from his notorious witch hunt. The question arises, who was this revolutionary figure?


She was Helen Keller.


In spite of all of this, six decades after her death, African American disability rights activist Anita Cameron stated this in an interview with Newsweekly.
"Helen Keller is not radical at all, just another despite disabilities privileged white person and yet another example of history telling the story of privileged white Americans."
As a result of her statement, Senator Ted Cruz and others immediately responded with backlash.




Most mainstream portrayals of Keller focus extensively on her struggles as a deafblind child, portraying her teacher, Annie Sullivan, as a miracle worker. As a result of this narrative-which often has made Keller a secondary character in her own story-few people are aware that her greatest achievement was not learning to speak, but what she did with her voice as soon as she did.



After the Miracle provides a much-needed correction to the antiquated narrative. In this first major biography of Keller in decades, Max Wallace reveals that the lionization of Sullivan at the expense of her famous pupil was no accident, and points out Keller’s contributions as a socialist, a fierce anti-racist, and a progressive disability advocate. While Keller was raised in an era of eugenics and discrimination, she consistently challenged the media's ableist coverage and was the first activist to emphasize the link between disability and capitalism, despite the expectations and prejudices of those closest to her.

As Keller's political crusades are revealed behind a curtain of inspiration from her childhood, After the Miracle finally reveals Keller's entire legacy, as one of the greatest figures of the 20th century.



I give After the Miracle five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. We only remember her as the child at the water pump learning that the sign for water equals the liquid running out of the pump.
I think many people know Helen Keller as a champion for the deaf blind and visually impaired but she was much more than that. I also liked that it gave a bit of backstory on several key figures,Samuel Gridley Howe and Laura Bridgeman to name a few, that came before Helen Keller. Annie Sullivan’s history was interesting to read as well, since she was left partly blind by an eye infection. Helen Keller was a spitfire that didn’t stay quiet on things that mattered to her. She also went after the things she wanted, such as, getting a degree and writing books.

After the Miracle is a fantastic book for anyone who wants to know more about Helen Keller's life beyond her childhood. I really appreciated how Wallace starts the book with the first famous deaf-blind person (Laura Bridgman) and her teacher (Sam Gridley Howe) to build Keller's history. From there, it shows Keller's personal and political life as well as a few scandals. Overall, Wallace did a great job correcting the record while not shying away from some of Keller's darker beliefs.
Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I grew up watching The Miracle Worker on television. Anne Bancroft plays Annie Sullivan to Patty Duke’s Helen, blind and deaf since babyhood, an uncontrolled child who needs taming and civilizing. One day, Helen understands that Annie’s finger language is a communication. An excited Helen eagerly wants to understand the words for everything. Sullivan has worked a miracle. It is an affecting story. But it is also a story with all that implies.

I realized that I knew very little else about Keller–except that she had an Akita named Kamikaze, a gift received while in Japan. I didn’t know anything about her “political crusades.”

After the Miracle will disrupt many misconceptions about Keller.

She read five languages. She attended Radcliffe and received a B.A.–the first blind-deaf person to attend college. Raised in the segregated South, she spoke against racism in America and Apartheid in South Africa. Her sympathies were socialist, strongly anti-fascist. She championed the rights of the poor, the working class, women, and the blind and deaf. Helen was anti-capitalist, but accepted an annuity from Andrew Carnegie. Helen had wanted to marry, but her family sent the man packing; some who knew them thought she had a sexual relationship with Annie. She rejected her family’s Presbyterianism after reading Swendenborg, attracted to the social justice aspect of Jesus’ teachings.

The biography begins with Helen’s early life and development. It traces her political development as she responsed to the changing political scene, including the rise of Hitler, the Russian revolution, Joe McCarthy, and the American presidents.

Annie Sullivan had vision problems all her life. Helen called her Teacher, and gave her credit for all of her success. After Sullivan’s health failed, other caretakers stepped in. Helen was dependent on them to relate conversations through finger language, although Helen could also read lips with her hands.

The most complete biography of Helen is analyzed for bias, downplaying her political alliances. During Helen’s life and after her death, her radical view were dampened. Her work for the American Foundation for the Blind and other groups required an idealized Helen, not a radical socialist.

After the Miracle reveals Helen’s life-long fight for social justice. And it is interesting to see how iconic personages have their public image and heritage shaped by the desires and needs of those who capitalize on them.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

After The Miracle will likely end up being among my favorite books of the year. Well-researched and insightful, the book is a joy to read. The author gives great context to Helen Keller's life and her place in the larger role of disability advocacy.

Like many people, I grew up with the "nice" and fairly infantalizing story of Helen Keller. After the Miracle is not that story. This book is focused on her as a full person: political, fierce, witty, intelligent, and deeply compassionate. Helen was an advocate for people from a wide variety of marginalized groups, most often Black Americans, oppressed workers and those living in poverty, and people with disabilities within these categories. What I didn't expect from this book were the controversies that surrounded her, including her ties to Communism and her horrifying stance on eugenics and repeated ableist language and opinions.

After the Miracle is a well-rounded biography that is both informative and riveting. If, like me, you only know the popular narrative around Helen Keller's life, I highly recommend seeking this out. I am so grateful to have read this and learned so much about the deep influence she had and the radical politics that shaped her life.

My 3rd grade social studies fair project was on Helen Keller, so I've been interested in her fascinating life for some time.

If you're an avid reader of Helen Keller biographies, some of the early chapters might not contain much new information. It's actually been a while since I've read a Keller biography (it's been a while since one's been published for adults), so although some parts were familiar, Wallace's writing captivated my attention.

The bulk of the narrative is focused on Keller's political and social views/activism, primarily her socialist views. Although this was not new to me, I had never read anything that explored this aspect of her life that closely. Wallace does not skimp over the fact that she was an early supporter of the eugenics movement, and is quite evenhanded in his descriptions of her beliefs.

He also provides some corrections to earlier Keller biographies, particularly Lash's iconic biography. He also delves into her legacy and how it continues to be controversial in disability communities.


Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.