FINDING MARGARET FULLER has cemented author Allison Pataki as a “go to” author for me. I thoroughly enjoyed The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post and loved it. Pataki’s new book explores the life of Margaret Fuller who was a muse for Emerson, a mentor for Louisa May Alcott, friend of Thoreau, and maybe the inspiration for Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter. I am a retired high school English teacher and wish that this book came out during my teaching career. Pataki’s mission is to explore the lives of women who have made an impact on our past but are not well known

The first 40-50 percent of the book finds Margaret in Concord. As she spreads her wings, she becomes editor for The Dial and deeply involved in social issues. Margaret moves to New York and holds “Conversations” with many influential women. Horace Greeley, the editor of the NEW YORK TRIBUNE hires her as a correspondent and sends her to Europe. Lots of events for the reader to follow! I am definitely recommending this book to my book club to read and discuss. My thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.

I love Allison Pataki but this book was a slow start for me. She has a wonderful way with characters and bringing history to life, though. Recommend for people who are interested in the time period in America with many of the characters (real-life) like Thoreau, etc. with which this book coincided.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC! #sponsored

Margaret Fuller- “The most well-read person in America”

Days after finishing this historical fiction book, I am still thinking about Margaret Fuller. What a life she had! She was a pioneering woman, an activist promoting woman’s rights, who had remarkable accomplishments in her life. A woman before her time. Along the way, she met and became friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott among others. Later in her travels, she meets Chopin, George Sands, Edgar Allen Poe, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Going into this book, I had never heard of this fascinating woman before. The story takes place in the late 1830’s- 1850’s. She was a writer who wrote about her experiences in life and her travels. She traveled alone up and down the east coast. She traveled by carriage and boat and shared these stories in her book Woman in the Nineteenth Century. She became the first woman editor of a transcendentalist journal called The Dial. She eventually gets hired by Horace Greeley, owner of the New York Tribune to work alongside him. Greeley sent her over to Europe and she then became the first female foreign correspondent. She traveled to England, France and Italy, writing about her time there for readers back in New York.
There was so much research done for this book and oftentimes, you felt you were right there alongside Margaret. Allison Pataki has taken a little-known person in history and introduces the reader to all that Margaret Fuller accomplished. The writing flows, keeping the reader wanting to know more. The story is written in first person narration, keeping the reader inside Margaret’s every thought.
While this is the first book that I read by Allison Pataki, it won’t be the last. Her book The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post has been on my TBR list for sometime now but it is going to the top of the pile.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for allowing me to read the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Published on February 13, 2024.

“Humanity is divided into men, women, and Margaret Fuller.” This description of Margaret Fuller was provided by none other than Edgar Allen Poe. The names of many of her peers and acquaintances reads as a Who’s Who’s - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, William Wordsworth, and Frederic Chopin. Most of these were writers of works that were on required reading lists while in high school or college. Why is it I never heard of Woman in the Nineteenth Century or Summer on the Lakes? Both written by Fuller. I consider myself a well-read person (Margaret was considered during her time as “the Most Well-Read Woman in America”) so how is it that I have never heard of Margaret Fuller?

Her story is one that has not shared the same awareness as the legacies of her close friends. What a story it is! I quickly began to realize as I read this account of her life that I have been missing out by not knowing the fascinating story of Margaret’s life. Pataki not only helps us find Margaret Fuller but provides us an intimate understanding of her spirit and energy. The number of lives she left a lasting impression upon are too many to account for in my review. Trust me when I say that you owe it to yourself and Margaret’s legacy to read this novel.

I received an advance copy of this book but it was released before I finished it, which is great because I loved it and now you don’t have to wait to read it! This book drew me in right away and kept my attention throughout. I love a historical fiction about characters or time periods I don’t know much about. It was really interesting to learn about Margaret Fuller, her accomplishments and relationships, and how ahead of her time she was in many ways. It was an 4.5 star for me - it only wasn’t a 5 star because I didn’t love how they previewed the ending in the first chapter.

In Finding Margaret Fuller, author Allison Pataki once again takes a lesser-known female historical figure and tells her story. This time is it Margaret Fuller who becomes a peer of the notable men of her time and ultimately makes a name for herself as a journalist. I enjoyed the telling of Margaret's story and she isn't someone that I was familiar with before reading this book. Of course, we all know the men of her time so that name-dropping also was interesting. All in all, this book is a solid piece of historical fiction.


Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for an advance copy of Finding Margaret Fuller in exchange for an honest opinion. This book is available now.

Allison Pataki writes about extraordinary women who don't get their due, and Margaret Fuller is no exception. She lived a fascinating life and it's hard to believe she's not more well-known. I'm glad I learned about her but the pacing of this book kept me from really enjoying it. Not much happens in the first half and most of the characters are unlikable. I wish there had been more of her fire in this story.

3.5 stars

Thanks to Random House for the copy to review.

When you walk away from a book and feel like you learn a piece of history you knew absolutely nothing about it deserves 5 stars. This book took be a while to read but I will say that had more to do with me than the book. I wish I had more time to ready this a little faster but that did not take away from the overall " Wow, I had no idea" factor of the story of Margaret Fuller. There are a lot of historical characters in this story and you will recognize every single one of them except the main character. Why? I have no idea. She did so much for pioneering women's rights and history. She had famous friends and yet how is it 2024 and I am just learning about her. I hope that an english or history teacher reads this book and adds Margaret Fuller to the list of influential people to explore with their students.

Allison Pataki is an amazing writer that picks lesser known historical female leads and brings them to life by informing the reader how they influenced history and our current day life. In this novel she tells us about Margaret Fuller, who was influential to so many famous authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and a young Louisa May Alcott. She charged new courses for women at a time when this was unheard of and she forged ahead unapologetically. After reading this novel I was so impressed in this woman that I began reading articles about her. I highly recommend this novel.

This was a well written and well researched imagining of the writer and rights advocate Margaret Fuller. Her Concord life is charmed and I loved reading about her and Emerson and their deep friendship. Her life was so interesting and Her exposure to the arts and minds of the era was captivating. Het Time in Italy was fraught with war but also brought her love. Her story made me want to learn more about her from a non fiction perspective. A great historical fiction!

Copy provided by the publisher and Netgalley

If it wasn’t for this book, I would have never known about the force that was Margaret Fuller.. This was an outstanding read. She was a role model and pioneer of the Women’s Rights Movement.This book brings her life to us in a fascinating historical novel. Ii enjoyed reading this book and recommended. You will not be disappointed…Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC……

Would recommend for fans of…
✏️ Little Women
✏️ Suffragette
✏️ Walden

One thing I’ve learned about biographical historical fiction is that, because of the nature of history, the story can lose some of its suspense when you know what happened. So I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up Finding Margaret Fuller and realized I (unfortunately) knew nothing about her, making for a shocking reading experience.

In short, Margaret Fuller was a journalist and writer who not only served as the first female American war correspondent, but was also an early inspiration for the women’s rights movement, in addition to being a close colleague of the Transcendentalists Emerson and Thoreau. Finding Margaret Fuller covers her adult life and sheds light on not only her work, but her personal relationships (there are even several appearances by Lousia May Alcott!).

While it started a little slow, I was quickly hooked and the ending really shocked me (which feels like a silly thing to say about a historical figure who I easily could have learned about via a quick Google search). I also appreciated the Author’s Note where Allison Pataki described how she came to learn about Fuller and why she wanted to write about her. Like Pataki, I myself was familiar with the work of the male leaders of the Transcendentalism movement, but had never heard of Fuller and her vast body of work. I’m very thankful that Pataki chose to feature Fuller and introduce her to a wider audience via an entertaining and well researched novel.

Finding Margaret Fuller is out now. Thanks to Ballantine and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Margaret Fuller was a woman ahead of her time. She had an unusual education at the hands of her father. He taught her the classics and to think like a highly educated man. His insistence on an erudite life made her an exceptional thinker. She became known as the “most well-read” person in America.

What makes the novel so fascinating are the people Margaret surrounded herself with. There’s Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Bronson and Louisa May Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, Horace Greeley, Edgar Allen Poe, Frederick Douglas, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, George Sand, Frederic Chopin, Walt Whitman and others from literary and progressive circles. She mingled and lived among these people, but her name is essentially lost to history. Pataki writes of Margaret’s influence, her impact on the creative geniuses she associated with.

Though this is a novel and some liberties were taken, Margaret did live among those illustrious literary and historical figures. She died a tragic death at a young age but she wrote some impressive books on Goethe and on women in the mid-1800’s. She was a transcendentalist, comfortable discussing philosophy with Emerson, Thoreau and Alcott. She was an early feminist, believing in women’s capabilities. The great thinkers of the nineteenth century welcomed her into their group and admired her astuteness.

During the years of unrest in Italy, Margaret lived there as a journalist, working for Horace Greeley. She saw firsthand the attempts to unify Italy as a country. The people wanted to throw off the shackles of the different countries laying claim to various parts of the Italian peninsula. It was a perilous time but Margaret found it exciting. She was working on a book about Italy’s struggles.

Had she not suddenly died, she would have undoubtedly published more significant books. One wonders if her falling into obscurity was partially because she was overshadowed by her male counterparts. American literature and other academic studies of the 19th Century have often overlooked the contributions of women. Had she lived longer, her breath of work might have garnered her the attention she deserved. She certainly lived a rarefied life; a true woman trailblazer.

The most impressive part of the novel involves the literary connections. Margaret’s character is not completely fleshed out; she lacks warmth and vitality. So much of her interactions are cerebral, yet her story is important. Her ability to impress the most revered thinkers of her time, is monumental. Pataki has once again showcased a woman who deserves her place in history.

Thank you @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of Finding Margaret Fuller by Allison Pataki. Margaret Fuller was a writer and feminist back in the 1800’s. This is a fictionalized story of part of her life. She goes from Concord MA to New York and Europe. She is a contemporary with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Horace Greeley and Henry David Thoreau, among others. She was an amazing woman, but the book did not really draw me in. #netgalley #findingmargaretfuller #allisonpataki #advancedreadercopy #bookstagram #booklover #reader #bookblog #lovetoread #fictionreader #bookreview #bookrecommendation #readersofinstagram #bookloversofinstagram #takeapagefrommybook #readallthebooks #booksbooksbooks #booksofinstagram #bookwormproblems #bookaholic #booknerd #whattoread #readingtime #bookaddict #ilovetoread #ilovebooks #needtoread #readallday

Finding Margaret Fuller by Allison Pataki tells us her story. Margaret had a short but extraordinary life with many accomplishments . Why do we not know more about her!! This is a well researched and well written book and brought Margaret Fuller to life. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had never heard of Margaret Fuller! Such a unique character in history! I loved her tenacity and her intellect. And all the historical characters in this book…really had me wanting to do more research. Now, this novel did slow down a bit in the middle, this is the only reason for the 4 star rating. It is very well researched and I enjoyed learning about this fascinating woman in history.

i found this book interesting, as i had never heard of margaret fuller and it brought to light her work towards equality for women in early america. there are however, so many people name dropped in this book, it makes it very hard to follow. i found this book very slow to start. it didn’t pick up for me until about 60% into the book. i will say. the last 100 pages i couldn’t put it down. thank you random house publishing-ballantine for this arc.

Interesting book about Margaret Fuller and the Trancendenalists. I never heard of her before this. Another “forgotten” woman brought to life.

I found the book to be a little slow in some places, but otherwise a good read.

Finding Margaret Fuller is a lovely historical fiction focusing in on the life of one remarkable women. As someone who’s been madly in love transcendentalists since school, I admit myself ashamed that I had never heard of Fuller or read her works. She absolutely deserves to be remembered along with Emerson and Thoreau!

This book follows a biographical storyline, focusing less on drama or stakes, to carefully lay out Fuller’s life. I enjoyed immersing myself in the details of her world and thoughts. Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book for historical fiction fans!

(TikTok review coming this week!)

I may be in the minority here, but I did not enjoy this book. It was very well researched, but I could not connect with the main character at all. Her life was boring! It was not enjoyable, shocking, perturbing, or interesting. Margaret Fuller may have been an influential and progressive woman, but there was nothing in this book that made me want to know more about her.

No, on second thought, I would have liked more about her life in Europe. That section was much too short for what was surely the most interesting part of her life. I get that she was friends with, and possibly an influence on, Emerson, Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Louisa May Alcott, but I did not need the majority of the book to be about her visiting those much more famous authors every single year.