A cast of well known, sometimes scandalous, historical characters did not make this any easier for me to really enjoy. This title had all the hallmarks l normally love in historical fiction. The trail was populated with people I’ve met in studies and literature. Despite this I didn’t relate to the story.
Margaret Fuller was obviously a determined force but I was not engaging with her.

A Random House-Ballantine ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.

I went into this book with high expectations based on other review I've seen. Unfortunately it fell flat for me. It read more like a name dropping who's who of the literary world. I understand why others liked it so much, because Margaret Fuller is a fascinating woman, but for me personally, it did not work.

Alison Pataki has a marvelous talent on shedding light on women history has forgotten. By the end of Finding Margaret Fuller, I too couldn't believe that history has overlooked this woman who was a trail blazer and radical thinker of her day, who rubbed elbows with her contemporary literati, and forged the way for the rights and education of women. To imagine what he legacy may have been if her life hadn't been cut short!

Pataki does a wonderful job of bringing to life all these amazing people Margaret brought into her inner circle. The pacing moved a pace that didn't leave any section dragging. There is a slight distance from the story I felt with the writing, but I think after also having read Pataki's previous book on Marjorie Post I think this is just her writing style.

What a fascinating person you did not know that you did not know. I had never heard of Margaret Fuller until this book. She was such a strong women and ahead of her time. I so enjoyed reading about her life I could not put this down. The famous authors she met do intriguing. Such a tragedy how it ends. She had so much more to give to the women's movement.

Pataki has delivered again - taking a little know woman and bringing her amazing life to light, leaving you scratching your head asking yourself “how haveI never heard of Margaret Fuller?” What an amazing period of thinkers and writers that have shaped our literary world. It was interesting to read how connected they were.

Dear Fellow Reader,

Happy Spring! I know I am a bit ahead of myself by saying that, but I want to push the season. I want to be warm, work in the yard, and stop wearing 3 shirts at a time. (Give me a break. I seem to run cold.)


Back in February of 2022, I reviewed a book by Allison Pataki. The name of the book was The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post. (https://cecooney.com/?s=Allison+Pataki) I enjoyed the book and when I saw a new book by Allison Pataki, I was eager to read it. I had heard of Marjorie Post when I read the book about her but with the new book, Finding Margaret Fuller, I had never heard of Margaret Fuller.


Margaret Fuller was a real person. Let me stop here and suggest that you not do what I did. I looked up Margaret Fuller and read about her. It was a mistake. It affected my reading of the book. Finding out about her from the book would have been much better. I still enjoyed the book, but it would have been better if I didn’t know the story of her life.

With that as a proviso, let me give you a little bit about Margaret Fuller’s life. Margaret Fuller was a beautiful, educated woman. When the book opens, she meets Ralph Waldo Emerson for the first time.

“The Most Well-Read Woman in America,” he says with a flourish of his long-finger hands, then he sets his gaze back on me.” That’s what they call you if I’m not mistaken?”

“Person,” I reply, my voice quiet but certainly audible.

Emerson tilts his head, eyeing me with a bemused expression. “Pardon?”

“Person,” I state again, this time just slightly louder. “What I’ve been called is ‘the Most Well-Read Person in America.’”

Margaret Fuller’s father was her teacher. He taught her Latin, Greek, and everything he would have taught a son. At the time, daughters were not taught the same as sons. Daughters were educated to be ladies while sons were educated. As a result, Margaret could translate Goethe from German and speak several languages. She was taught to think and analyze what she read and heard.

Margaret Fuller was part of the Transcendentalist movement which started in 1836. She was friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Bronson Alcott, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. She went on to meet Edgar Allen Poe, George Sand, Fredrick Chopin, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

The story is interesting and timeless. Margaret Fuller’s beliefs are still pertinent these days. She believed in equality. She believed in freedom and respect for all people.

Yes, I recommend this book. I enjoyed reading it. She was an important person in her time and she has been forgotten. Her history is fascinating. BUT DON’T RUIN IT AND READ ABOUT HER BEFORE READING THE BOOK.

I was given a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks for reading!

This is another book about someone I knew nothing about. It’s well written even if it did start out rather slow. Margaret is a formidable woman and an inspiration for the times. It was interesting to read about some other well known authors she knew along the way. It’s also another good one by this author.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

I received an advance reading copy (arc) of this book from NetGalley. com and the publisher in return for a fair review. Margaret Fuller was considered a contemporary of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau--all legendary Transcendalist writers and thinkers based in Concord, Massachusetts during the mid-1800s. I had never heard of Margaret Fuller before even though she was held in high regard by many. Born in Cambridge, Fuller was an American journalist and first American female war correspondent as well as a women's rights advocate. Going against the popular grain of her times, she remained single and supported herself through her writing. Author Allison Pataki did a fine job bringing Fuller to life. My only complaint is that the book started out slow and remained that way for a quite a while. Fuller's friendship with the Alcott family, as well as Hawthorne, Emerson, and Thoreau was quite interesting and her choices in life unusual for a woman. She took a job under New-York Tribune editor Horace Greeley, who ultimately sent her to Europe where she covered the unrest in Rome before Italy's unification as one country and where she fell in love. I really did enjoy the book and learning about a woman who made a difference but has been largely forgotten today. I do recommend this book and if you find it slow in the beginning like I did, stick with it. You won't be disappointed.

Although I thoroughly enjoy historical fiction, this book wasn't for me. The time period wasn't something I liked. The pace seemed slow. The book just didn't hold my interest but I'm sure different readers will like it more than I. Rounded up to 3 stars

Finding Margaret Fuller is a breath of fresh air and a glimpse at the lives of writers and the great thinkers of the time. With a cast of well known side characters we are introduced to the most well read person in the world… and it happens to be a young spinster named Margaret Fuller. Dictated to by her father who educated his daughter himself with rote memorization and recitation, this young woman finds herself educated beyond many of her male counterparts and considers herself destined for loneliness. As we move through her life we come to understand the complexity of her nature. I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. I received an ARC of this book and all opinions are my own.

Before reading this story, I had not heard of Margaret Fuller. I have heard of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Horace Greeley. Why hadn’t I been taught about Margaret Fuller and her role with these men? She was very instrumental in their lives, history, and their writing. This story brings Margaret’s life and influence to life.

Emerson was an essayist and Poet of renown. Hawthorn was an author, Thoreau was a naturalist and Greeley was the owner of a New York Newspaper. I have heard of Louisa May Alcott, who was a young girl during Margaret’s story. We have all grown up knowing these names, but not Fuller’s. Disappointing to me for sure. So I was very happy to read about her genius. She was so far ahead of her time that she not only dealt with the prejudices from men but also from women of that time who did not even think in any similar fashion to Margaret. She became their teacher.

She was self-supporting at a time when this was not heard of. Most women without family or marriage were either prostitutes or went into religious life. Margaret had a career teaching and writing from a very young age. She was published and then became the first female editor of a NYC newspaper for $10 a week, unheard of at that time.

Margaret’s work, travel, and success were throughout the US, England, France, and Italy and she met many prominent male writers, artists, and thinkers of her day. She expressed her opinions about women’s rights freely and openly to these men. She was a teacher of women and changed the world for women.

I enjoyed this story very much. The story of love, loneliness, family, and work was fulfilling to read and enjoyable. I wanted so much for Margaret to succeed and show the world that women were something to be reckoned with. Hurray for Ms. Fuller.

I have been waiting for ‘Finding Margaret Fuller’ by Allison Pataki since I finished her previous book ‘The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post’. This new book was worth the wait. Allison Pataki is a gifted writer and it is evident from the first page of this book to the last.

While reading a book her Mother-in-law she kept coming across the name Margaret Fuller. Well who was Margaret Fuller? How could it be that in all her education and reading had she never heard of this woman. Well to be sure Allison Pataki was going to find out.

I studied Transcendentalist writers during college. Among them were Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Edgar Alan Poe among others. Through Ms. Pataki’s book we find that Margaret Fuller was an integral part of that group of Concord, Massachusetts Transcendentalists. Ms. Pataki was determined to bring Margaret Fuller’s story to life.

Margaret Fuller is a woman who should be taught about in every school. She should be acknowledged as the founder of the Women’s Movement in America. She was an author, tutor, teacher, first female publisher and first woman foreign correspondent among her other accomplishments. Margaret worked tirelessly, by example,how that a woman was just as smart as any man. Of course, during that period of history that couldn’t possibly be. Margaret exemplified how an unmarried woman could be independent and successful. Her story is wonderful.

This is a fascinating, awe inspiring and beautifully written epic of one woman’s life. Ms. Pataki’s story has left me wanting to know more about Margaret Fuller and her legacy. One of the best parts of this book is her Author’s notes at the end. Ms. Pataki meticulously explains how her story is as historically accurate as possible. Ms. Pataki has done her research and it shows. I can’t wait to see what Ms. Pataki has in store for us next. Well done.

I would like to thank Ms. Pataki, Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine, Ballentine Group and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Finding Margaret Fuller" by Allison Pataki is a wonderful, empowering and interesting novel. I really enjoyed learning about the life of this highly inspiring, strong woman, full of talent. life and charisma! Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

This quiet book has a leisurely pace without any real goals or obstacles to keep the story moving. The opening is mostly name-dropping with a kind of creepy attraction between Margaret and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who’s married. DNF.

Another immensely enjoyable read from Allison Pataki, this time focusing on the marvelous Margaret Fuller. That we don't know more about her or her writings exposes the fate of so many extraordinary women in arts and letters, and beyond. Her short-life, cut off tragically, as she moved to yet another peak in the mountainous range of her accomplishments, no doubt contributes to her loss to history.

The eventful journeys in this book take us up-close-and-personal with the Transcendentalists and to the war for the liberation of Rome and unification of Italy--two breathtakingly different worlds. Fuller unites them, and the reader also feels deeply the daily pinches a woman endures who doesn't follow the traditional path. Yet Fuller opened the door for all those who follow.

Thank you to Pataki for reviving her with this both intimate and sweeping telling, and to Net Galley and Random House for the Advance Reader Copy. I feel like I lived life with Margaret Fuller through the course of this book and now hold her as a cherished friend.

This novel of historical fiction revolves around Margaret Fuller. The fact you (like me) perhaps have never heard of her, should be reason enough to read this fascinating novel. You certainly know Fuller's friends and contemporaries: Hawthorne, Emerson, Poe, Thoreau, Melville, and even Louisa May Alcott. A feminist before the word existed, Fuller was, in many ways, the grandmother to the movement. You don't need to be a bookworm (or even well-versed in the classics) to appreciate Fuller's story and life. Enjoy!

A complex retelling of the story of an influencer who lived ahead of her time. This isn't a book about a nice person or someone I want to emulate.

But Pataki brings to life a season and a culture of yesterday in a fascinating and thoughtful way.

Recommended when you have time to ponder life and worldviews and the influence of one person in many circles. Well-written with complicated character development and historical detail.

Thanks to Net Galley and Random House for an ARC of Finding Margaret Fuller by Allison Pataki.

I thoroughly enjoyed this work of historical fiction. The title, to me, refers to two things - the first is a literal search for Fuller, her husband and son as they were lost at sea. The second is Margaret's search for her true self, in career and love.

I was unaware of Margaret Fuller's place in history. She was a contemporary of literary notables Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne and Poe,, and reformers in the women's rights movement Anthony and Stanton. The author's way of intertwining Fuller's life with the variety of historical figures was interesting throughout the book.

I highly recommend Finding Margaret Fuller.

I was on the fence about getting this ARC. I was not a huge fan of The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post but I love historical fiction and blurbs I had read about Finding Margaret Fuller intrigued me, so I did. I am happy that I gave this author another chance.
I loved all of the "namedropping" of various authors of the 1800s--including Ralph Waldo Emerson. The protagonist's struggle to be an independent, literary woman during this time when women were "only" wives and mothers was real and compelling. Her desire to become what she wanted to be while, also, at times wanting to have what other women had was authentic. This internal strife was well drawn by Pataki and the character was brought to life; I desperately would love to sit down over a cup of tea and speak to this protagonist.
It did not quite earn five stars from me because I thought the pacing could have been a little better. The novel is very character driven which means that pacing is (in my view) especially important and a bit difficult. That said, I would definitely read other books by this author.
Thanks to Net Galley and Random House Group-Ballantine for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.

“Finding Margaret Fuller” is a story that needed to be told. Allison Pataki brings her to life with a compelling voice. Fuller’s amazing connections to such literary icons as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Louisa May Alcott through detailed dialogue and descriptive narratives brought me deep into her life story. Margaret Fuller’s headstrong determination to be a woman that makes a difference are so well conveyed in this exceptional historical novel, providing the reader with many of her seminal contributions to the women’s movement in the latter 19th century, from New England, to New York City, to Europe and Rome. It is clear Pataki extensively researched Fuller’s life to bring depth to her story. This is a must read to learn more about the forgotten women that smoothed the path for equality.