Elizabeth, Mary, and Sophia Peabody were in many ways our American Brontes. The story of these remarkable sisters — and their central role in shap...
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reviews
Jun 07, 2011
Carol
rated it: 
Butterfly wings and all that.
Elizabeth Peabody - teacher, friend, or business partner with Daniel Webster, Emerson, Thoreau, Bronson Alcott (Louisa's Beth is named for her,) painters Washington Allston and Gilbert Stuart. She taught school for girls in a respect-filled, joyful learning environment. She brought Transcendentalists together at her bookstore/library/publishing house. She encouraged the genius she saw in many (Margaret Fuller) and is credited with creating kindergarten and estab More...
Elizabeth Peabody - teacher, friend, or business partner with Daniel Webster, Emerson, Thoreau, Bronson Alcott (Louisa's Beth is named for her,) painters Washington Allston and Gilbert Stuart. She taught school for girls in a respect-filled, joyful learning environment. She brought Transcendentalists together at her bookstore/library/publishing house. She encouraged the genius she saw in many (Margaret Fuller) and is credited with creating kindergarten and estab More...
Apr 16, 2011
Annemarie
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I was lucky enough to meet this author when she came for a photo shoot at the Old Manse, where I was working at the time. She is a brilliant woman, a passionate research, and a beautiful author. We are so lucky she worked as long and as hard as she did to create this book.
Three sisters, Elizabeth the eldest would become the mother of kindergartens and a reformer of public education, Mary who would marry Charles Mann and assist him in driving the improvement of American curriculum, a More...
Three sisters, Elizabeth the eldest would become the mother of kindergartens and a reformer of public education, Mary who would marry Charles Mann and assist him in driving the improvement of American curriculum, a More...
Nov 02, 2011
Michelle
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This is an extensively researched book on 3 sisters who played a key role in the American Romanticism/transcendental period of American history in the early 19th century. Elizabeth, Mary and Sophia, each gifted in their own right, dealt with poverty, sickness, and internal rivalries as they each strove for their place in intellectual society. They interacted with Emerson, Thoreau, and Alcott, particularly Elizabeth and Mary and two of the sisters married, one to Horace Mann and one to Nathaniel
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Feb 05, 2009
Marshall immersed herself for two decades in every scrap of information available about the Peabody sisters. She has not only recreated their world, but also__has appropriately placed them at the center of many important 19th-century reform movements. No longer will Margaret Fuller reign as the lone woman in Transcendentalist circles. The only point of disagreement among reviewers is whether Marshall should have ended the book when she did; the biography takes us through roughly half of the Peab
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Feb 28, 2010
Tammy
rated it: 
We’ve heard of the Transcendentalists. We’ve heard of Ralph Waldo Emerson. We’ve heard of Nathaniel Hawthorne. We might have heard of Bronson Alcott and Horace Mann. But we have not heard of the remarkable Peabody Sisters – Elizabeth, Mary and Sophia. These three sisters seem to have been in the midst of every important personage and movement during the years when the Transcendentalists were making their mark on the intellectual stamp of the United States.
This book is about thei More...
This book is about thei More...
Jun 04, 2010
Elizabeth
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The Peabody sisters were three women who lived in the early 19th century and were part of the transcendental movement and early Unitarianism. This is a fascinating biography of them and of the time. Megan Marshall describes their successes, and their failures. Anyway who is interested in women's rights, transcendentalism, Unitarianism--good books--will like this.
Marshall brings the sisters up to the marriages of two of them (one never married), which I found frustrating at first, b More...
Marshall brings the sisters up to the marriages of two of them (one never married), which I found frustrating at first, b More...
Aug 04, 2011
A fascinating read about 3 extraordinary women who employed their intelligence and talent despite being born at a time when women did not necessarily have deep discussions in theology, politics, literature, and art with Harvard scholars and the learned thinking men of the day such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Amos Bronson Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and other transcendentalists. These women overcame the discrimination and fear of an educated woman and inspired and argued the great thoughts of this
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Oct 14, 2008
Kirsten
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This was just awesome. The Peabody sisters were in the thick of intellectual life in New England (specifically the Boston area) in the first half of the 19th century. They knew all kinds of people who were famous or went on to be famous - one of them married Nathaniel Hawthorne and another married Horace Mann. One of them foreshadowed a lot of what Emerson made famous in his essays. And yet no one has ever heard of them.
The best parts of this book for me were about the sisters th More...
The best parts of this book for me were about the sisters th More...
Aug 19, 2007
Jennifer
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This non-fiction book highlights the lives of three sisters: Elizabeth, Mary, and Sophia Peabody who are ahead of their time in accomplishment and thought. These woman each have unique stories with lives which center around education, family, and a passion for the arts, conversation, and knowledge. Their influence on literay and educational history is astonishing as they promote and publish books and involve themseleves with movements and programs with the likes of Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne
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Nov 28, 2007
Another mom-connection book. I ordered this book from Bas Bleu last year, but just couldn't get myself to tackle it. (It was a 20-year writing project -- how's that for intimidating?)
So, I loaned it to my mom. She read it and gave it back to me. It sat languishing on the bookshelf until I finished the Rosalie Calvert Plantation Letters and found myself wanting to read another book about women of the 19th century. Voila.
A thoroughly impressive work of research and depictio More...
So, I loaned it to my mom. She read it and gave it back to me. It sat languishing on the bookshelf until I finished the Rosalie Calvert Plantation Letters and found myself wanting to read another book about women of the 19th century. Voila.
A thoroughly impressive work of research and depictio More...
Mar 24, 2008
teresa
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Another reviewer commented that she couldn't believe she hadn't heard of the Peabody sisters before and I feel the same way.
I have always been interested in the American Transcendentalists and their era--Thoreau, Emerson, Bronson Alcott, Hawthorne. The Peabody sisters were intimately connected with these authors--Elizabeth, the eldest, edited the Dial, was a teacher at Bronson Alcott's school, and owned a bookstore where many of the authors met. Sophia, the youngest, married Nathan More...
I have always been interested in the American Transcendentalists and their era--Thoreau, Emerson, Bronson Alcott, Hawthorne. The Peabody sisters were intimately connected with these authors--Elizabeth, the eldest, edited the Dial, was a teacher at Bronson Alcott's school, and owned a bookstore where many of the authors met. Sophia, the youngest, married Nathan More...
Aug 02, 2010
Ellen
rated it:
Wonderful biography of three sisters who have been overlooked by history books, most likely due to their sex. These woman had an amazing impact on literary circles which included Emerson, Thoreau and Hawthorne among others. Loved the history of New England, centered mostly in Boston covering the era of Revolutionary War thru Civil War .
Mar 31, 2011
Becky
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Very well written and interesting account of the lives of 3 sisters who hung out with the likes of Nathaniel Hawthorn and Thoreau...heady reading...only for the fans of that time period I think. Glad I read it but won't tackle it again any time soon. Well, if it's still on my book shelf when I retire I might.
Dec 16, 2009
One of the sisters married Nathaniel Hawthorn and was an artist, one married Horace Mann and was an educator, one started kindergartens in the US. They were friends with the Alcotts when Louisa May was two. In fact, Beth Alcott was named after Elizabeth Peabody. Historical figures become real as the author speaks of their coming to dinner with the Peabody's or discussing the politics of slavery at table.
There's a great explication of the transistion from the congregational ch More...
There's a great explication of the transistion from the congregational ch More...
Jul 16, 2007
Kerry
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Finished this book and Kris, Jen, Meg and I had a very successful first book club meeting about it! This book was ultimately a very intimate and fascinating look at Boston area America during the birth of Transcendentalism and women's role in that birth. These three women, each with a distinct personality, did so much with their lives in a time when women usually only did one thing (get married and have babies) that it puts us modern women to shame. And what a circle they were involved in: Na
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Oct 03, 2011
Cathy
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This is no lightweight read, but then the subjects were women of such intelligence and so connected to the thinkers of the day that it has to be detailed. The frustrations of being an intelligent woman still linger today.
Oct 31, 2009
Michaela
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Run, don't walk, to get this book. Nonfiction. Heartbreaking. Amazing. Fascinating glimpse into life during a certain period of time in American history as well as into the lives of three sisters on the family and personal level. This is the type of books students should read in social studies classes.
Sep 05, 2007
Jennifer
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Interesting and well written. A fascinating story of women struggling to find their place in a world of limited choices.
However, the author ascribes opinions and emotions to the sisters that are likely, but not proven. It made for better reading, but poorer history. I was very suprized that the book ended when two sisters married, with their later lives written as an epilogue. Surely, if any women should be granted the dignity of having a life after marriage it would be these three More...
However, the author ascribes opinions and emotions to the sisters that are likely, but not proven. It made for better reading, but poorer history. I was very suprized that the book ended when two sisters married, with their later lives written as an epilogue. Surely, if any women should be granted the dignity of having a life after marriage it would be these three More...
Apr 05, 2009
Katherine
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Very interesting history of a fascinating family at a pivotal period in American thought philosophy and literature. Well researched. However the book drags on, and in the end I found this account tedious.
Dec 04, 2008
Andrea
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a long book, kind of tough to get through at times. But I do enjoy reading historical novels. I've often felt my education was lacking in history so I try to make up for it now.
Jun 10, 2010
JoEllen
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Too bad the story-telling skills weren't up to the women themselves. Excellent research-so if you are looking for facts, here they are.
Apr 14, 2009
Sady
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Elizabeth Peabody coined the term "trancendentalist" and supported the whole movement but is rarely credited. Wonderfully researched book.
Oct 20, 2007
Norah
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A biography of three women who knew Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and many other bigwigs of American literary and cultural history. I'd never heard of the Peabody sisters. I found their passion to learn invigorating, and I was fascinated by their innovative teaching methods, their early feminism, their influence on the Big Men like Emerson, and their involvement in the whole American Renaissance movement. The biography is long and at times I thought the author could have edited some information b
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Jan 26, 2009
Cindy
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Why these women get overlooked in our U.S. history classes, I'll never know. Fascinating book!
Dec 17, 2009
Sarah
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This book was exactly what I needed - maybe it was just a case of right time-right place, but these three women were involved in everything that was interesting to me about their particular era in New England. Education Reform, Politics, writing, revolution, Cuba!, Vermont, Royall Tyler, Horace Mann, Nathanial Hawthorne, cheating, feminism, Salem, Boston, Cambridge. They lived in the places where I live and work, and their lives end up being relevant to most things that I have studied.
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Jun 23, 2009
Katie
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Megan Marshall kicks ass ... twenty years of research and the result is fascinating.
Mar 23, 2008
Francine
rated it:
This well-written book is full of descriptive passages that do put the reader back into the Victorian time period. The expectations of and challenges for women are interesting to read about first hand from the Peabody sisters' letters. New Englanders will appreciate learning about towns and cities such as Dedham (once pastoral), Salem, Brookline, Boston along with parts of Maine. Learning about the connections between these women and famous artists, statesman, authors, lecturers and ministers is
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