Biographer and novelist Ledbetter (A Lady Never Trifles with Thieves
) illuminates the lives of 17 19th- and early 20th-century women who bucked a system that relegated them to the home to meet the needs of their husbands and children. Some are well known, like the "unsinkable" Margaret (Molly) Brown, survivor of the Titanic
, who rose from a poor Irish background to become the toast of Denver society; a liberal, she espoused a separate justice system for juveniles and an international fair that others tried to shut down for featuring Chinese and Native Americans. Other subjects have been buried by time, and Ledbetter fills a gap in feminist history with her short descriptive bios. Henrietta Green, "the Witch of Wall Street," parlayed an inheritance into an estate valued at over $100 million dollars, but was noted for her miserliness. Sara Parton, with advanced ideas about women, left an abusive husband to become a successful columnist and novelist under the pen name Fanny Fern. Frances Benjamin Johnston was an early photojournalist whose work spanned a 50-year career. Although at times the author's colloquial language is clunky, these stories of independent-minded females are well worth recounting. (Aug.)
