Awards

• Commended for Lambda Literary Awards (Studies) 2015

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Full Product Details

9780199335428

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Reviews

"""Rachel Hope Cleves offers a lyrical portrait of a same-sex marriage in this new book. Here completely assembled for the first time is the compelling story of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake and their forty-four-year (1807-51) domestic, romantic, and sexual union.... Through nineteen short, crisply composed chapters, readers are drawn into the intimate world of Charity and Sylvia.... Scholars of the history of sexuality and the general reading public alike - but especially those engaged in same-sex marriages in the twenty-first century - will appreciate the depth of research and the beautiful prose of this book. Charity and Sylvia would be proud."" --Journal of the History of Sexuality ""...Rachel Hope Cleves's Charity and Sylvia is an important contribution to the field. Finally, a historian has documented a long-term same-sex relationship in the early republic.... Charity and Sylvia is a compelling story that fills a long-standing void in the history of sexuality."" --Journal of American History ""The book is the first to delve deep into the history of an early American same-sex marriage. Cleves sees Drake and Bryant not as an aberration, but as part of a larger history of same-sex partnerships that has yet to be written - one that now exists mainly as clues dropped in family histories and stories told in the archives of local historical societies."" --Rebecca Onion, Boston Globe ""The moving true story of a same-sex couple who found an honored place in early 19th-century Vermont... Rachel Hope Cleves' new book, Charity and Sylvia: A Same Sex Marriage in Early America, is a slim, tender tribute to this marriage-in-all-but-law... Academic histories capable of bringing tears to a reader's eyes are rare, but Charity and Sylvia is one of them."" --Salon ""In a year when same-sex marriages are being recognized, unrecognized and rerecognized in courtrooms around the country, historian Rachel Hope Cleves flies us back in time two centuries to a remarkable couple... Drawing on documents and letters, and occasionally reading between the lines and interpreting silences, Cleves meticulously reconstructs their lives together in Charity and Sylvia. She explores fascinating and difficult questions, such as how the two women squared their relationship with their religious community and whether this was a sexual union."" --Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ""In telling [the story of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake], Cleves has written more than a work of recovery of a lesbian past. She offers an intriguing inquiry into the language of letters and poetry. Her close reading uncovers hidden meanings to reveal the private coded words of the same-sex female lovers."" --Journal of Interdisciplinary History ""Charity and Sylvia is undeniably smart - a devastatingly handsome contribution to our understanding of the history of gender and sexuality in the United States and the history of the early republic and antebellum period generally."" --The New England Quarterly ""In this beautifully written and utterly absorbing love story, Cleves (The Reign of Terror in America) explores the lives of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, two ordinary middle-class women who serve as a window on historical constructs of marriage, gender, and sexuality in late 18th-century and early 19th-century America... Meticulously researched and brilliantly argued, Cleves has crafted an important work of history that resonates with one of today's most public debates."" --Publishers Weekly (starred review) ""[A] remarkable story of which [Cleves] tells with equal parts rigor and sensitivity... Charity & Sylvia is an absorbing and perspective-shifting read in its entirety, chronicling the lives of these two pioneering women, the multitude of challenges, personal and social, they overcame to be together, and the depth and richness of their lifelong love."" --Brainpickings ""Starting with the birth of the woman on whom author Rachel Hope Cleves focuses most, this book opens with a slice of life during the Revolutionary War. We then move back and forth in narrative, but Cleves never lets us forget the time and space that her subjects inhabited, the social mores, the historical aspects, nor the seemingly-inconsistent attitudes toward romance and sex that our forebears held and that which we've been led to believe they had. I found that deeply fascinating and highly entertaining. I think that if you're a fan of history (LGBT or otherwise), this is something you'll relish. With chaste retelling and its abundant details, Charity & Sylvia is your grandmother's book - and yours, too."" --Washington Blade ""With Charity and Sylvia Cleves has stitched together a coherent, captivating account, one filled with vibrant details, and she offers a provocative conclusion: however astonishing their story, it might not be that uncommon."" --The Gay & Lesbian Review ""An extraordinary book"" -- The Historian"

Rachel Hope Cleves draws on family papers, diaries, memoirs and poems to reconstruct their lives much more fully than ever before, and to weave them into the larger history of the early American frontier. It is a triumph of painstaking research, and a moving love story. The Guardian Historian Cleves meticulously reconstructs the lives of two women who lived together for decades in a small Vermont town in a relationship described by people who knew them as a marriage. Ironically, in an era when women had few legal rights, Charity and Sylvia enjoyed more independence being bonded to each other than they would have if each had been married to a man. Jim Higgins, Books of the year 2014, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America. I thought it might be dull and overly scholarly, but this interesting and well-researched biography brings to life Charity Bryant, a strong-willed and independent teacher whose intimate friendships with women often attracted gossip, and Sylvia Drake, a quiet intellectual who was several years younger. Stephanie Perry, Books of the year 2014, Readers Lane I loved Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America by Rachel Hope Cleves, not just for the story of two lives ahead of their time, but for the way Cleves sets the stage for the tale. We get a good sense of what life was like in the late 1700s and early 1800s, not just for lesbians but for every person brave enough to try to settle a new country, and that's every bit as interesting as the story of two women who did something that early Americans didn't think was even possible. Terri Schlichenmeyer, Books of the year 2014, Washington Blade In 2014, 18 new states began performing same-sex marriages, while Massachusetts marked the 10-year anniversary of its own law. Charity and Sylvia's story struck a chord by attesting that similar partnerships existed in New England as long as two centuries ago, just without a license. Amanda Katz, Books of the year 2014, Boston Globe Charity and Sylvia is an important contribution to the field. Finally, a historian has documented a long-term same-sex relationship in the early republic ... a compelling story that fills a long-standing void in the history of sexuality. John G. McCurdy, Journal of American History Cleves's work advances our understanding by illustrating how a social history, which reconstructs and analyzes social relationships over the course of a lifetime, can move beyond tropes and character types to reveal self-definitions and lived experience ... Cleves's careful reading of the archival remnants of this couple's life suggests a powerful new narrative in the history of Christianity and homosexuality: Charity and Sylvia, a couple who lived openly in a pious same-sex marriage in antebellum America, were recognized by their community as exemplars of Christian faith. Mark E. Kann, American Historical Review

The moving true story of a same-sex couple who found an honored place in early 19th-century Vermont... Rachel Hope Cleves' new book, Charity and Sylvia: A Same Sex Marriage in Early America, is a slim, tender tribute to this marriage-in-all-but-law... Academic histories capable of bringing tears to a reader's eyes are rare, but Charity and Sylvia is one of them. --Salon In a year when same-sex marriages are being recognized, unrecognized and rerecognized in courtrooms around the country, historian Rachel Hope Cleves flies us back in time two centuries to a remarkable couple... Drawing on documents and letters, and occasionally reading between the lines and interpreting silences, Cleves meticulously reconstructs their lives together in Charity and Sylvia. She explores fascinating and difficult questions, such as how the two women squared their relationship with their religious community and whether this was a sexual union. --Milwaukee Journal Sentinel In this beautifully written and utterly absorbing love story, Cleves (The Reign of Terror in America) explores the lives of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, two ordinary middle-class women who serve as a window on historical constructs of marriage, gender, and sexuality in late 18th-century and early 19th-century America... Meticulously researched and brilliantly argued, Cleves has crafted an important work of history that resonates with one of today's most public debates. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) The book is the first to delve deep into the history of an early American same-sex marriage. Cleves sees Drake and Bryant not as an aberration, but as part of a larger history of same-sex partnerships that has yet to be written - one that now exists mainly as clues dropped in family histories and stories told in the archives of local historical societies. --Rebecca Onion, Boston Globe [A] remarkable story of which [Cleves] tells with equal parts rigor and sensitivity . . . C

In this beautifully written and utterly absorbing love story, Cleves (The Reign of Terror in America) explores the lives of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, two ordinary middle-class women who serve as a window on historical constructs of marriage, gender, and sexuality in late 18th-century and early 19th-century America... Meticulously researched and brilliantly argued, Cleves has crafted an important work of history that resonates with one of today's most public debates. --Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

Historian Cleves meticulously reconstructs the lives of two women who lived together for decades in a small Vermont town in a relationship described by people who knew them as a marriage. Ironically, in an era when women had few legal rights, Charity and Sylvia enjoyed more independence being bonded to each other than they would have if each had been married to a man. Jim Higgins, Books of the year 2014, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America. I thought it might be dull and overly scholarly, but this interesting and well-researched biography brings to life Charity Bryant, a strong-willed and independent teacher whose intimate friendships with women often attracted gossip, and Sylvia Drake, a quiet intellectual who was several years younger. Stephanie Perry, Books of the year 2014, Readers Lane I loved Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America by Rachel Hope Cleves, not just for the story of two lives ahead of their time, but for the way Cleves sets the stage for the tale. We get a good sense of what life was like in the late 1700s and early 1800s, not just for lesbians but for every person brave enough to try to settle a new country, and that's every bit as interesting as the story of two women who did something that early Americans didn't think was even possible. Terri Schlichenmeyer, Books of the year 2014, Washington Blade In 2014, 18 new states began performing same-sex marriages, while Massachusetts marked the 10-year anniversary of its own law. Charity and Sylvia's story struck a chord by attesting that similar partnerships existed in New England as long as two centuries ago, just without a license. Amanda Katz, Books of the year 2014, Boston Globe

The moving true story of a same-sex couple who found an honored place in early 19th-century Vermont... Rachel Hope Cleves' new book, Charity and Sylvia: A Same Sex Marriage in Early America, is a slim, tender tribute to this marriage-in-all-but-law... Academic histories capable of bringing tears to a reader's eyes are rare, but Charity and Sylvia is one of them. --Salon In a year when same-sex marriages are being recognized, unrecognized and rerecognized in courtrooms around the country, historian Rachel Hope Cleves flies us back in time two centuries to a remarkable couple... Drawing on documents and letters, and occasionally reading between the lines and interpreting silences, Cleves meticulously reconstructs their lives together in Charity and Sylvia. She explores fascinating and difficult questions, such as how the two women squared their relationship with their religious community and whether this was a sexual union. --Milwaukee Journal Sentinel In this beautifully written and utterly absorbing love story, Cleves (The Reign of Terror in America) explores the lives of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, two ordinary middle-class women who serve as a window on historical constructs of marriage, gender, and sexuality in late 18th-century and early 19th-century America... Meticulously researched and brilliantly argued, Cleves has crafted an important work of history that resonates with one of today's most public debates. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) The book is the first to delve deep into the history of an early American same-sex marriage. Cleves sees Drake and Bryant not as an aberration, but as part of a larger history of same-sex partnerships that has yet to be written - one that now exists mainly as clues dropped in family histories and stories told in the archives of local historical societies. --Rebecca Onion, Boston Globe

Author Information

Rachel Hope Cleves is Associate Professor of History, University of Victoria

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