Overview

At the end of the 1830s the abolitionist sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimke, along with Angelina's new husband, Theodore Weld, begin collecting first-hand accounts of the horrors of slavery and publishing them in American Slavery as It Is. The success of the book helps to move northern opinion against slavery. But the birth of children and the challenges of domestic lives mean the sisters set aside their public roles as voices against slavery and for women's rights. Turning inward sets the sisters into painful conflict with each other. Teens Archibald and Francis Grimke, sons of Angelina and Sarah's brother, Henry Grimke and his colored mistress, Nancy Weston, have barely survived the unspeakable hardships of slavery. They make their way to freedom in the North, but education proves elusive. Eventually their excellence as students at Lincoln University leads to their surprising revelation to their abolitionist aunts. At Harvard Law and at Princeton Theological, the young men embark on difficult but illustrious careers. But the end of Reconstruction means a renewed struggle for African American freedom and rights. The romantic and domestic heartbreaks of Archie and Frank are intertwined with their lifelong struggle for the survival and equal rights of their people.

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9798385222230

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Reviews

"""Volume 2 of Rosemary Curran's story of the Grimke sisters focuses on the careers of their Black nephews, who became leaders in the African American community, and on the full emergence of the American movement for women's rights, culminating in the first major national march for women's equality. Curran again richly limns the intellectual and emotional complexity of the sisters' lives as they face continued harassment and disregard in spite of their widely read publications and leadership. A significant addition to the history of the rights of Blacks and women in America."" --Thomas Trzyna, author of Pornography and Genocide: The War against Women ""The second volume of Rosemary Curran's Stony the Road We Trod vividly animates the lives and families of the dauntless Grimke sisters as they become outspoken advocates of abolition and women's rights. With compelling detail and emotional depth, this historical novel draws us into American history and a mixed-race family in an era when racial and gender identities were being reshaped through the courage of women like Sarah and Angelina Grimke."" --Linda Mizejewski, professor of women's, gender, and sexuality studies, Ohio State University ""Based on skillfully dramatized, up-to-date research, Rosemary Curran brings to life in two volumes the intersecting stories of Sarah and Angelina Grimke and of their two nephews. The sisters' story reveals the arduous journey of rebelling against crucial values of their upbringing, becoming advocates against slavery and for women's rights. We see the fighting power, discipline and strength of their nephews who survive slavery and remarkably make their way to Harvard and Princeton Seminary."" --Diana L. Villegas, scholar of Christian spirituality ""The abolitionist saga, the saga of women's rights, and the rising tide of the Civil Rights movement come alive in this very personal rendering of the lives of the Grimk� sisters and their nephews Archibald and Francis Grimk�. Curran has crafted a thoroughly researched and well-written historical novel detailing a complex period of United States history."" --Rose Gatens, retired director, Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education, Florida Atlantic University ""Rose Curran transports the reader to nineteenth century America in a compelling and sweeping family saga. With the backdrop of the Antebellum South and Abolitionist Northeast, the Grimke family sprang to life! The Grimkes were full of bold, remarkable people who tirelessly advocated for not only the abolition of slavery but also women's suffrage. Rose Curran masterfully portrays a dense and complex history in a superbly written narrative. I look forward to many pore publications from Rose Curran."" --Laura Grosso, international program manager"

Author Information

Rose Curran is an author, theologian, and educator who has taught philosophy, ethics, and religious studies at Wheeling University, Smith College, Phillips Andover Academy, and Seattle University. She was a Fulbright Scholar in Ethiopia in 2005-2007 and in 2012-2013, where she taught urban and environmental planning. She is the coauthor of Loving and Working: Reweaving Women's Public and Private Lives. A graduate of Fordham University and University of Washington, she lives in Seattle.

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