This book is huge at 560 pgs; of course, i guess that's nothing compared to these past couple Harry Potters so perhaps i should just say, "substantial." It covers literally Woodhull's entire life (and a good deal of her sister's, Tennessee Claflin), as well as offering am in-depth view of the political and social climate at the time. It devotes a particular amount of time to the changing nuances of her "free love" doctrine and other participants in that movement (one which was, most certainly, ahead of its time--we don't generally think of Victorian times and Free Love in the same boat these days), and the Beecher-Tilton adultery trial.

I found the book to be facinating from a suffrage-history POV, contrasting events depicted/documented within with my memories of the "women's movement" from history classes. Goldsmith isn't afraid to throw stones (mostly by quoting their own less than tolerant words) at suffrage icons Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B Anthony, and others, in the course of depicting an unbiased view of the debate that raged for both women's and black men's suffrage at the time. She is both sympathetic to Victoria and Tennessee (she does a very good job in depicting the bizarre, abusive, nomadic carnival-like nature of their childhoods and family life while growing up), and willing to point out their flaws and transgressions (both women engaged in prostitution, blackmail, and other acts of "questionable ethics").

There's not as much focus on the Spiritualism movement, though the overview is thorough and the author depicts in great detail the ways in which Victoria and Tennessee were involved in it as trance speakers and predictors of the future, both from a very young age. She presents the oracles and visions and claims of spiritualists without passing judgement on them, though it's hard not to do so onesself as a modern skeptic reader--the descriptions of Victoria's frequent "possession" by spirit guides, particularly when speaking in public and in other stressful situations, coupled with her traumatic childhood, are reminiscent of depictions of modern dissociative identity disorders.

To read the book as a modern woman is somewhat horrific; one can't help but think along the lines of "what would I have done back then," when Anthony Comstock was arresting people for even discussing contraception and women were considered the property of their husbands. Goldsmith investigates a lot of related issues, giving brief synopses of cases of abortionists, midwives, spinsters-by-choice, servant-class mothers of illegitimate children who were imprisoned for "infanticide" when their babies died in childbirth...ugh. Horrible reading, but important.

All in all a facinating overview of activism, alternative spirituality, and the tumultuous political climate of post-civil-war America, centered around the life story of the country's first female Presidential candidate.

Goldsmith has done a real service with this book. It is more or less the history of the 19th-century women's suffrage movement, with special emphasis on the influence of Spiritualism and on the life of Victoria Woodhull (of whom I had never before heard, even though I regard myself as fairly well-versed in American history).

The book is full of fascinating characters and events, most of which are given unconscionably short shrift in our educational system. Goldsmith fleshes out the stories and personalities of many people who were previously just vague images in my mind, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Henry Ward Beecher. It seems from this book that female suffrage could have occurred as much as 50 years earlier than it did, if it hadn't been for a couple of missteps on the part of the supporters of suffrage. For one thing, there was a bitter division among the suffragettes about whether the female right to vote should be part of the movement for enfranchising the recently freed slaves. Sadly, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, despite her many wonderful and even heroic contributions to the movement, comes across as an out-and-out racist on this issue, and probably damaged the very cause to which she devoted her life. Secondly, some of the foremost spokespeople for female suffrage got caught up in unrelated, controversial issues, and even in personal sexual scandals.

If you have an interest in American history, you may very well have the same reaction I did while reading this book. Almost every other page, I found myself exclaiming, "Hey, I didn't know that! How come that's not in any of the history books?"

The only reason I gave this book four stars instead of five is that I think the organization and focus could be a little better. The book isn't organized strictly chronologically, and it jumps from one character to another without apparent reason.

But there's just too much really good stuff here to give anything less than four stars, and I have no quarrel with those who have given it five. You won't often pick up a book written for a general audience and learn so many interesting facts that you probably didn't know.

What an absolute joy of a book. Goldsmith seems to have found the perfect centerof the femininist storm in Victoria Woodhull, an outspoken advocate of women's rights, free love, and spiritualism. The telling of her tale (and this book reads like a plotted novel) involves the inclusion of tales and talk from Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Henry Ward Beecher, President Ulysses S. Grant, Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, and cameo appearances from a host of others (including the prudish New York City "in"fighter, Anthony Comstock). Much of the telling involves the infamous Tilton-Beecher scandal, a story whose recitation touches on much of the post-Civil War atmosphere of spiritualism,financial skullduggery, the new religious practices of revised Calvinism, and, of course, equal rights for women. This is a fascinating read and wonderfully written. You don't need to be a history buff to pick this up.

This biography is actually quite good - and overdue. Underhill seems to be not much 'captured' by her amorous and dominant beta female subject. (That's a common problem in biography). There are certain problems about V. Woodhull however, as there are about all prominent persons. She was, as was her sister, a courtesan, a New Age Spiritualist (inspired by the Fox 'knuckle cracker' sisters). Amazingly, a NY female Wall Street stockbroker!, a female candidate for president! Not much came of either, but she remained amazing anyway.
That she married some rich English baron or other and moved to England, thereafter supporting her neer do well relatives (including her mother) for decades (as she had in the States), seems beside the point, except that it's clear that she finally gave up the fight. As she saw it - or are we merely imagining how she saw it? Perhaps we expect too much from Victoria, and given her times, she pretty much gets a pass. She caused not such harm as Ellen White, Madam Blavatsky or Mary Baker Eddy. Give thanks.
Part of this biography delves into the internal feuds in the early 1st wave feminist movement, which tells us a bit about 'power seeking' (even in females), as does the life of Woodhull herself. At each stage of her (and her relatives) life, there are powerful males, her father, the drunken doctor she marries young, Cornelias Vanderbilt, her literary second husband, General Ben Butler, whoever is male and useful. Excepting her father, they all get sexed, and they all are useful. Not that such maneuvering towards the top by women is all that uncommon in the last 4,000 years of human history. That it's a woman's way, does not one thinks, make it a life to emulate in the modern feminist movement. I'll take Abigail Adams anytime.

This is an amazing biography of Victoria C. Woodhull a little known suffragist and spirtualist of the late 19th Century. Growing up poor in a dysfunctional Ohio family she pulled herself up from poverty to become a leading sufferagist as well as opening with her sister the first female owned wallstreet brokerage company. This is just the tip of the iceberg as she ran for president in the 1870's, exposed a huge scandal concerning a leading New York minister, and eventually married into one of the richest families in England. Her ideas and opinions on sexuality, divorce, and women's rights were a hundred years before her time. She was no saint; her unconventional and adventurous lifestyle recieved much criticism and was her eventual undoing in society. Her life is more fantasic and entertaining than fiction. Victoria Woodhull has been hidden in the closet like a skeleton for too long; if you read any non-fiction this year, read this book!

My book group chose _Notorious Victoria_ as one of our monthly selections. To a woman, we all found it a very hard read, even those of us who much prefer nonfiction works. While the subject matter was certainly interesting, the writing style did not do it justice. A great source if you are doing research, but I wouldn't recommend it otherwise.

Mary Gabriel (who I met last spring) has a way of bringing Victorial Claflin Woodhull to life and drawing the reader into the true story of a little known woman in history(even Women's History). Gabriel's extensive research and knowledge about the subject matter is truly impressive. Five stars for both of these remarkable women!

Mary Gabriel will keep you entertained from cover to cover. This is a facinating book about a strong-willed, determined women living in the 1800s. I highly recommend it.