The Woman's Hour

By Elaine Weiss

In 1920, Tennessee becomes the battleground for women's voting rights amidst fierce opposition and internal conflict.

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464 pages

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Bookroo's summary

In the sweltering summer of 1920, Tennessee stands as the final frontier in the battle for women's suffrage. As suffragists face off against politicians, racists, and even women opposing their own rights, the stakes couldn't be higher. Amidst a backdrop of betrayal, blackmail, and courage, a group of determined women lead the charge for freedom. Will they secure the pivotal vote needed to change history, or will their efforts be thwarted by those fearing societal collapse? 'The Woman's Hour' captures the tension and triumph of this historic struggle for equality.

From the publisher

“Both a page-turning drama and an inspiration for every reader”–Hillary Rodham ClintonSoon to Be a Major Television EventThe nail-biting climax of one of the greatest political battles in American history: the ratification of the constitutional amendment that granted women the right to vote. “With a skill reminiscent of Robert Caro, [Weiss] turns the potentially dry stuff of legislative give-and-take into a drama of courage and cowardice.”–The Wall Street Journal “Weiss is a clear and genial guide with an ear for telling language … She also shows a superb sense of detail, and it’s the deliciousness of her details that suggests certain individuals warrant entire novels of their own… Weiss’s thoroughness is one of the book’s great strengths. So vividly had she depicted events that by the climactic vote (spoiler alert: The amendment was ratified!), I got goose bumps.”–Curtis Sittenfeld, The New York Times Book Review Nashville, August 1920. Thirty-five states have ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, twelve have rejected or refused to vote, and one last state is needed. It all comes down to Tennessee, the moment of truth for the suffragists, after a seven-decade crusade. The opposing forces include politicians with careers at stake, liquor companies, railroad magnates, and a lot of racists who don’t want black women voting. And then there are the “Antis”–women who oppose their own enfranchisement, fearing suffrage will bring about the moral collapse of the nation. They all converge in a boiling hot summer for a vicious face-off replete with dirty tricks, betrayals and bribes, bigotry, Jack Daniel’s, and the Bible. Following a handful of remarkable women who led their respective forces into battle, along with appearances by Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, Frederick Douglass, and Eleanor Roosevelt, The Woman’s Hour is an inspiring story of activists winning their own freedom in one of the last campaigns forged in the shadow of the Civil War, and the beginning of the great twentieth-century battles for civil rights.

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