
Charity and Sylvia
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Narrated by:
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Kristin Kalbli
Conventional wisdom holds that same-sex marriage is a purely modern innovation, a concept born of an overtly modern lifestyle that was unheard of in 19th-century America. But as Rachel Hope Cleves demonstrates in this eye-opening book, same-sex marriage is hardly new. Born in 1777, Charity Bryant was raised in Massachusetts. A brilliant and strong-willed woman with a clear attraction for her own sex, Charity found herself banished from her family home at age 20. She spent the next decade of her life traveling throughout Massachusetts, working as a teacher, making intimate female friends, and becoming the subject of gossip wherever she lived.
At age 29, still defiantly single, Charity visited friends in Weybridge, Vermont. There she met a pious and studious young woman named Sylvia Drake. The two soon became so inseparable that Charity decided to rent rooms in Weybridge. In 1809, they moved into their own home together, and over the years, came to be recognized, essentially, as a married couple. Revered by their community, Charity and Sylvia operated a tailor shop employing many local women, served as guiding lights within their church, and participated in raising their many nieces and nephews. Charity and Sylvia is the intimate history of their extraordinary 40-four year union. Drawing on an array of original documents including diaries, letters, and poetry, Cleves traces their lives in sharp detail. Providing an illuminating glimpse into a relationship that turns conventional notions of same-sex marriage on their head, and reveals early America to be a place both more diverse and more accommodating than modern society might imagine, Charity and Sylvia is a significant contribution to our limited knowledge of LGBT history in early America.
©2014 Oxford University Press (P)2014 Audible Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...




















Well researched
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This is a well-written deep dive into not-so-ordinary people's lives.
Cleves digs deep and turns up treasure
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Set in the late 18th to the first half of the 19th Century America, I loved all the poetry references and the epistolary quotes. When it was still taboo, sinful, and dangerous for same-sex couples to send explicit love letters to one another, these women would partially quote poems that both women knew in order to communicate what they really wanted to say to each other. It was quite romantic and heartwarming. I loved that they became core church school teachers and essential tailors/seamstresses for their neighborhood. The simple ways in which Charity and Sylvia made a life together on a daily basis was the most moving.
Because this is so detailed in its research, though I liked it, I recognize it won't be consumable by everyone. I would recommend this to those seeking for more LGBTQ+ representation in history and literature, fans of 18th-19th Century American life, epistolary novels, and poetry from this time period. We tend to assume that societally recognized same-sex marriage is a modern invention, but this book is an important step in explaining that same-sex marriages are more prevalent in history than what is currently taught. Thank you, Cleves, for sharing Charity and Sylvia's story.
Thorough and Important LGBT Historical Nonfiction
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Great history of lesbian relationship
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Too much redundancy.
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Could have been half the length
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Always knew there was this history. Very glad someone did the research and put pen to paper.
lesbian history!
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Amazing and important!
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So, so, so repetitive
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2.75 Stars. Okay I Guess But . . .
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