
The Woman's Hour
The Great Fight to Win the Vote
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Narrated by:
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Elaine Weiss
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Tavia Gilbert
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By:
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Elaine Weiss
"Both a page-turning drama and an inspiration for every reader." (Hillary Rodham Clinton)
Soon to Be a major television event
The 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, 12 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 20th-century battles for civil rights.
©2018 Elaine Weiss (P)2018 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
"Anyone interested in the history of our country's ongoing fight to put its founding values into practice - as well as those seeking the roots of current political fault lines - would be well-served by picking up The Woman's Hour." (Margot Lee Shetterly, author of the number-one New York Times best seller Hidden Figures)
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How long the fight for the right to vote took
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While today it might seem inconceivable that women could be prevented from voting, passage of the amendment was not a sure thing in 1920 and the reasons become clear to us through the author’s telling. Many of the conditions surrounding the ratification echo in today’s politics. In 1920, Warren Harding was elected with a slogan “America First”. Fear of immigrants was extremely high leading to changes in the law that extremely limited immigration into the U.S. Opponents of women’s suffrage used racism, states’ rights and corporate money to fight it. In many ways, this was a fight between urban America and rural America. Elected officials were much more concerned on how it would impact their reelection than whether it was the right thing to do. Just like today, limiting the voters for your opponents was a way to remain in power or, for corporations, keep your supporters in power.
Focusing on the climax of the fight, the vote by the Tennesee legislature to make the state the 36th state and last state needed to ratify the amendment passed by Congress the previous year, the book looks back over the previous 71 years to explain the context of the conflict in Tennessee’s capital. The battle in Nashville overflowed with both political and personal drama. All arguments from the past in favor and against the women’s vote were used and every political lever that could be pulled was pulled by both sides. At the end, it came down to a change in heart by one Tennessee legislator after a letter from his mother.
This is a compelling story in which the author brings the participants to life and allows the reader to reflect on the lessons for today’s political battles. It was the hard work and persistence of women in fighting for the right cause that carried the day over the fear and selfishness of their opponents.
The Final Battle that Won the Vote for Women
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Disappointing choice of narrators
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Women take our right to vote much too casually.
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A must read for contemporary politics
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I also thought the narrator was excellent. She was passionate and animated without being preachy or boring. So not boring! I was riveted. Thank you for this wonderful book and slice of history. I loved it.
Riveting history
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Amazing Story
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A political thriller told from pt of view of activists. So well written. Good for people who take voting for granted.
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Great History Lesson
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Entertaining and Educational
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