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cathd80's review against another edition
2.0
Margaret Sanger is well-known as the founder of Planned Parenthood and the first advocate of birth control and family planning for women in the U.S. Ellen Feldman’s novel Terrible Virtue begins with Sanger’s impoverished childhood in Corning, New York as one of thirteen children—a fact that greatly shaped her attitude towards child bearing, as she watched her mother die young—drained by back-to-back childbirths, miscarriages, and the hard labor needed to sustain a family far beyond her husband’s ability to provide. Her mother’s final illness and death is even more poignant because it meant that Margaret had to come home from a school paid for by her older sisters, an education that she was never able to complete.
Terrible Virtue covers many of the salient points in Sanger’s biography as well as the important moments and events of her crusade to provide family planning information to women without the education or means to understand sex or birth control. Feldman writes the novel from Sanger’s point-of-view, but at various key points she shifts perspective to the voices of those around her. This allows insight to the feelings of the people most impacted by Sanger’s decisions, such as her sister who went to prison for the cause and nearly died from force feeding, while Sanger escaped to England rather than serve time. Or her children. Yes, children. Despite her antipathy towards marriage and anything that might inhibit her journey to independence she drops out of nursing school to marry a man she does not love. Later, even with access to family planning, she has three children that, at least from the novel’s perspective, she is never terribly interested in.
The rest of this review can be read at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2016/04/terrible-virtue/
Terrible Virtue covers many of the salient points in Sanger’s biography as well as the important moments and events of her crusade to provide family planning information to women without the education or means to understand sex or birth control. Feldman writes the novel from Sanger’s point-of-view, but at various key points she shifts perspective to the voices of those around her. This allows insight to the feelings of the people most impacted by Sanger’s decisions, such as her sister who went to prison for the cause and nearly died from force feeding, while Sanger escaped to England rather than serve time. Or her children. Yes, children. Despite her antipathy towards marriage and anything that might inhibit her journey to independence she drops out of nursing school to marry a man she does not love. Later, even with access to family planning, she has three children that, at least from the novel’s perspective, she is never terribly interested in.
The rest of this review can be read at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2016/04/terrible-virtue/
pamiverson's review against another edition
3.0
Novel as a way to tell the story of Margaret Sanger. I think it didn't have the depth or analysis that a true biography would have. But she was a remarkable, driven woman who did change the lives of women through her advocacy for and education about birth control. It was interesting to learn about her radicalism in many areas, including her sex/relationships.
nursenell's review against another edition
3.0
This is an historical fiction biography based on the life of Margaret Sanger, who crusaded for birth control and founded Planned Parenthood. I did not know she was from Corning, New York or that her parents were Irish immigrants. She watched her mother age beyond her years as she experienced pregnancy after pregnancy, and then, worn out, died too young from TB. Margaret's father was an alcoholic and a socialist. The family lived in abject poverty, which greatly influenced Margaret's view of the world. She was able to go to nursing school and it was her first assignment as a public health nurse in the immigrant tenements on the east side of New York that led her to devote her life to crusade for birth control.
Margaret was an ego centric women who put her needs and wants ahead of those of her 3 children and husband. She sent her children to a very spartan boarding school where the educational philosophy was unschooling. Her daughter, who had developed polio and had residual weakness in a leg, developed pneumonia and died. Margaret spend years away from her family, between going to jail, fleeing to Europe to keep from going to jail, and being on the speaking circuit. She was sexually promiscuous and had no regard for her marriage. She worked tirelessly to make birth control legal so that women could choose when to have children rather than having one child after another like her mother did but at what cost to her own family? It sounds like, from other reading, she never really had good relationships with her two surviving sons.
I found the first half of the book more interesting than the second half. The author provided more detail about Margaret's life and relationships in the first half, with the second half being more a recitation of facts.
Margaret was an ego centric women who put her needs and wants ahead of those of her 3 children and husband. She sent her children to a very spartan boarding school where the educational philosophy was unschooling. Her daughter, who had developed polio and had residual weakness in a leg, developed pneumonia and died. Margaret spend years away from her family, between going to jail, fleeing to Europe to keep from going to jail, and being on the speaking circuit. She was sexually promiscuous and had no regard for her marriage. She worked tirelessly to make birth control legal so that women could choose when to have children rather than having one child after another like her mother did but at what cost to her own family? It sounds like, from other reading, she never really had good relationships with her two surviving sons.
I found the first half of the book more interesting than the second half. The author provided more detail about Margaret's life and relationships in the first half, with the second half being more a recitation of facts.
smemmott's review against another edition
2.0
Fine as a way to learn a bit about Margaret Sanger, but otherwise not very memorable.
meferguson75's review against another edition
2.0
Rating: 2.5 stars
Note: I received this book via a Goodreads Give Away in exchange for an honest review.
Terrible Virtue was the type of book that would appeal to me - historical fiction about a strong woman, a pioneer in her time on the front of birth control, Margaret Sanger. I knew little about her life; as this book was labeled as fiction I wasn't expecting a biography with carefully footnoted facts. However, being experienced in the genre, I did expect her life and experiences to be set into context to place and time. I do not feel that Terrible Virtue succeeded in this regard.
Ms. Feldman would mention notable socialist or feminist figures but not in relation to their activities and not in reference to how they related to Ms. Sanger's work. Both World Wars, the Jazz Age, the Depression, etc. were mentioned in passing but with no reference to how it impacted Sanger, her family or her work. Many times these huge cultural events that spanned years were addressed in a single sentence. Family members/friends would be mentioned once and never addressed again.
In my opinion, Terrible Virtue focused on two topics - the "why" of Margaret Sanger's fight for access to birth control for women and her "free love" lifestyle. In doing so, it inevitably covered the impact on her marriage and relationships with her children but did not delve deeply into these topics. On these topics I felt the author portrayed Margaret as a "Jekyll and Hyde" - selfish and egotistical in her personal life but caring to the poor women having too many babies.
In regards to the writing style, I did not enjoy the book sections written in voice of her children, sister, lovers, etc. I felt these sections, meant to counteract Margaret's own narrative, were jarring to the reader. The book did not flow for me. I also felt there were too many loose ends, you never know what happens to the people that you do care for (Edith, the children).
Note: I received this book via a Goodreads Give Away in exchange for an honest review.
Terrible Virtue was the type of book that would appeal to me - historical fiction about a strong woman, a pioneer in her time on the front of birth control, Margaret Sanger. I knew little about her life; as this book was labeled as fiction I wasn't expecting a biography with carefully footnoted facts. However, being experienced in the genre, I did expect her life and experiences to be set into context to place and time. I do not feel that Terrible Virtue succeeded in this regard.
Ms. Feldman would mention notable socialist or feminist figures but not in relation to their activities and not in reference to how they related to Ms. Sanger's work. Both World Wars, the Jazz Age, the Depression, etc. were mentioned in passing but with no reference to how it impacted Sanger, her family or her work. Many times these huge cultural events that spanned years were addressed in a single sentence. Family members/friends would be mentioned once and never addressed again.
In my opinion, Terrible Virtue focused on two topics - the "why" of Margaret Sanger's fight for access to birth control for women and her "free love" lifestyle. In doing so, it inevitably covered the impact on her marriage and relationships with her children but did not delve deeply into these topics. On these topics I felt the author portrayed Margaret as a "Jekyll and Hyde" - selfish and egotistical in her personal life but caring to the poor women having too many babies.
In regards to the writing style, I did not enjoy the book sections written in voice of her children, sister, lovers, etc. I felt these sections, meant to counteract Margaret's own narrative, were jarring to the reader. The book did not flow for me. I also felt there were too many loose ends, you never know what happens to the people that you do care for (Edith, the children).
cheryl1213's review against another edition
3.0
Terrible Virtue (which I coincidentally read at the same time as I read Girls and Sex: Navigating the Complex New Landscape by Peggy Orenstein, both received free of charge in exchange for an honest review) is a fictionalized account of the life of Margaret Sanger, generally considered the founder of the birth control movement and a key player in making birth control available to women. We meet Sanger in childhood where her mother is physically and mentally worn down by her brood of fourteen children (which doesn't include lost pregnancies). This climate heavily influences her path which takes her through nursing school, passionate love affairs (perhaps trying to capture an intimacy lacking in her childhood), and a (often conflicted) role as a mother herself.
Sanger works on the birth control movement from a philosophic, political, and practical vantage point. She without doubt sacrifices a lot to the movement and women today owe her a debt. Still, one can't say she's a perfect heroine and the novel leaves the reader a bit conflicted. Sanger made important strides for women and society, but I can't say she's portrayed as likeable.
I had high hopes for this story, but it never fully drew me in. I can deal with a less-than-likeable protagonist, but I had trouble relating to Sanger and understanding her actions. She is very polyamorous which doesn't necessarily bother me in principle but never felt very real. It is an interesting read and I definitely learned about an important figure in women's history, but I can't really say I'd recommend the book wholeheartedly. It may be an interesting starting point for people looking to learn more about Sanger (with the clear note that it is fictionalized), but I struggled to pay attention even with a relatively short length.
Three of five stars.
cheekypearson's review against another edition
2.0
I'm so conflicted about this story. It's well written and vivid historical fiction, but the subject of the story, infamous Margaret Sanger, doesn't sit well with my conscience. I have no doubts that the birth control movement would not be what it was without her work, I feel as though, even though she had a generally good reason to start down this road (family planning), her actually personality and actions speak to someone selfish and emotionless.
sophiasbooked's review against another edition
3.0
This seemed to be a very well-rounded telling of Margaret Sanger’s life. It was an interesting story, and her faults were exposed just as her triumphs. I appreciated that. Though, I have mixed feelings about this story in general. I definitely learned a lot, and it makes me want to research more about this topic and everything that wasn’t addressed in this particular telling.
**3.25**
**3.25**
endlessmidnight's review against another edition
4.0
If anything, this was something that brought me back from a reading slump. A book about the woman who spearheaded the Birth Control Movement. The idea of planned parenthood.
I liked the way that her story was narrated. Unconventional, it worked even as at certain times I found it rather strange to be there.
But it manage to do one thing, it managed to write a good story and recount the tale of a woman. A woman who was as human as she was good. A woman who simply made her choices in life and lived with it.
There was something addictive about how it was written. The fact that Margaret didn’t have the chance to finish her education. Or the fact that her other siblings who went into high school didn’t have much or any jobs.
There was something that kept me reading. And it was the fact that the main character was a woman. She had her own views, but she was never demeaning someone else. She was assertive, able to see what it was to be a woman then.
It was to fear, to simply hope for the best. To let the control be in others because having children is simply something that they have very little control of. And the fact that birth control changed it. It changed how women were viewed and the population from exploding in the twenty first century.
And I marvel at how this story has managed to make me understand her views. And eventually admire her.
I liked the way that her story was narrated. Unconventional, it worked even as at certain times I found it rather strange to be there.
But it manage to do one thing, it managed to write a good story and recount the tale of a woman. A woman who was as human as she was good. A woman who simply made her choices in life and lived with it.
There was something addictive about how it was written. The fact that Margaret didn’t have the chance to finish her education. Or the fact that her other siblings who went into high school didn’t have much or any jobs.
There was something that kept me reading. And it was the fact that the main character was a woman. She had her own views, but she was never demeaning someone else. She was assertive, able to see what it was to be a woman then.
It was to fear, to simply hope for the best. To let the control be in others because having children is simply something that they have very little control of. And the fact that birth control changed it. It changed how women were viewed and the population from exploding in the twenty first century.
And I marvel at how this story has managed to make me understand her views. And eventually admire her.