Shame the Devil (Excelsior Editions)
"Brenegan's Fanny Fern is a marvel--fiercely determined, passionate, and alive with a strikingly modern wit.Shame the Devilis a fine tribute to the writer who paved the way for generations of women."  -- Kelly O'Connor McNees, author ofThe Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott"Like Margaret Fuller and Emily Dickinson, her contemporaries of the mid-nineteenth century, Fanny Fern was an American woman far ahead of her time. Debra Brenegan has brought the drama of Fanny Fern's story to life in her carefully researched and stirring biographical novelShame the Devil. There is an authenticity to every page brimming with the flavor of Fern's era and the drama of her insurgence against puritanical social mores and unjust patriarchal laws. The characterization of the young rebellious Sara Willis, later to be known as the famous columnist Fanny Fern, in the beginning pages of the book is lively and endearing and sets the stage for the pioneering adventures that follow. The reader will find it hard to put down this book as it takes one on a thrilling and adventurous journey into the life of a great American humanitarian--an advocate of women's and children's rights who forged her way into the American mind, leaving behind a rich legacy of accomplishment upon which we continue to thrive in our struggle to progress toward being fully decent and enlightened humans."  -- Daniela Gioseffi, author ofWild Nights, Wild Nights: The Story of Emily Dickinson's "Master," Neighbor and Friend and Bridegroom"Debra Brenegan has created a lively portrait of an amazing woman. The heart-wrenching ups and downs of Fanny Fern's life make for riveting reading, and the lush depictions of mid-1800s Boston and New York, peppered with glimpses of Walt Whitman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Harriet Jacobs, make for a vivid, rollicking tale of one of the most pivotal moments in American literary history."  -- Tina May Hall, author ofThe Physics of Imaginary Objects"In her wide-ranging way, Debra Brenegan turns an age of great social and artistic change--for the races, for women, for the country--into a narrative of compelling characters. This novel emerges from history and becomes something more valuable--great literary art. Brenegan's Fanny, her family, and the cluster of historical characters come to us complicated and whole, demanding our attention."  -- Robert Stewart, editor ofNew Letters