I received this advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. Exceptional novel! Margaret Fuller is a woman ahead of her time and she lived a courageous life for a woman of the 19th or 20th century. A brilliant triumph of historical fiction!

Although I adored The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post and found it incredibly informative and enjoyable, I am not finding Finding Margaret Fuller to be the same. The first book had a wonderful real history behind it, and this book does, too, but it is written in a much drier way.

This book is not what I had expected; the beginning is slyly written and very depressing. But I do admit that Margaret was a wonderful champion of women's rights and Feminism, way ahead of her time, especially in that bastion of Puritanism (Boston). As far as her being one of the few women Transcendentalists, this is true, and a lot of the ideology of this group was sound but way ahead of their time.

The prose is lovely, but the inner dialoguing was too much for me.

*ARC was supplied by the publisher, Ballantine Books, the author, and NetGalley.

I recommend Finding Margaret Fuller by Allison Pataki. The characters will engage you from the first page. I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher. This is my honest and personal review. Happy Reading!

I loved Allison Pataki’s previous books - she has a way of breathing new life into historical characters and introducing us all to those that history may have forgotten – so, of course, I jumped at the chance to read her latest book. Margaret Fuller is a formidable woman who has shaped the lives of many through her actions but unfortunately for me, I find intellectuals uninteresting. Inspiring, yes, but not my cup of tea. The book, as usual, is well written, but I have a difficult time connecting with any of the characters and, while I was charmed by a young Louisa May Alcott, the rest of the characters did not make any positive impressions on me. The story did pick up as she left New England but it wasn’t enough to carry the whole book.

Among the many accomplishments of Margaret Fuller was she was the first woman hired to write book reviews. She is our “Patron Saint”. Such an interesting story about someone I knew nothing about. I hope many people take the time to read it. Thanks to #NetGalley and #FindingMargaretFuller for advanced digital copy

Allison Pataki has outdone herself again with her latest novel, Finding Margaret Fuller. Knowing nothing about this woman before reading Pataki’s book, I was swept away by the story of a true force to be reckoned with. Contemporary of Emerson, Poe, Alcott, and Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller helped pave the way for women’s suffrage even before Stanton and Anthony. Pataki completely mesmerized me with her prose and storytelling ability, bringing to life a woman who deserves much more attention than history has given her.

Compelling, intriguing, breathtaking, and heart rendering, Finding Margaret Fuller is a beautiful story filled with both sorrow and hope. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

I received this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Allison Pataki has done it again! Margaret Fuller, was the most well read woman in America, and someone I hadn’t heard about. Pataki has brought her to life in Finding Margaret Fuller!

Intertwined with many historical literary icons, Margaret Fuller was a feminist, teacher, writer, and journalist and traveller.

I absolutely loved how Pataki can find such great women in history who were so impactful. Her storytelling came to life and I couldn’t put it down. Pataki even had me googling and doing my own research while I was reading to learn more about everyone mentioned. I’ve loved Pataki’s past work too!

If you’re a fan of historical fiction and learning about great women in American history, be sure to pick up Finding Margaret Fuller! I can’t wait to recommend this wonderful story!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Finding Margaret Fuller by Allison Pataki is a historical fiction novel about an actual historical figure. Apparently Ms. Fuller was a contemporary of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau. She hosted a women-only literary salon. She was a co-founder of The Dial Magazine. Ms. Fuller was also the first woman to study in Harvard Library, and first female foreign news correspondent. This is just a few of the amazing things this woman did. However, this book was a "did not finish" for me. Why, then, did I give it four stars?

I started reading this book, and though it was a bit slow going, it was beautifully written. Author Allison Pataki seemed to really capture the chemistry of this woman and her enlightened friends. My problem was this: I had never heard of Margaret Fuller before, and it seemed like a marvelous story. However, I found out in the prologue that she died young! Had I already known of her, I wouldn't have been shocked and would have sped through the pages to see the details of all that she accomplished. But after I read the prologue, I had trouble really getting into the story; I just kept thinking she was dead and I ended up putting it aside. So this wasn't the book for me, but I definitely will pick up other work by Ms. Pataki. I just hope she doesn't give away the ending before the story starts!

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

I indeed found Margaret Fuller, a name that is typically associated with the Concord crowd but I knew absolutely nothing about the life of the woman who carried the name.
Pataki wrote a beautiful book. Her words painted marvelous pictures of the people and the landscapes as seen through Fuller’s eyes. I admire Fuller for living a non conformist. She did rub shoulders with some of the shining stars of the literary world and beyond. I’ve never been a fan of the Transcendentalists (I find their books boring) but Pataki nailed Bronson Alcott’s character perfectly.
I was horrified to discover how Fuller’s life ended, so close yet so far from home.

(4.5/5)

This was an incredible historical fiction about the life and tragic death of Margaret Fuller. I had never heard of her and now am interested in reading more about this amazing, interesting, and trailblazing woman. I am a fan of Allison Pataki's books and I like her writing style. As with all of Ms. Pataki's books, this book was wonderfully written and researched. I'm fascinated by Margaret Fuller now and found it extremely sad how her life ended. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. And again, as in most of my reviews of historical fiction, do not pass on reading the Author's Notes as it offers important notes on the writing of the book.

Thank you to Ballentine Books and NetGalley for the review copy.

Loved this historical fiction so much! I never knew about Margaret Fuller yet loved and have read so many of the authors mentioned. I learned so much and will be buying this book!

Happy Pub Day to Finding Margaret Fuller! I absolutely loved The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post so when I saw Allison Pataki had a new book coming out I was so excited to learn about another incredible woman history has forgotten about.

Margaret Fuller is incredible. There is no other way to describe the woman who at her time was regarded as the most well-read person in America, heavily involved with the Transcendentalists along with Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott & Hawthorne. She was the first woman to be allowed to study at the Harvard Library, wrote a best-seller, was an activist for women's rights, was a literary critic in NYC, and was the first female foreign correspondent!

I enjoyed reading about Margaret and all of the incredible things she did in the 1840s! Allison Pataki's writing is engaging and draws you in. I was fascinated by each of the things she did and all of the people she knew! There were a few points where it felt a little long but otherwise I loved this book! The author's note was great, very detailed and loved seeing why she wrote this book!

Allison Pataki's Finding Margaret Fuller is just what I would expect from this author. I felt like I was part of the story. It was great. Five stars.

Allison Pataki begins with the end in mind, letting readers know Margaret Fuller’s tragic fate in the opening prologue. Margaret’s search for identity unfolds in five parts, told in first person. This provides an emotional connection so readers feel personally involved as Pataki recounts the bold, daring life of an educated, brilliant, single female in the mid-nineteenth century. The descriptive settings, like characters themselves, transport readers from the wooded lanes, wildflowers, and rivers of Massachusetts to the streets of NYC; from radical conversation salons for women in Boston, through Europe as a teacher and governess and finally, to the revolution in Italy. Margaret Fuller lived an amazing life; just not long enough. One writer explained her well, “How do you describe a Force?”
So, thank you to Allison Pataki for “finding” Margaret Fuller, a trailblazer a century ahead of her time.

Finding Margaret Fuller by Allsion Pataki is the fictional autobiography that Fuller was never able to write. She is a contemporary of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, the Alcott family and many intelligentsia of that era. She was once heralded as the best-read person of the time. It opens with her visiting the Bush, the home of Emerson and his very pregnant wife, Lidian, in Concord, Massachusetts. She stays there for a wonderful three weeks where her soul is filled with conversation and thought. She falls a little in love with him and they both know it is time for her to leave.

She returns to Boston where she tutors, barely scraping out a living until Bronson Alcott offers her a job teaching in his school, the Temple. The story continues through her life until her untimely end by drowning in the ocean after her ship sank. This book appears to be well-researched, seeming to follow the timeline of her life. It is very readable and very interesting to read of a time when women were only beginning to fight for their rights. And one of those women. Thanks Pataki, for taking this on!

I was invited to read Finding Margaret Fuller by Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #RandomHousePublishingGroupBallantine #AllsionPataki #FindingMargaretFuller

I really enjoyed the Marjorie Post book and was looking forward to what Allison Pataki would do for Margaret Fuller. I was especially happy to see Barrie Kreinik as the narrator again! As for the book itself, I felt it was ticking the boxes as much as anything else. For being such an early feminist figure, I was disappointed with how the book focused so heavily on imagining the nature of her relationships and feelings about the many and various men in her circles. Women are jealous of her. Men want to have her. It was detracting/demeaning to the main point and left me feeling like I could have gotten the highlights from a Google search and saved the time.

Finding Margaret Fuller by Allison Pataki

Who was Margaret Fuller? How did she become known worldwide as “the most well-educated person in America”? Allison Pataki, in her own beautifully lyrical style, will tell you of her life.

Margaret was a contemporary writer of many well-known American and British writers and composers. You’ll recognize every name in this story, except hers. Pataki’s story takes the reader from Margret’s childhood to adulthood as the daughter of an exacting, educated father, and how she became renowned.

At a time (1800-1850) when girls were expected to marry young and not go to college, Margaret stood out above any male or female of her time. She championed women’s rights for education, solo travel and to own property and wealth. She was a formidable writer and role model who joined the trend of transcendentalists of her era.

Get a copy of this book published by Random House as soon as possible! It is a superb, five star masterpiece, which will enthrall any book lover.

Who is Margaret Fuller? She is the most famous woman you've never heard of. She was a literary figure who spent time with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott and other "thinkers" of their time. Edgar Allen Poe said "Humanity is divided into men, women and Margaret Fuller." She broke the mold of the typical woman of her time. Women worked in the home, raised the children and were not expected to be intellectuals. While researching history for one of her books, she was the first woman who was allowed the use of the library at Harvard University. She assembled a group of women for "conversations" encouraging women to become the thinkers of their time. They discussed many topics related to equality for men and women. She is considered on of the pioneers of the women's' lib movement. Her story is just fascinating.
It's no secret that I am a big fan of Allison Pataki's work and her latest book is no exception. I finished the book this week and it's still with me. I see so many aspects of life as a woman that are influenced by Margaret Fuller. Pataki's writing is sensational. Her research and historical facts are so wonderful that I feel like I'm stepping back in history. I feel like I have book depression today because I know it's going to be a while before we get another one of Allison's books! I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Allison Pataki has earned her way onto my list of authors I must read due to the brilliance of her writing favorites of mine such as The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post and Sisi. She has a well honed knack of creating characters that are not merely words on a page but living and breathing characters you feel that you can hear, reach out and touch. Her choices of women to research and bring to life are so very inspirational to me. I had never heard of Margaret Fuller, although Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and so many others we meet again in this gem of a book are well recognized. I love that she places the reader in their midst, in Concord, Massachusetts, where these amazing authors interacted. She turned these amazingly well known authors into people who had emotions and were so very real. What an amazing setting - Walden Pond, her special boulder, and the paths she walked.
I admired her forward thinking and her ability to earn the respect of such esteemed authors. I especially loved that she respected the marriages of Emerson and Hawthorne, in spite of being drawn to them as they were to her. These well respected authors sought her out and she more than held her own in conversations with them, as compared to their wives who were so very subdued. The power of her words resonated with women and also with men, including Horace Greeley. Although I totally enjoyed being placed in the midst of her conversations with Emerson on their long walks, I avidly read the passages between she and Lydian, the tension leaping from both women. I could not imagine being a guest and living in the house with such tension.
Her travels to Europe were truly fascinating, especially her life in Rome. The moral decisions she was forced to make were devastating, but I was so relieved that she finally experienced true love and motherhood. The ending broke my heart. So appreciative of Allison Pataki’s notes from her extensive research into the life of Margaret Fuller.
Once again Allison Pataki you have brought another amazing woman to life within the pages of Finding Margaret Fuller and made her contributions to women’s rights known. My sincere thanks and appreciation for expanding my knowledge about so much of life during her time frame. My thanks and appreciation also to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an arc of this incredible gem published today, March 19th.

This is my first time reading an Allison Pataki novel and it certainly won’t be my last. What I loved about this novel is everything! First, I didn’t know anything about Margaret Fuller. What a fascinating person I’m still intrigued by her and plan on reading more about her. Second, I love the various settings. Living in Massachusetts, I could picture Concord and the area where many of the authors mentioned were living. I loved the way the story was written, it grabbed me from the moment I started reading.. Margaret was a brave and strong woman; a pioneer and trailblazer for her time and her cause. It’s amazing that she is not as well known as she should be. I hope this novel sparks interest in her remarkable life.
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for this advanced reader copy.