We Demand: The Suffrage Road Trip by Anne B. Glass is a fabulous historical fiction novel that depicts the famous automobile ride from California to Washington D.C. by a group of women carrying the collection of signatures to petition for Women’s suffrage.

This trip featuring two Swedish Immigrants, Ingeborg Kindstedt and Maria Kindberg whom own the vehicle, and Sara Bard Field, the representative for the CU.
The whole trip ended up being orchestrated by The Congressional Union For Women Suffrage. This group was led by Alice Paul at the time as an alternative to the previously established group, the National American Woman Suffrage Association. It differed in its goal of focussing on ratifying the US Constitution and attacking the issue from a federal level, instead of trying to pass the issue state by state.

This was fascinating. I had already known about this infamous trip, which was harrowing, difficult, and not for the faint at heart that took place in 1915 as a way to bring the petition from citizens in states that have already passed the amendment out west to the nation’s capital and President Woodrow Wilson, as well as to drum up additional attention and support, but I knew little about the other two women that were the owners of the vehicle and were the lesser known aspect of the trio.

The author has a real talent at being able to place the reader as a passenger within the backseat of the car during the trip, and at times I found myself lost within the narrative and felt that I was really there feeling the wind, grit, sun, wind, and freezing temps whipping against my face. It is also very clear that the author has duly done her research, adding historical facts and events perfectly throughout the novel.

This was a challenging trip, and these women were stronger and more brave then I would have been. Did it in the end win Congress over? No, not this specific trip, but it was monumental and a vitality important piece of the foundation that was created to help eventually pass the 19th amendment.

An excellent book.

5/5 stars

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I didn’t know I needed a historical fiction about working-class lesbian suffragettes until I read this book. I absolutely loved this story.

The stories of Ingeborg Kindstedt and Maria Kindberg are truly fascinating and I wish more was known about them. There’s a great section at the end where the author separates the fact from fiction. It’s such a shame that the majority of suffragettes who made history were upper class women.

There are some amazing names found in this story, from prominent Union members and lawyers, to black suffragettes like Ida B. Wells. The trip to D.C. was not glamorous and Gass does a great job of showing the many indignities that suffragettes had to deal with as they worked for a better future.

I would absolutely recommend this book, I can’t believe there’s not more hype around it already.