Eden Collinsworth transforms what might easily have been a straightforward biography into a riveting, page-turning romp through history with The Improbable Victoria Woodhull: Suffrage, Free Love, and the First Woman to Run for President. Readers first meet the extraordinary Woodhull as a middle-aged woman sitting in a British courtroom, contending with an intimidating attorney general who's tasked with disproving her libel case against the British Reading Room. Showcasing Woodhull at that particular moment in her life highlights her wit, savvy, and confidence. It also sets her up as an outsider: she's a litigious American, a free-loving spiritualist, and a woman.
Collinsworth presents Woodhull's unconventional life in an engaging and creative manner, including a childhood rife with exploitation by parents who presented Woodhull and her sister as clairvoyants, marriage at 14 to a man double her age, multiple cross-country moves led by visions and prophesies, and an ascent to prosperity through her and her sister's ministering to Cornelius Vanderbilt. Woodhull also started a newspaper, feuded with Harriet Beecher Stowe, started a brokerage house, ran for the presidency, and did not confine her sexuality.
Collinsworth is a thoughtful curator of historical context and details. For instance, when describing the rise of spiritualism, she quotes Mark Twain, Arthur Conan Doyle, Joseph Smith, and more. Additionally, she's careful to contextualize the unsavory and sensationalist aspects of Woodhull, creating a nuanced portrait of a woman who avoided "being accused of ambition [by claiming] that she was no more than a vessel through which an otherworldly force was acting for a greater good." Collinsworth has crafted an altogether robust and thoroughly enjoyable read. --Nina Semczuk, writer, editor, and illustrator