The novel focuses on Helen Fox--a button factory worker, tenement dweller, wife and mother in New York City during the early 20th Century. In the aftermath of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, in which her daughter is killed, Helen meets some suffragists. She attends a meeting, gets a job with the suffragists, and comes to believe that women getting the vote will help save other children from her daughter's fate.
The novel did a good job of blending the fictional with the historical characters. I liked reading how Helen grew self-confident in her duties and beliefs, even as she handled the conflict with her role as a more traditional wife and mother.
There's a nice framing device concerning Helen's daughters. It was Abigail, who died in the Triangle Fire, who is first interested in the suffrage movement. At the end of the book, Helen's other daughter Claudia is happily marching with Alice Paul.
I liked seeing the more educated, wealthier suffragists and their world through Helen's eyes, especially as she experiences things for the first time, such as being in a car or hotel room.
I'd like to read more historical novels about the suffragists.
Ultimately, I wanted to like this book more than I did. It just seemed a little simplistic; I wondered if it was written for young adults. I really disliked the title. I can understand why the author (or publisher) found it appealing, but it's inaccurate. There is nothing accidental about Helen's commitment to the suffrage cause.
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