Christian Science Monitor
It would be a juicy scandal today: the most prominent preacher in America accused of adultery with a parishioner. In 1872, the trial of Henry Ward Beecher was a sensation, eaten up with glee by everyone except the traumatized principals. Those included the Beecher siblings, including writer Harriet Beecher Stowe. She and all but one of the Beechers circled the wagons, citing loyalty above all. That outlier, the suffragist Isabella Beecher Hooker, pleaded with Henry to confess and beg forgiveness, and the rest of the family cut her off for her betrayal. In 1887, Henry lies dying and Harriet and Isabella haven't spoken in 15 years. Stowe is the only one generally remembered today, but the Beechers were a family of preachers, abolitionists, writers, and activists, and O'Brien does a fantastic job of showing just how remarkable they were. Henry never quite comes to life the way his sisters do, and occasionally the "do you remembers" seem forced. But overall, the novel is a deeply intelligent and emotionally generous look at a trial that riveted a nation and upended a family.
Kirkus
An engaging, revelatory account of the trial of the century—the 19th century—following charges of adultery against Henry Ward Beecher.
The prominent Beecher family has no contemporary equivalent—a large brood of intellectuals, they helped set America's moral compass. Catherine founded schools for girls, Isabella was a suffragette, Harriet wrote the seminal novel of slavery, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and younger brother Henry was the famous minister of Brooklyn's Plymouth Church, where he advocated the radical notion of a loving and forgiving God. Naysayers might speculate there was a bit too much love on offer at Beecher's church, and after years of hushed rumor, Henry is accused of adultery (by radical suffragist Victoria Woodhull, out to ruin Henry for his dismissal of her ideas), and finally a suit is brought against Henry by the wronged husband. Though Henry is fascinating—slightly effete yet calculating—the novel centers on the two title sisters, and the rift the trial brought between them. Book ending the novel are the days before Henry's death in March of 1887. Journalists are encamped on the stoop, the brownstone is filled with friends and family, with the exception of one—Isabella Beecher Hooker. Alienated from the family since the trial 12 years earlier, Isabella is at a nearby boardinghouse, hoping she'll gain access to her brother before he dies. The story of Harriet and Isabella—with Harriet sure that blind loyalty and upholding the Beecher name is paramount, and Isabella sure that Henry is guilty and will hopefully ask forgiveness from his congregation—is not only one of family but of ideas. What best honors the Beecher name—truth or loyalty? The author manages to make rigid Harriet and foolhardy Isabella come off as admirable, sympathetic women trapped by the expectations of their family's role in history. This could have easily become a soapy melodrama, but O'Brien (The Glory Cloak, 2004, etc.) smartly blends history about this fascinating family with moral questions that have no easy answers.
A winning piece of historical fiction.Publishers Weekly
Smooth flashbacks carry this inventive romp through a 19th-century New England scandal, which opens at the deathbed of Henry Ward Beecher, "the most brilliant preacher in America," in March of 1887. Around him are his many siblings, notably his famous sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. The deathwatch mirrors the moment when, 15 years earlier and further on in the book, the clan assembles to discuss a front-page story in Victoria Woodhull's newspaper that, in veiled language, accuses Henry of having an affair with parishioner Elizabeth Tilton, in which the two conduct "orgies" in front of her children. The result is (among other things) a punishing church committee hearing. Three years later, Henry's former protégé and parishioner, Theodore Tilton, files suit against Henry, charging alienation of affections. O'Brien (coauthor of I Know Just What You Mean) takes the reader into the courtroom, a scene of such twists, betrayals and revelations that it will entertain even those who know how it ended—a tricky business since even Elizabeth, who has confessed, denied and confessed, wonders, "Which of my stories was true?" That the question remains just makes the telling juicier, and O'Brien delivers just enough history to make a reader feel virtuous while savoring the gossip. (Jan.)Booklist
O'Brien provides an interesting new spin on an infamous nineteenth-century scandal. When superstar preacher Henry Ward Beecher is publicly accused of adultery and brought to trial, his extended family is drawn into the fray. Sisters Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and suffragist Isabella Beecher Hooker hold opposing viewpoints and quarrel bitterly. Although Harriet supports Henry unconditionally, Isabella is vocally convinced of his guilt. The effective courtroom scenes rival anything contemporary readers can view on court TV and offer a titillating glimpse into a scandal that gripped the nation. Authentically detailed, this finely wrought historical novel also features plenty of family drama and juicy dish. Renewed interest in the Beecher clan (The Most Famous Man in America, 2006; The Beecher Sisters, 2003) guarantees a ready-made audience for this fictional page-turner.Library Journal
As Henry Ward Beecher lies dying in 1887, his estranged sister, Isabella Hooker, come to Brooklyn Heights for a final attempt at reconciliation. Among those who oppose her visit is her sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe. The rich and powerful Beecher family has never recovered from the trial 12 years earlier in which Henry, a charismatic preacher, stood accused of committing adultery with Elizabeth Tilton. Rather than supporting Henry unquestioningly, Isabella stood by Victoria Woodhull, the outspoken suffragette who made the charges public to advance her own causes. O'Brien (The Glory Cloak) skillfully carries readers back and forth through time and place in brief chapters that elucidate Isabella's involvement in the suffrage movement and Harriet's literary triumphs. Mrs. Tilton's contradictory accounts of events and Henry's ambiguous explanations contribute to the jury's inability to reach a verdict, and the nagging uncertainties influence the dynamics among the Beecher siblings as well. This intriguing novel illuminates the era's political and social struggles as well as the stresses within a celebrity family. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction, the book should also attract a broader public library readership.The Washington Post
The Beechers' Uncivil War
By Carolyn See,
who can be reached at www.carolynsee.com
Friday, January 4, 2008; Page C02
HARRIET AND ISABELLA
By Patricia O'Brien
Touchstone. 304 pp. $25
It's hard to get a bead on what people remember about our collective American past. Yes, we probably remember that Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin," an immensely popular novel denouncing the evils of American slavery in 1852, and that a decade later, President Lincoln would greet her as the "little woman who started this big war." And -- on a good day -- we remember the war's dates: 1861-1865. But this novel is set much later, in 1887, and focuses on another member of the Beecher family, Henry Ward Beecher, the most famous preacher of his day, and a participant in one of the greatest forgotten scandals of the 19th century.
The Beechers were much like the Kennedys of 50 years ago -- American semi-royalty, a great family both dedicated to public service and reveling in its own celebrity. The numerous siblings had two different mothers, but all had the same father, Lyman Beecher, a stern and dour theologian of the old school, who lavished his money on education for his sons, gave short shrift to his daughters and, in the grand Calvinist tradition, looked upon everything that yielded up pleasure as very probably a sin.
His first son, Henry Ward Beecher, invented another brand of Christianity, one that insisted on a warm, loving, all-forgiving God. He was talented and charismatic and presided over a huge congregation at Plymouth Church in Brooklyn Heights. He was famous -- a national icon. Now, in 1887, he lies dying of a stroke: "Everyone from President Cleveland to Queen Victoria is keeping a death vigil for Henry Ward Beecher, for his eloquent preaching has enthralled the country for decades." The streets of Brooklyn are thronged with devout congregants and curious journalists.
But there's another reason for this almost unseemly interest. Twelve years before, Beecher had been put on trial for adultery, an outraged Theodore Tilton insisting that he had been cuckolded; his wife alternately confessing to this sin and then retracting her confession -- the whole scandalous mess having been put into play by a sometimes-feminist, sometimes-spiritualist, always-publicity-seeking Victoria Woodhull. There was a hung jury in that trial; Beecher more or less shimmied out from under the matter of his guilt or innocence. But the trial tarnished the Beecher reputation and caused a serious rift in the family.
And that's what Patricia O'Brien's new novel "Harriet and Isabella" is about. What happens when a family sets itself up as a symbol of moral purity? What happens when that standard is threatened or breached? And -- when push comes to shove -- where should one's individual loyalties lie?
In "Two Cheers for Democracy," E.M. Forster famously remarked that if he had to choose between betraying a friend or betraying his country, he hoped he would have the courage to betray his country. In 1852, if you were a white Northerner, it was probably fairly easy to come down against the institution of slavery. It was probably much harder to publicly support an emotionally volatile brother who may or may not have been fooling around.
Almost all the Beecher siblings, including Catharine Beecher, whose self-help book, "The American Woman's Home," instructed ladies how to keep house properly, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, who had "started" that righteous Civil War, do rally around their brother. But one younger sister, Isabella Beecher Hooker, just can't buy into it. She thinks her brother is guilty, urges him to repent in public and even visits Victoria Woodhull in prison, where she has been jailed on "trumped-up charges." Isabella is a zealous suffragette, as righteous in her own way as her sister Harriet, and equally devoted to the truth. They just have different versions of it. Isabella is banished from the family during the trial and labeled by them as mentally unstable. The question, in terms of the novel's plot, is: Will she be allowed to see her brother on his deathbed?
Harriet and Isabella have children and husbands and other concerns besides their high ideals. Henry's own domestic situation is far from perfect; his thin-lipped wife, Eunice, looks and acts, according to one character, as if she had been "weaned on a pickle." Her looks, her acts have been held up to scornful scrutiny in their particular "trial of the century."
This all brings to mind the prurient Starr Report and those members of the House of Representatives with their bright toupees and their public lip-smacking over private indiscretions -- a perennially favorite American pastime. This novel is about our country's ideas and ideals, how we strive, incessantly, to be better than anyone else in the world, and how, sometimes spectacularly, we fail.
The Boston Globe: January 13, 2008
A remarkably engaging historical novel about a famous American preacher....Patricia O'Brien's "Harriet and Isabella" is inspired by a 19th-century sex scandal, the 1875 trial of the celebrated minister Henry Ward Beecher for adultery with one of his parishioners. A shining star of the brilliant Beecher family, Henry was a charismatic orator who drew crowds to Plymouth Church in Brooklyn to hear him preach about a loving and forgiving God, a radical idea at the time. O'Brien's novel focuses not on Henry but on the two women of the title, his sisters, and the rift that developed between them over the question of his guilt or innocence. Harriet Beecher Stowe, the renowned author of the antislavery "Uncle Tom's Cabin," remained loyal to Henry, while Isabella Beecher Hooker, a well-known suffragist and advocate of women's rights, wanted him to admit his guilt publicly and ask his congregation's forgiveness.
The novel opens in March 1887 as Henry lies in a coma. Nearby, in a shabby rooming house, Isabella waits, shunned by the family for 15 years but hoping for the chance to see her brother one last time. Writing from the women's different points of view, O'Brien uses flashbacks that shed light on Isabella's role in the suffrage movement and Harriet's influential role as a novelist. "Harriet and Isabella" is a sympathetic, intimate portrait of the two sisters. O'Brien describes vividly and economically the dynamics within the famous Beecher family, a fascinating - and far from flawless - assortment of abolitionists, preachers, writers, educators, and social reformers.
