Just as she had no freedom in life, her liberation from the death of her husband is told as a joy that killed her. Louise’s life is shaped by what society believes a woman should be and how a wife should behave. For the majority of the story, readers believe Brently Mallard is dead—though the end of “The Story of an Hour” reveals that he’s been alive all along. Reader Reviews. Mar 2019, 416 pages, Book Reviewed by:Kim Kovacs It all comes down to Tennessee, the moment of truth for the suffragists, after a seven-decade crusade. In the book you show how all the core elements of American history—race, class, money, gender, states’ rights, and power itself—play their roles in the events of August 1920. Become a Member and discover books that entertain, engage & enlighten. Gone were the days where most people were expected to work at a trade or on a farm. Factory jobs brought on by industrialization made work more efficient, and many of these factory owners gradually implemented more humane treatment of their workers, giving them more leisure time than ever. Richards takes enough care to double-check the news and to make sure that Brently’s likely dead. Mar 2018, 416 pages Though Louise is able to see that feeling joy at such an event is “monstrous,” she continues to revel in her happiness. This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in March 2018, and has been updated for the We get few details about him, though readers do know he’s been on a train that has met with a serious accident. They all converge in a boiling hot summer for a vicious face-off replete with dirty tricks, betrayals and bribes, bigotry, Jack Daniel’s, and the Bible. Unfortunately, when Brently comes back, so does Louise’s heart disease. While husbands were usually free to wander the world on their own, hold jobs, and make important family decisions, wives (at least those of the upper class) were expected to stay at home and be domestic. Brently’s absence in the story does two things. So much could have gone wrong, but these American women would not take no for an answer: their triumph is our legacy to guard and emulate.”—Hillary Rodham Clinton“Stirring, definitive, and engrossing….Weiss brings a lucid, lively, journalistic tone to the story…The Woman’s Hour is compulsory reading.”—NPR.org“Weiss is a clear and genial guide with an ear for telling language … She also shows a superb sense of detail, and it’s the deliciousness of her details that suggests certain individuals warrant entire novels of their own… Weiss’s thoroughness is one of the book’s great strengths. Everything the readers know about her delight in her newfound freedom happens in Louise’s own mind; she never gets the chance to share her secret joy with anyone else. She was married at the age of nineteen to Oscar Chopin, who came from a wealthy cotton-growing family. When Josephine tells Louise the bad news, she’s only able to tell Louise of Brently’s death in “veiled hints,” rather than telling her outright. “The Story of an Hour” Summary If it’s been a little while since you’ve read Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” it can be hard to remember the important details. Working women as a whole were looked down upon by society, no matter why they found themselves in need of a job. Even in her momentary grief, she describes the “open square before her house” and “the new spring life.” The outdoors symbolize freedom in the story, so it’s no surprise that she realizes her newfound freedom as she looks out her window. He also enlists Josephine’s help to break the news to Louise. Magazine“A nonfiction political thriller…Weiss zeroes in on the final campaign of the suffrage movement.”—Bustle.com   “Riveting… Weiss provides a multidimensional account of the political crusade… The result is a vivid work of American history.” —The National Book Review “Anyone interested in the history of our country’s ongoing fight to put its founding values into practice—as well as those seeking the roots of current political fault lines—would be well-served by picking up Elaine Weiss’s The Woman’s Hour.