Introduction

The highly acclaimed, richly researched novel that sheds light on the haunting choices made by the first woman to run for President, Victoria Woodhull and the love of her life, radical James Blood.It's 1869 and Victoria has a choice to make. She can stay in an abusive marriage and continue to work as a psychic, or she can take the offer of support from handsome Civil War general James Blood and set about to turn society upside down. Victoria chooses revolution.

But revolutions are expensive, and Victoria needs money. James introduces Victoria to one of the wealthiest men in America--Commodore Vanderbilt. Along with her loose and scandalous sister, Tennessee, Victoria manipulates Vanderbilt and together they conspire to crash the stock market""and profit from it. Victoria then parlays her fortune into the first female-owned brokerage firm.

When her idol Susan B. Anthony publishes scandalous rumors about Victoria's past, Victoria enters into a fierce rivalry with Susan to control the women's movement. James supports Victoria's efforts despite his deep fears that she may lose more than the battle. She might lose part of herself.

Victoria starts her own newspaper, testifies to Congress, and even announces her candidacy for President. But when Victoria adopts James's radical ideas and free love beliefs, she ignites new, bruising, battles with Susan B. Anthony and the powerful Reverend Henry Beecher. These skirmishes turn into an all-out war, with Victoria facing prejudice, prosecution, and imprisonment. Ultimately, Victoria and James face the hardest choice of all: the choice between their country and their love.

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Excerpt

Conception and Birth
1838

I was conceived in a whore’s tent at a Methodist revival. I know this because my father recounted the story often and with some pride. In those days, a meeting was not in a big tent but rather in an empty field surrounded by small tents. Prostitutes, hawkers, and every unsavory fool who had something to sell to the downtrodden camped out in tents, perching themselves like hawks ready to scoop up feeble mice. The preacher man encouraged them to stay, wanting to turn each one into a tick mark indicating a saved soul. Mama, who would weep uncontrollably for the world’s sins and dry her tears with the most stomach-churning stream of never-ending underworld profanity, begged Father to attend the revivals. Once Father realized that fancy ladies would be surrounding the meeting, Mama didn’t have to beg no more. He always said both the preacher and the whores had a way of saving men. The preacher kept a tally in his Bible, and the whore kept a tally by counting the cash in her hand. Father, a smooth talker who could convince Saint Peter to open his gates for the devil, always made friends with the whores. Without the money to make a tent of their own, Father wormed his way into the whores’ hearts, all the while keeping his eye on the prized dirty canvas. It didn’t take long before a boyish wink won the tent, if only for an hour. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

Spoiler Alert: Please note that the discussion guide contains spoilers to the book.

1. The book opens with the statement: I was conceived in a whore’s tent at a Methodist revival. How did this theme of a mixture of the earthly and the spiritual follow Victoria throughout her life?

2. Why did Eva Flynn choose to write the book from Victoria’s point of view? Does the first person narration make you more or less sympathetic to Victoria’s plight? Is Victoria a reliable narrator?

3. How much choice did Victoria have when she married Canning? If she had a choice, was she better with Canning or with her family?

4. Victoria and Tennessee are both abused by their parents, and yet both women acted out due to their past in different ways. How did the abuse affect Victoria? How did the abuse affect Tennessee? Was one woman stronger than the other? Did one woman handle the abuse in a healthier way than the other? How much of their past led the women to fight for female equality?

5. At various times in her life, Victoria was able to befriend influential men who supported her: James Blood, Commodore Vanderbilt, Benjamin Butler, and George Francis Train. What were the motives of the men?

6. Why were men, in general, so resistant to the thought of women voting? And why would newly freed slaves granted the right to vote first? Was this order of events appropriate?

7. Colonel James Blood and Benjamin Butler are the two characters that discuss the Civil War the most often in this book. How did the war affect each of them? Did the men support the war effort? Were they disillusioned? What did they learn about the value or cheapness of life?

8. Susan B. Anthony referred to herself as “Moses” and the Anthony Amendment, which granted women the right to vote (later the 19th Amendment) was discussed once a year for forty years in Congress before passing. The Biblical Moses also wandered in the desert for forty years. By comparing herself to Moses, was this a self-fulfilling prophecy? What strategic mistakes, if any, did Anthony make in trying to procure the vote for women?

9. Anthony believes that once women are granted the right to vote that women will vote in one block and be able to change the political system by supporting only the politicians who support the women’s issues. Woodhull, however, believes that many politicians are not worth voting for and that all women’s issues should be tackled simultaneously and in a holistic manner. Who was right? Do women vote in one block now? How do women currently put pressure on politicians to change the laws on women’s issues?

10. Susan B. Anthony and Victoria Woodhull were united for a small amount of time before their friendship turned to rivalry. Why did the rivalry begin and what sustained it? Did you find it ironic that Susan B. Anthony went to jail to vote for Republican Ulysses Grant when a woman was running for President?

11. Victoria Woodhull was nominated to be President, but spent Election night in jail. What mistakes did Woodhull make, both politically and personally?

12. American Reconstruction was a time in which the press was in its infancy, several newspaper articles are in the novel and many of the characters respond to events through the news. How did newspapers influence the events surrounding Victoria? How do newspapers then compare to the newspapers of today and the blogs of today?

13. It is now 2016 and Hillary Clinton is running for President. Do you think she has a chance of winning? Would you vote for a woman president? Would you vote for a woman just because she is a woman? In the political sphere, have women come much further than they were in 1876 or has progress been slow?

14. Finally, a show of hands: Who cried, or became a bit emotional, while reading this book? Which scenes moved you the most? Which character’s fate would you say was the most tragic? The most inspiring? The most surprising? Did the book give you a better understanding of life during the Civil War and the period of Reconstruction? Did it inspire you? And what will you remember the most about The Renegade Queen?

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