A Woman of Some Importance

Set in 1900, this coming-of-age novel follows the cross-country journey of Birdie Sondergaard, daughter of Danish immigrants, as she transforms from pining girl to determined woman and discovers her own power in Gilded Age society. Through her, readers experience the contradictions and complexity of turn-of-the-century America: the industrial revolution, the enormous wealth of the robber barons, and the birth of the suffragette movement. A tale of hope, heartache, wit and strength, the novel follows the nascent journey of feminism itself.After her brother's tragic farm accident in 1900, Birdie leaves home on the Nebraska prairie and travels across the country, drawn by the promises of a charismatic but ruthless industrialist, Jens Christiansen. His charm and generosity overcome her misgivings and she agrees to marry him. But her marriage thrusts Birdie into Gilded Age high society, contending with the excesses and power play of Astors and Vanderbilts. Resisting her wealthy husband's project to mold her into the woman that his ambitions demand, she strikes up a surprising friendship with a popular author and his wife, Grace, who introduce Birdie to the struggle for women's suffrage. Birdie soon learns about her own lack of rights as a married woman. Awakened to a new sense of purpose, she's caught in a double bind between her husband's determination to win a place in the highest echelons of the wealthy, and her covert activism for women's rights. When the two worlds collide, Birdie must decide who she wants to become and where she belongs.