Margo Laurie

The Anarchist's Wife

Lacy W

Title: The Anarchist’s Wife
Author: Margo Laurie
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: Kindle eARC from book sirens and the author
Series: NA
Star Rating: 4 stars

A special thank you goes to Book Sirens and Margo Laurie for giving me a copy of this book. Please know that this does not influence my rating or thoughts on the book itself.

tw: gun violence, mentions of assassinations, child death, mentions of war, miscarriages, bombings. 

So when the author reached out to me about this book through my account on Book Sirens, I will be completely honest by saying I had no idea about this case the book is based on. I was a little iffy about it but I have had a goal for the past few years to read books outside my favorite genres. I honestly don’t know a lot about American history besides what we learned in school. But even then, that wasn’t super accurate as I am finding out. 

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book. It was written in the second person as one long letter from Rosa, the main character, to her daughter. It's about her (Rosa’s) husband’s life and what led to his arrest which is the Sacco and Vanzetti case of the 1920’s, in case anyone wants to do some more research on it. I knew absolutely nothing about this case. I didn’t even realize that there were anarchists in the United States during that time. I really have to go to learn more about my country’s own history, even though I know it really sucks. 

My heart broke for poor Rosa. The case against her husband was just awful. A total miscarriage of justice. There was some information on the characters after the end of the book, so I learned more about the case. I’m glad that at least now, it’s being recognized. It’s a bit too late but at least it’s a start. I just love the United States government. It’s just as corrupt today as it was back then. 

Alright. I will get off my political soapbox now. Y’all are here for a book review, not for me to spew my less than positive thoughts on my oh-so-amazing country’s legal system. 

As for the book itself, it started out a bit slow. I was a little confused about what specifically was going on but after about the 25 percent mark, things started to make sense. I think it might have had something to do with the way the book was written since it was written as a letter. But after I reread a few paragraphs and took my time, I was able to figure out what was going on. And then I breezed through the rest of the book. It was very interesting. 

Overall, I love a book that ends up surprising me by being good despite me not knowing anything about the topic. I also usually don’t read American history, as I mentioned above but lately, the American history books I have been reading have been pretty good. I can’t wait to read what else this author has.

The Anarchist's Wife

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