Eve LaPlante – författare

"[A] fast-paced and elegant. . . . stimulating . . . first-rate biography . . .of a much-neglected figure in early American religious history." —Publishers Weekly, starred reviewIn 1637, Anne Hutchinson, a forty-six-year-old midwife who was pregnant with her sixteenth child, stood before forty male judges of the Massachusetts General Court, charged with heresy and sedition. In a time when women could not vote, hold public office, or teach outside the home, the charismatic Hutchinson wielded remarkable political power. Her unconventional ideas had attracted a following of prominent citizens eager for social reform. Hutchinson defended herself brilliantly, but the judges, faced with a perceived threat to public order, banished her for behaving in a manner "not comely for [her] sex."Written by one of Hutchinson''s direct descendants, American Jezebel brings both balance and perspective to Hutchinson''s story. It captures this American heroine''s life in all its complexity, presenting her not as a religious fanatic, a cardboard feminist, or a raging crank—as some have portrayed her—but as a flesh-and-blood wife, mother, theologian, and political leader.The seeds of the American struggle for women''s and human rights can be found in the story of this one woman''s courageous life. American Jezebel illuminates the origins of our modern concepts of religious freedom, equal rights, and free speech, and showcases an extraordinary woman whose achievements are astonishing by the standards of any era."A fascinating portrait . . . deftly depicts the gritty world of colonial New England, too." —Booklist"[A] powerful biography of a woman who refused to still her voice." —Dallas Morning News"A powerful and fascinating book that deserves wide reading." —Boston Globe"[LaPlante is] the master of biography as thriller . . . an enthralling narrative." —New York Sun

Did you know the U.S. Capitol building building features one hundred statues? Each state selects two prominent figures in their history to be included as statues to represent the state in Washington, D.C. But who is chosen to represent this nation? Why are they chosen? And do they really represent this diverse and multifaceted country?

The acclaimed and “meticulously researched” (People) biography that actor Laura Dern—who plays Marmee in the Little Women film adaptation—calls “a beautiful book of letters between Louisa and her mother…a massive influence. You feel it as like a cord of the film.”Marmee & Louisa, hailed by NPR as one of the best books of 2012, paints an exquisitely moving and utterly convincing portrait of Louisa May Alcott and her mother, the real “Marmee.” Award-winning biographer Eve LaPlante mines the Alcotts’ intimate diaries and other private papers, some recently discovered in a family attic and others thought to have been destroyed, to revive this remarkable daughter and mother. Abigail May Alcott—long dismissed as a quiet, self-effacing background figure—comes to life as a gifted writer and thinker. A politically active feminist firebrand, she fought for universal civil rights, an end to slavery, and women’s suffrage. This gorgeously written story of two extraordinary women is guaranteed to transform our view and deepen our understanding of one of America’s most beloved authors.

Little Women’s “Marmee” is one of the most recognizable mothers in American literature. But the real woman behind the fiction—Louisa May Alcott’s own mother, Abigail—has for more than a century remained shrouded in mystery. Scholars believed that her papers were burned by her daughter and husband, as they claimed, and that little additional information survived. Until now. When Abigail’s biographer and great-niece Eve LaPlante found a collection of letters and diaries in an attic trunk and began exploring the Alcott family archives, a window opened onto the life of this woman who has for too long been hiding in plain sight. These discoveries, and others, inform LaPlante’s groundbreaking new dual biography, Marmee & Louisa, a companion volume to My Heart Is Boundless. No self-effacing housewife, Abigail was a passionate writer and thinker, a feminist far ahead of her time. She taught her daughters the importance of supporting themselves and dreamed of a day when a woman, like a man, could enjoy both a family and a career. Here at last, in her own words, is this extraordinary woman’s story, brought to the public for the first time. Full of wit, charm, and astonishing wisdom, Abigail’s private writings offer a moving, intimate portrait of a mother, a wife, a sister, and a fierce intellect that demands to be heard.