Unflinching Courage

February 25, 2013
Former U.S. Senator Hutchison (American Heroines) was the first woman to represent Texas in the Senate, and she’s admirably devoted her authorial career to writing women back into the historical record. Taking a local history approach that incorporates her family’s Texas roots, Hutchison emphasizes in her newest the independent spirit of Texans who rose up against Mexican rule and who carved out a living from the rugged landscape. She writes a doggedly chronological story, stretching from Anna Mary Taylor (the author’s great-great-grandmother), a young bride in Nacogdoches in 1831 most known for her gardening; to Oveta Culp Hobby, a politically influential journalist who headed the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps in the early 1940s. There is no discernible criteria for Hutchison’s choices of pioneering women, though the majority of them are from the early 19th century and include Susanna Dickinson, one of a handful of women who survived the Alamo; and Rachel Parker Plummer, who was captured and brutally beaten by Comanche Indians. Unfortunately, these individual stories lack depth, cohesion, and nuance. Most of the historical context is presented in chunks separate from the lives of the women, which only calls attention to how they are still viewed as outsiders in mainstream history. Texas women await their historical due. Agent: Robert B. Barnett, Williams & Connolly LLP.

March 1, 2013
Senator Hutchison (Leading Ladies: American Trailblazers, 2008, etc.) brings stories of her state's unsung heroines to light. The author writes of women who, in the early 19th century, followed their husbands to settle in Texas with its promise of cheap land and prosperity. Generally well educated and from genteel backgrounds, these pioneers had the courage and resilience to endure wars, primitive living conditions, diseases and grueling labor. It was all too common for women, such as Emily Austin Bryan Perry, sister of Stephen F. Austin ("the Father of Texas"), to survive the deaths of more than one husband and several children. Hutchison's roots go back to her great-great grandfather Charles S. Taylor, a key figure in the state's fight for independence from Mexico in 1836. During ensuing conflicts, her great-great grandmother was among the women who packed their families in wagons and headed east, fleeing the Mexican army in what was called the "Runaway Scrape." Like many others, her three daughters died along the way. Readers will also learn about Margaret Houston, who suffered from melancholy, disliked politics and tended her eight children, mostly alone, while Sam Houston was away managing affairs of the state; Rachel Parker Plummer, who was kidnapped by a Comanche tribe and rescued, forever scarred by the ordeal; and Sarah Cockrell, the "mother of Dallas." The book is laden with historical facts, and some readers may wish for more fluid storytelling, but Hutchison ably sets down a record of these remarkable women's lives. For readers who want to learn more, she provides a comprehensive bibliography. Though regional in nature, the hardships and contributions of these pioneers reflect those of women across the country. A valuable resource for the archives of Texas and women's history.

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.