Description
Move over Susan B. Anthony. There’s an unsung woman asking for the vote 224 years before you. In 1638,Lady Margaret Brent, Catholic spinster in Protestant England, headstrong and subversive, teaches Catholic women reading, mathematics, and Latin. An angry husband found dead and a young man’s disappearance causes whispers, connecting Margaret and her treasonous activities to them. If the king’s men uncover her seditious deeds, she’ll face the gallows. Lured by the promise of landownership and religious freedom, the second Lord Baltimore, Cecil Calvert, the proprietor for the province of Maryland, assists her and her sister along with two brothers in fleeing to the New World. Cecil’s brother, Leonard Calvert presides as the governor of the province and gives the Brent family a hearty welcome. Margaret’s transition from a privileged life to one of privations doesn’t disturb her as much as other discoveries. Many arriving settlers become sick and die, especially women and children. Catholics continue to tolerate discrimination from Protestants, everyone fears widespread Indian raids, and then there are the irrational behaviors of Maryland men. Such a conundrum. Margaret spends many hours fighting injustice by being a voice in court for others. The governor assigns Margaret to take a young Indian princess to live in her home and be educated, even though Margaret’s alarmed about the increasing marauding Susquehanna and other neighboring Native Americans. The Maryland men talk and posture about the impending Indian problems, but to their surprise and amusement, Margaret takes action and builds a fort. However, the real enemy comes from within, and it’s Margaret’s fort that becomes the Catholic garrison until it meets a violent end. For Maryland to survive, the governing body must make some difficult choices. Now Margaret has to ask for the right to vote in order to save her Maryland.
