• Home
  • About
  • Our Authors
  • Children’s Books
    • Nonfiction
    • Fiction
  • Fiction
    • Boxsets
    • Short Stories
    • Anthologies and Collections
    • By Genre
      • Fantasy
      • Historical Fiction
      • Literary Fiction
      • Mystery
      • Romance
        • Contemporary Romance
        • Historical Romance
        • Paranormal Romance
        • Romantic Suspense
        • SF Romance
        • Western Romance
      • Science Fiction
      • Suspense / Thriller
      • Women’s Fiction
      • Young Adult
  • Nonfiction
    • Author Guides
    • Healthy Living
    • Memoir
  • Videos
    • Book Trailers
    • Author Interviews
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

Cheers to the Women of the 19th Century!
by Mary Vine

Oregon suffragists meet with leader Susan B. Anthony, from the east coast, on left and Abigail Scott Duniway in front row white collar, from Oregon

My first serious introduction to women’s rights came from my American history college class. I was to read and review Abigail Scott Duniway’s book, Edna and John: A Romance of Idaho Flat. Just as the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin exposed the unfairness of slavery, Duniway exposed the injustice of women’s rights in the late 1800s. She knew full well a woman’s limitations; a disabled husband put her in the position of bread winner and caregiver for him and her children. She had no choice but to work at jobs that didn’t pay the bills.

Cover image of an Idaho town in the 19th century for book: Edna and John, A Romance of Idaho Flat by Abigail Scott DuniwayOf course, living in an era that has given women more rights, I cannot fully understand the challenges Edna faced. If my husband dies, our house will not go to the closest living male relative, but to me. Still, I see some allure in the era that takes place around 1870, just after the Civil War. Enough to inspire me to write historical fiction anyway.

As I write about my characters, and to be in tune with women’s history, it’s not too hard to figure out how my heroine will make a living as there are only so many acceptable jobs. So, in reading our historical novels, we’ve come across the same professions many times. Otherwise, she may have what is either considered an immoral job, live in a rich family, or be married. So, to be different, and to please the reader, the heroine must be engaging in other ways.

Cover for Wanting Moore by Mary Vine

My heroine in Wanting Moore was the only girl among six children, which made her clever, competitive, and tough enough to get a task done. She thinks about being a teacher and sets off to mark her own trail until she’s injured and meets a post-civil war doctor on her journey.

When I wondered about the Civil War as related to women’s contributions, I searched for information about the few women nurses that have gone down in history. I set out to learn what medical changes came about because of the civil war hospital, or shortly after. Again, I had to think outside the box for the possibilities to include in my story.

Cover for A Nugget of Time, time travel romance by Mary VineIn my time travel series, Nugget of Time (book one), I take a successful news reporter from our time, back to an 1870s mining town where only men have jobs at the local newspaper. She has but few choices to make a living in a town where few women reside. I must consider what can she do. Will she be accepted in this wild west town? How can she be safe? What will she do to be safe and make a living?

I’ve thought about this scenario a lot because I’ve had a summer cabin along a creek in a Northeast Oregon mining ghost town, where I have considered the history and enjoyed the forest for several years. Taking it all in, I find that it is a great setting, and has been for many of my books.

But then, I have it easy. I say, cheers to the women of the 19th century who plotted the way before me!


Mary Vine, author headshot

Mary Vine is an author, publisher, speaker, and retired educator. She writes contemporary and historical romantic fiction, a time travel series, and inspirational children’s books. Mary and her husband can usually be found in Southwest Idaho or Northeast Oregon. You can learn more about Mary an her books at her website.

 

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave

Blog Archives

An array of many different sizes and types of types of crystals sitting atop a side table, beneath a window in Judith Ashley's home

We Are All Connected

  August 11, 2022
view on lake with rainbow near the pine forest on mountain background at sunset

The Role of Religion or Spirituality in Stories

  August 9, 2022
Pink lotus blossom floating on water with a blue cloudy, hazy background

Spirituality in My Stories

  August 4, 2022
Double exposure portrait of a serene woman combined with a photograph of a traveller standing in a doorway of a temple in southeast asia

Belief in Something Beyond One’s Self is Grounding

  August 2, 2022
Group of diverse people holding letter that spell out FAMILY

The Importance of Good Foster Parents

  July 28, 2022
A picture of Mary, as a young woman, with her aunt and uncle

Celebrating Other Types of Parents

  July 26, 2022
Family in silhouette standing ina field facing a sky of purple, yellow, aqua and blue

Not All Families are Made the Same by Paty Jager

  July 21, 2022
silhouettes of a variety of happy, playful adults and children against a green toned park-like background

It Takes A Village

  July 19, 2022
Silhouette of a woman standing up on a motorcycle in the sunset with her arms back.

3 Ways YOU Can Be As Independent as a Biker Babe

  July 14, 2022
Illustration of men and women riding books rodeo style

The Independent Writer

  July 12, 2022
Fay King observes in the 1920s that women now read newspapers, the whole thing

The Importance of Independence

  July 7, 2022
woman jumping above a green meadow, against a blue sky with a multi-colored long scarf trailing behind her

Freedom and Independence to Follow My Dreams

  July 5, 2022
Silhouette of father and daughter holding hands in a field facing a bright orange sunset

My Father Taught Me Purpose

  June 28, 2022
Daughter sitting on sofa, covering her face with hands, turning away from father.

Father-Daughter Relationships Are Not Always Easy

  June 23, 2022
Two hands painted in pride flag colors forming a heart with thumb and index finger at the center

Embracing My Rainbow World

  June 16, 2022
Concept picture of a married gay man with a cut out of the man in the middle, sitting on a park bench with wife with a hand on his leg and son turned away looking out to the park behind

A Timeless Tale

  June 14, 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021