Author : Rachel Hope Cleves
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0199335427
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (993 download)
Book Synopsis Charity and Sylvia by : Rachel Hope Cleves
Download or read book Charity and Sylvia written by Rachel Hope Cleves and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2014 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the lives of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, two ordinary middle-class women who serve as a window on historical constructs of marriage, gender, and sexuality in late 18th-century and early 19th-century America. Both were born in Massachusetts, but in different towns, 11 years apart. Charity's attachment to women was so blatant that after she turned 20, her father told her to leave the house. She worked as a schoolteacher, but was forced to leave jobs several times because of hurtful gossip about her relationships with other women. In early 1807, Charity moved to Vermont to stay with a friend, and there she met Sylvia. The two fell in love, set up housekeeping, and considered themselves married. Gradually, their family members and the residents of Weybridge did as well. Charity and Sylvia became integral to the community, attending church, running their tailor shop, and contributing to charitable endeavors. Most of all, Charity and Sylvia remained passionately committed to each other and refused to hide their relationship. An important work of history that resonates with one of today's most public debates.