Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America 1st Edition

If you are expecting a romance novel you should know this isn't that kind of book. It is certainly a love story, but told in the form of an historical biography. I didn't buy it out of any interest in LGBT studies, but rather for my interest in the Drake family (of which I'm a descendant). I found it to be well researched and a good read that will certainly have an important place in my family history collection.

shows that women married women long before these current times.their hard work and seed money helped the women's rights movement.(Listening Virginia???)both Charity and Sylvia are my distant cousins.Supreme Court Justices (and anti-diversity ilk) ought to learn the storyand come to grips with their own fears and confusion in their self-identities

A truly important account in LGBTQ history. I wish I had known about this book sooner. It's very interesting to see how these two women gave so much to their community, and despite the time, were largely accepted as a couple. Their internal battle with religion was chilling, as well as their gruesome fight with illness at the time. Though most of the book highlights their hardships, it is almost hopeful in the end how they were buried next to one another and recognized as being married. More books like this need to be surfaced and talked about because it shows people that homosexuality has been around forever, that it's not just a current fad. This book, I felt, helped me legitimize myself and gave me hope for the future. So glad I read it!

The story of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake -- members of the founding generation and friends, lovers and partners in business and life -- has finally been told right. Although the author has to do some reading between the lines, I believe her conclusions are dead on. The author also does a wonderful job of putting the lives and the relationship between Charity and Sylvia in their proper context. And the author should be praised for writing in a clear and precise manner. My only problem with the book was trying to keep straight the names of Charity's and Sylvia's numerous siblings, in-laws, nephew and nieces and their children. Wow!

Amazingly well researched and fascinating love story as well as historical, social and psychological expose. The love and devotion these two women had for each other and their families was inspiring, moving, and sad at times. The personal and spiritual turmoil they grappled with and rose above is a timeless example of faith and perseverance and the resilience of women. Whether you are LGBT or not, the author presents a human story rich in historical perspective and compassion that sets an inspiring example for all of us to live and let live by.

Full disclosure: I had the pleasure of interviewing the author for a podcast. I found both Rachel Hope Cleves and her book to be exceptionally articulate, intelligent and engaging. It's not often I read a biography and find myself turning the pages as if it were a suspense novel. The attention to historical and personal detail in the lives and times of Charity and Sylvia is very impressive. (I did not know what an 'acrostic' was until I read this book!). It takes us into their time in a very visual, sensual way, and it's fascinating. The friendship romances women had with each other, the importance of poetry and subtlety in their lives, and the roles they were expected to play, which both Charity and Sylvia founds ways to break out of. It's also an insightful examination of what exactly constitutes 'the closet,' and how it often involves the unspoken approval and awareness of the communities people live it (which I think is still the case, especially in some communities where everyone knows someone is gay but doesn't 'know' it in the form of public acknowledgement). Anyway, this is a fabulous book about two women who determined to live lives on their own terms, and to live them together. Oh, and I love all the names people had back then, which came as another of the book's many surprises: Silence, Charity, Idea. I'd love to meet someone named Silence today. Very highly recommended.

In this very readable and engrossing book, Rachel Hope Cleves uses a wide variety of evidence to help us understand how Charity and Sylvia, a presumably lesbian couple in early 19th century Vermont, may have experienced their lives. I found particularly interesting her analysis of the order in which Charity and Sylvia added rooms to their house as they had the money to expand, and how the increase in privacy and eventually the greater capacity for entertaining made possible by those additional rooms changed their relationships with their families and the people they knew in town. Cleves uses genealogy not merely for the obligatory introduction on her subjects' ancestry but as a way of showing how deeply interconnected New England families were and how names were passed down as a legacy of friendship and respect. She looks at land documents and discusses what is implied when a woman instead of a man held title to the land, and at how poems and hymns could become a symbolic language in a culture where these texts were common currency. As a church organist I understand the latter very well and have no quibble with the premise though I’d like to see the evidence for “Blest Be the Tie that Binds” as a wedding hymn. In this day and age, it is more likely to show up at funerals. Cleves discusses clothing as well, especially the relationship between tailoring and plain sewing in the hierarchy of trades. I wonder if any hints in the letters might suggest masculine forms in Charity’s clothing – the wearing of spencers, “habits,” or habit-shirts, or later, pelisses or redingotes, for example. These were all widely worn by women and would not have caused comment yet might have helped express Charity’s masculine persona. This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in women's history, in early 19th century New England, and in how an intelligent and imaginative use of many kinds of evidence can provide new ways into history.

Interesting and in-depth look at two women's lives. Well worth the read for anyone interested in Queer history in America.

An amazing story of 2 women making it work a hundred years before it was even considered a possibility.

Fantastic read! The story illustrates that same sex couples have been around for a long time and they can have a stable & loving relationships.

Excellent service. No worries.