Rebel Cinderella

January 13, 2020
Historian Hochschild (Lessons from a Dark Time and Other Essays) delivers a polished and accessible biography of early-20th-century radical Rose Pastor Stokes. A Russian-Jewish immigrant, Rose went to work in a Cleveland cigar factory in 1890 at age 11. The experience sparked her interest in writing about labor rights and socialist politics, and in 1903 she took a newspaper job in New York City, where she met and married James Graham Phelps Stokes, a millionaire involved in the progressive settlement house movement. The couple’s social circle included left-wing activists Eugene Debs, Margaret Sanger, and Upton Sinclair, and Hochschild provides captivating details about the 1909 N.Y.C. garment workers’ strike, the International Workers of the World, and the American Birth Control League. Though Graham stood by his wife when she was convicted in 1918 for violating the Espionage Act (she claimed the U.S. government served “profiteers” rather than “the people”), disagreements over the Soviet Union (Rose was a founding member of the Communist Party of America) and American involvement in WWI caused the marriage to unravel. The depth and richness of Hochschild’s portrait is somewhat compromised by his commitment to the reductive Cinderella trope, but few histories capture the era’s combustible mix of idealism and inequality better. Agent: Georges Borchardt, Georges Borchardt.

February 1, 2020
While names like Emma Goldman and Eugene V. Debs might have a familiar ring to history fans, Rose Pastor Stokes is one of the less-remembered figures of early twentieth-century America. Her rags to riches tale captivated her time, as this Russian Jewish immigrant living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan met and married James Graham Phelps Stokes, the son of one of New York's wealthiest families. With the sure hand of an experienced guide, award-winning author Hochschild (Spain in Our Hearts, 2016) takes readers through the socialist circles of New York City in the Progressive Era, from madcap heiress Mabel Dodge's salons to union leader Big Bill Haywood's multiple arrests, while chronicling the rise and fall of Rose Pastor Stokes' celebrity. United in their commitment to socialism, the Stokeses went on speaking tours across America, as Rose attempted to balance her newfound wealth with her intense empathy towards the working class she had so recently departed. Hochschild's captivating and fast-paced biography is a true delight and an excellent addition to women's history shelves.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

Starred review from December 1, 2019

With his latest work, Hochschild (King Leopold's Ghost) brings us the life of Rose Pastor Stokes (1879-1933). A Russian Jew, Pastor immigrated to the United States as a child with her destitute family. She started working in cigar factories at 11, but her love of poetry eventually led to a career writing a women's column for a Yiddish newspaper in New York. On assignment to interview Graham Phelps Stokes, a millionaire dabbling in social work at settlement homes, she fell in love and the two quickly married, stunning the nation. The firestorm of publicity followed the couple for years as they became involved in socialism and progressive causes. Pastor was a leading speaker and writer who raised significant funds and attention to causes such as immigrant poverty, labor unions, birth control, and women's suffrage. During World War I, Graham's politics veered to the right and the couple eventually divorced. Pastor's career ended, and she died of cancer in poverty. VERDICT Lucidly written and painstakingly researched, this is a joy to read, cementing Pastor in her rightful place with other progressive figures of the time.--Kate Stewart, Arizona Historical Soc., Tucson

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2019

Russian Jewish refugee Rose Pastor arrived in New York City in 1903 and worked in sweatshops for two years before marrying James Graham Phelps Stokes, scion of New York high society. Together they joined the Socialist Party, and Rose led strikes and campaigned along with early feminists. Trust the multi-award-winning and -nominated Hochschild to deliver a clear understanding of this forgotten "rebel cinderella."

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.