"While Fought's approach provides insight into the subtleties of Douglass's beliefs and position, more importantly, it reveals the motivations and beliefs of the women who allied themselves with Douglass." -- Julie Roy Jeffrey , Journal of American Ethnic History
"Fought's skill at teasing out Anna Murray Douglass's life and character without any documents written in her own hand is impressive. Anna comes to the reader not the shadowy figure she was to Douglass's acquaintences, but a well-rounded character whose motivations and reactions are grounded in the realities of life as a black woman in the nineteenth century. Overall, this book is not just a well-researched work of history, but an enjoyable read as well." -- Stephanie J. Richmond, H-Net
"[Douglass's] life, argues the author persuasively, was shaped by women... A fresh and insightful perspective on a major historical figure."--Kirkus
"[Frederick Douglass was] one of the age's most passionate male feminists, as Leigh Fought shows in Women in the World of Frederick Douglass, a fresh and surprising account of Douglass's life."--Fergus M. Bordewich, Wall Street Journal
"This is a fascinating account of an impressive man and the equally accomplished women who supported his monumental efforts to secure freedom and rights for blacks and women."--Booklist, Starred Review
"By making its focus those indomitable and sometimes troubling women, Fought has written an engaging book that is compelling, sometimes even fierce, and extremely relevant."--Arts Fuse
"[T]horoughly researched....Although the complex nature of Douglass's relationships with women will never be fully understood, Fought unveils how women were attracted to Douglass and how he equated the servitude of race to that of gender."--John David Smith, The North Carolina Historical Review
"For anyone interested in women's history, this book--well-researched and well-written--is a compelling read."--Civil War News
"Historian Leigh Fought has written a path-breaking, biographical account of Frederick Douglass through the eyes of the women who influenced him. Fought, a skillful researcher and gifted writer, has been working on the book for years and the final product does not disappoint."--Eric J.Chaput, Providence Journal
"Leigh Fought reimagines Douglass's life by placing women at the center of the narrative. She offers vivid portraits of the relatives, friends, and sister activists-enslaved and free, black and white, American and British--who provided Douglass with critical emotional, material, intellectual, and political support. These women helped shape and sustain Douglass throughout his life and ensured his legacy for future generations; their legacy, too, is now ensured in this lively and lucid book." - Nancy A. Hewitt, author of No Permanent Waves: Recasting Histories of U.S. Feminism
"In this well-researched and richly textured book, Leigh Fought gives us a fascinating new view into the life and times of one our most famous and revered figures: Frederick Douglass. As he freely acknowledged, women helped make Douglass the man he became. So we, too, are in debt to the women whose stories come so vividly alive in these pages." - Annette Gordon-Reed, author of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
"Fought's book takes us into the Douglass households and makes them come alive. Two wives, two intimate European friends, a grandmother, a fascinating daughter, many granddaughters, as well as fictive sisters and other kin all inhabit this work of deep scholarship. Fought is an intrepid researcher and lucid writer with superb judgment. The women and Douglass himself come alive anew through these crucial relationships; the man who expressed so little about his private life is here brought under a bright light, not with prurience, but with analytical understanding and keen sympathy. This is the most important Douglass book in many years." - David W. Blight, Yale University
"With meticulous research and judicious analysis, Leigh Fought resurrects the women who until now lay hidden in the shadows of Frederick Douglass's storied life. Whether one agrees with her or not, this book is well worth the read." - Manisha Sinha, author of The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition
Finalist, Harriet Tubman Prize of the Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery
