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Firebrands: The Untold Story of Four Women Who Made and Unmade Prohibition
Guaranteed to change how you picture Prohibition, this lively history turns the spotlight on four women in the immediate aftermath of winning the vote who played influential roles on all sides of the Eighteenth and Twenty-First Amendments.
In the popular imagination, the story of Prohibition in America is a story of men and male violence, one full of federal agents fighting gangsters over the sale of moonshine. In contrast, Firebrands is the story of four Jazz Age dynamos—all women –who were forces behind the passage, the enforcement, the defiance, and, ultimately, the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment. They battled each other directly, and they learned to marshal clout with cowed and hypocritical legislators, almost all of them men. Their clash over Prohibition stands as the first significant exercise of women’s political power since women gained the right to vote, and their influence on the American political scene wouldn’t be equaled for decades.
In Gioia Diliberto’s fresh and timely take on this period of history, we meet Ella Boole, the stern and ambitious leader of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, who campaigned fiercely to introduce Prohibition and fought desperately to keep it alive. We also meet Mabel Walker Willebrandt, the most powerful woman in America at the time, who served as the top federal prosecutor charged with enforcing Prohibition. Diliberto tells the story, too, of silent film star Texas Guinan, who ran New York speakeasies backed by the mob and showed that Prohibition was not only absurd but unenforceable. And, she follows Pauline Morton Sabin, a glamorous Manhattan aristocrat who belatedly recognized the cascading evil in Prohibition and mobilized the movement to kill it.
These women led their opposing forces of “Wets” and “Drys” across a teeming landscape of bootleggers, gangsters, federal agents, temperance fanatics, and cowardly politicians, many of them secret drunks. Building on the momentum of suffrage, they forged a path for the activists who followed during the great civil rights battles of the mid-twentieth century. Yet, they have been largely lost to history. In Firebrands, Diliberto finally gives these dynamic figures their due, creating a varied and dramatic portrait of women wielding power, in politics, society, and popular culture.
In the popular imagination, the story of Prohibition in America is a story of men and male violence, one full of federal agents fighting gangsters over the sale of moonshine. In contrast, Firebrands is the story of four Jazz Age dynamos—all women –who were forces behind the passage, the enforcement, the defiance, and, ultimately, the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment. They battled each other directly, and they learned to marshal clout with cowed and hypocritical legislators, almost all of them men. Their clash over Prohibition stands as the first significant exercise of women’s political power since women gained the right to vote, and their influence on the American political scene wouldn’t be equaled for decades.
In Gioia Diliberto’s fresh and timely take on this period of history, we meet Ella Boole, the stern and ambitious leader of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, who campaigned fiercely to introduce Prohibition and fought desperately to keep it alive. We also meet Mabel Walker Willebrandt, the most powerful woman in America at the time, who served as the top federal prosecutor charged with enforcing Prohibition. Diliberto tells the story, too, of silent film star Texas Guinan, who ran New York speakeasies backed by the mob and showed that Prohibition was not only absurd but unenforceable. And, she follows Pauline Morton Sabin, a glamorous Manhattan aristocrat who belatedly recognized the cascading evil in Prohibition and mobilized the movement to kill it.
These women led their opposing forces of “Wets” and “Drys” across a teeming landscape of bootleggers, gangsters, federal agents, temperance fanatics, and cowardly politicians, many of them secret drunks. Building on the momentum of suffrage, they forged a path for the activists who followed during the great civil rights battles of the mid-twentieth century. Yet, they have been largely lost to history. In Firebrands, Diliberto finally gives these dynamic figures their due, creating a varied and dramatic portrait of women wielding power, in politics, society, and popular culture.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
336 pages, Hardcover
Published October 30, 2024
About the author
Gioia Diliberto
11 books86 followersGioia Diliberto is the author of eight books -- three historical novels and five nonfiction narratives -- and a play. Her writing, which focuses on women's lives, has been praised for combining rich storytelling and literary grace with deep research to bring alive worlds as varied as Jazz Age Paris, nineteenth century Chicago, Belle Epoque Paris, disco era Manhattan, and Prohibition New York. Her books have been translated into several languages, and her articles have appeared in many publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian, Town & Country, and Vanity Fair. She also teaches writing and has taught at DePaul and Northwestern Universities and the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Gioia is the mother of a grown son and lives in Woodbury, Connecticut with her husband.
Gioia is the mother of a grown son and lives in Woodbury, Connecticut with her husband.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 18, 2024
Women's History is fascinating, and I love seeing stories like this come to life on the page. I know non-fiction isn't the most well-loved genre. But I love getting introduced to women during historic events that would've been lost to history if authors like Diliberto didn't write their stories. These women were easy to connect with and I appreciated their willingness to admit that they were wrong. Prohibition was meant to be fixing problems like corruption, crime, and violence. Instead it made these problems even more prevalent in communities. Women like Pauline Sabine (who was one of my absolute faves mentioned in this) realized the hypocrisy of Prohibition and fought to have it repealed. I thought this was a well thought out novel and was very engaging.
Thanks NetGalley and University of Chicago Press for this advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks NetGalley and University of Chicago Press for this advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
July 3, 2024
This was a fascinating read! I really enjoyed the way Diliberto brought these women and their historical relevance to life. I liked that the chapters intermingled the women's stories rather than focusing on a single woman at a time. It made the interplay between their spheres and actions all the clearer and made for a more engaging read as well. The writing here is easy to engage with, and the women themselves are so compelling in their differences and personalities that the book read more like a novel than like non-fiction.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews