"The Beecher sisters - Catharine, Harriet, and Isabella - where three of the most prominent women in nineteenth-century America. Daughters of the famous evangelist Lyman Beecher, they could not follow their father and seven brothers into the ministry. Nonetheless, they carved out pathbreaking careers. Catharine Beecher founded the Hartford Female Seminary and devoted her life to improving women's education. Harriet Beecher Stowe became world famous as the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Isabella Beecher Hooker was an outspoken advocate for women's rights."

"This book is a joint biography of the sisters, whose lives spanned the full course of the nineteenth century, from the birth of Catharine in 1800 to the death of Isabella in 1907. The book chronicles their careers, their responses to and roles in shaping the major issues of their age, and their relationships with one another - including the jealousies that arose in the wake of the phenomenal success of Uncle Tom's Cabin. The life of Isabella Beecher - who has never been the subject of a biography - is examined in particular detail here. Drawing on little used sources, White explores Isabella's political development and her interactions with her sisters and with prominent people of the time - from Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to Mark Twain."

"This book offers a vivid reexamination of these three extraordinary lives and the tumultuous century that they played a significant role in shaping."--Jacket.