Samantha at the World's Fair

Marietta Holley, the Mark Twain of women writers, created Samantha Allen one of the sharpest satirical voices in late 19th-century American literature. Samantha at the World's Fair follows our indefatigable heroine and her long-suffering husband Josiah to Chicago's 1893 Columbian Exposition, where the promises of progress gleam alongside the absurdities of American society. As Samantha navigates the fair's marvels and her husband's limitations, she offers brilliant, often devastating commentary on everything from gender roles to the cult of historical figures. A delicious irony emerges when the couple discovers a distant relative named Christopher Columbus Allen has crashed their trip, turning their pilgrimage to honor the great explorer into a farcical encounter with his lessillustrious namesake. Holley writes in a Yankee dialect that crackles with wit, capturing a woman's mind working furiously against the constraints of her era. The result is both period piece and timeless skewering of American self-regard. For readers who love sharp humor and want to see a 19th-century woman think circles around everyone around her, this is essential.