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A review by arisbookcorner
Douglass' Women by Jewell Parker Rhodes
4.0
The author states that her goal is not to diminish Frederick Douglass with this book, only to show that he was human. She succeeds in doing just that, but I admit I lost some respect for him as a person based on how he treated both women (but especially Anna) and his children. Anna and Ottilie are so different. Anna keeps the family whole, she cleans the house, feeds the children and makes sure Frederick (or Freddy as she calls him although he doesn't always like it) feels comfortable. She is very religious and would have been content if Frederick had simply become a Preacher. Anna has no real desire to learn to read and write, she only agrees to lessons so that Freddy will stop badgering her about her inability to read but Anna ends up never becoming literate. That is part of the reason Frederick turns to Ottilie who is more of his equal intellectually. With Ottilie, Douglass (Ottilie called him Herr Douglass for awhile and then affectionately just called him Douglass) could discuss politics, literature, art, philosophy, anything that came to mind. I had a hard time understanding why Anna wouldn't want to learn to read and write but I closed this book with a better understanding of why she was happy with who she was and I admired her for her spirit. Ottilie was young, slender, blonde. Anna was older than Frederick, curvy, black. Frederick insulted Anna by having an affair with another woman but he added insult to injury by giving Ottilie a room in his home, but Anna had her own way of asserting her quiet dominance over her home. Douglass was never physical (well one time but that was the only time noted in the book) but he was self-centered and a snob (it is fascinating how once Black people reached the upper class they forgot their roots, even our great abolitionists. Mr. Douglass fought avidly to free all slaves but he did not want his children marrying former slaves). Anna's view of love made me sad "I'd let him go 'cause it was best, Best for him. Worse for me. Ain't that love?" (pg. 38), to me that is love sometimes but not ALL the time. Plus it should be mutual, Frederick never did what was worst for him but better for Anna.
In Douglass' Women the author does a skillful job of showing not just the physical differences between Anna and Ottilie but their different views on home, Douglass/Freddy and love. Neither woman is judged by the author, their stories are presented in a neutral tone, and both women have somewhat just claims on Frederick, who is both oblivious and blithely ignorant to all the pain he has caused. I like how the women never became friends, because while it is based on two very real people the author could have tried to make the story happier, instead she makes them grudgingly accepting of one another which is more authentic. The alternating points of view works well for this novel, but I do wish a timeline had been kept. I like being able to think about what other events were occurring around the world during the time this story took place (although any event pertaining to slavery was carefully noted through dialogue). I now want to know Frederick Douglass' side of the story (and to learn more about his eldest daughter, Rosetta Douglass, she seems like an exceptional woman). More than anything else this book taught me, it emphasized that love really makes no sense because although Douglass was a less than ideal family man and lover, Anna and Ottilie still loved and admired his noble bearing, his courage, and his intelligence. The funny thing is, I still do too. But they both should have left him and started a new life.
In Douglass' Women the author does a skillful job of showing not just the physical differences between Anna and Ottilie but their different views on home, Douglass/Freddy and love. Neither woman is judged by the author, their stories are presented in a neutral tone, and both women have somewhat just claims on Frederick, who is both oblivious and blithely ignorant to all the pain he has caused. I like how the women never became friends, because while it is based on two very real people the author could have tried to make the story happier, instead she makes them grudgingly accepting of one another which is more authentic. The alternating points of view works well for this novel, but I do wish a timeline had been kept. I like being able to think about what other events were occurring around the world during the time this story took place (although any event pertaining to slavery was carefully noted through dialogue). I now want to know Frederick Douglass' side of the story (and to learn more about his eldest daughter, Rosetta Douglass, she seems like an exceptional woman). More than anything else this book taught me, it emphasized that love really makes no sense because although Douglass was a less than ideal family man and lover, Anna and Ottilie still loved and admired his noble bearing, his courage, and his intelligence. The funny thing is, I still do too. But they both should have left him and started a new life.