The Improbable Victoria Woodhull - by Eden Collinsworth (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Born dirt-poor in an obscure Ohio settlement, Woodhull was the daughter of an illiterate mother entranced by the fad of Mesmerism--a therapeutic pseudoscience--and a swindler father whose cons exploited his two daughters. It was through her mother, though, that Woodhull familiarized herself with the supernatural realm, earning a degree of fame as a clairvoyant and her first taste of financial success. ... Despite a deeply troubled first marriage at the age of fourteen, countless attempts by the press to discredit her, and a wrongful jail sentence, Woodhull thrived through sheer determination and the strength of her bond with her sister Tennie. She co-founded a successful stock brokerage on Wall Street, launched a newspaper, and became the first woman to run for president. ... Collinsworth tells the story of a woman truly ahead of her time--a radical visionary who made defying mores a habit and brought to the fore societal and political issues still being addressed"--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

From the acclaimed author of What the Ermine Saw and Behaving Badly, a portrait of Victoria Woodhull, a celebrated and maligned 19th-century businesswoman and activist, and a leader in the fight for women's suffrage and labor reforms.

In 1894, a remarkably self-possessed American woman, with no formal education to speak of, stood before a British court seeking damages for libel from the trustees of the British Museum. It was yet another stop along the unpredictable route that was Victoria Woodhull's life. Born dirt-poor in an obscure Ohio settlement, Woodhull was the daughter of an illiterate mother entranced by the fad of Mesmerism--a therapeutic pseudoscience--and a swindler father whose cons exploited his two daughters. It was through her mother, though, that Woodhull familiarized herself with the supernatural realm, earning a degree of fame as a clairvoyant and her first taste of financial success. Woodhull's life would continue to turn on its axis and then turn again.

Despite a deeply troubled first marriage at the age of fourteen, countless attempts by the press to discredit her, and a wrongful jail sentence, Woodhull thrived through sheer determination and the strength of her bond with her sister Tennie. She co-founded a successful stock brokerage on Wall Street, launched a newspaper, and became the first woman to run for president. Hers was a rags-to-riches story that saw her cross paths with Karl Marx, Henry Ward Beecher, and Frederick Douglass. In an era when women's rights were circumscribed, and the idea of leaving a marriage was taboo, she broke the rules to carve out a path of her own.

Vividly written and exhaustively researched, Collinsworth tells the story of a woman truly ahead of her time--a radical visionary who made defying mores a habit and brought to the fore societal and political issues still being addressed today. Neither a saint nor a villain, Woodhull emerges as an iconic, complex woman: an entrepreneur; lover of freedom; and a fiercely loyal family member whose political activism and suffragist legacy will cement her in history.

Review Quotes

A New York Times Editors' Choice

One of the Washington Post's Fall Preview Picks - One of The Millions' Great Summer 2025 Books - One of Town & Country's Must-Read Books of Fall 2025

"Collinsworth recounts the twists and turns of Woodhull's story with wit and aplomb....A skillful storyteller, [she] wrangles all of Woodhull's truth and lies into a coherent portrait. This book captures her in all her contradictions." --The New York Times Book Review

"Eden Collinsworth's improbable, riveting, and wonderfully true tale of this female Horatio Alger--self-reliant huckster and feminist, con artist and capitalist, progressive and marvelous provocateur--is nothing short of the story of America." --Brenda Wineapple, National Book Critics Circle Finalist and author of Keeping the Faith: God, Democracy, and the Trial That Riveted a Nation

"The Improbable Victoria Woodhull takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of 19th-Century America in this rags to riches tale of two beautiful con artists who rose from the backwaters of Ohio to conquer British society. Victoria Woodhull was a truly original American character." --Debby Applegate, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Most Famous Man in American: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher

"The Improbable Victoria Woodhull shows how far we have come--and how far there is to go--in pursuit of a fairer and kinder society. Eden Collinsworth's engaging biography brings Victoria to life in all her glorious contradictions and enthusiasms. She was worth ten of the men around her. Time spent with Victoria is time well spent indeed." --Amanda Foreman, National Book Critics Circle Award winner and author of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire

"If anyone believes our Victorian ancestors were staid or undersexed, Eden Collinsworth's lively biography of Victoria Woodhull should set them straight. From seances and spiritualism to calling out the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher for his backroom forays into free love, Woodhull exemplifies an era where American women began their march to personal freedom and political and human rights. Collinsworth tells the lively story with all the gusto it deserves." --Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of Scientist: E.O. Wilson

"Everything about Victoria Woodhull was audacious, and Eden Collinsworth captures the twists and turns of her remarkable life with ingenuity and elan. Born in poverty and abused by her parents, Woodhull made fortunes and married into them....She defied the expectations for women in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries...a sympathetic, sweeping story with a fascinating cast of characters drawn from impressive research." --Sally Bedell Smith, author of George VI and Elizabeth: The Marriage That Saved the Monarchy

"In this fascinating, deeply researched look at Woodhull's wild life and times, Eden Collinsworth details the breakneck twists and turns that made her subject a marvel in her own lifetime and argues for her continuing place in the pantheon of great American characters." --Town & Country

"Collinsworth deftly weaves in the political, economic, social, and moral ethos of the nineteenth century as she tells the fascinating story of a remarkable woman." --Booklist starred review

"[A] fast-paced, dramatic narrative . . . .Collinsworth conveys Woodhull's story with gusto, traversing continents and, along the way, running into such notable figures as Marx, Henry Ward Beecher and Frederick Douglass. Overall, Collinsworth's enthusiasm for her subject is infectious, and The Improbable Victoria Woodhull is a splendid account of a unique woman who was ahead of her time, and perhaps ours too." --BookPage

"[A] beguiling biography of Victoria Woodhull (1838-1927), a groundbreaking and enigmatic figure in women's history. . . .Collinsworth's Woodhull is captivating . . . .A transfixing character study." --Publishers Weekly

"A zesty biography of a colorful woman in the raucous Gilded Age." --Kirkus Reviews

"A highly recommended, well-researched biography that brings Woodhull and her achievements to life." --Library Journal *starred review*

"A riveting, page-turning romp through history....Collinsworth has crafted an altogether robust and thoroughly enjoyable read." --Shelf Awareness

"Victoria Woodhull provides a thrilling lens through which to interrogate the American dream. Full of twists and turns, Collinsworth's audacious narration and nuanced understanding of the political machine of Woodhull's time makes her work a gift for the reader. The Improbable Victoria Woodhull brings history to life with humanity, wit, and impeccable flair." --Gay Talese, author of Bartleby and Me: Reflections of an Old Scrivener

About the Author

EDEN COLLINSWORTH is a writer, essayist, novelist, former media executive, and business consultant. At twenty-eight, she was appointed president and publisher of Arbor House. She left the book business in 1990 to launch the Los Angeles-based lifestyle magazine, BUZZ. In the third decade of her career, she was appointed vice president and director of Cross Media Business Development at the Hearst Corporation. In 2008, Collinsworth became vice president, chief operating officer, and chief-of-staff of The EastWest Institute, an international think tank, and in 2011, she launched Collinsworth & Associates, a Beijing-based consulting company in intercultural communication. She is the author of a novel, It Might Have Been What He Said; of a memoir, I Stand Corrected: How Teaching Manners in China Became Its Own Unforgettable Lesson; and of Behaving Badly: The New Morality in Politics, Sex, and Business, What the Ermine Saw: The Extraordinary Journey of Leonardo da Vinci's Most Mysterious Portrait, and The Improbable Victoria Woodhull: Suffrage, Free Love, and the First Woman to Run for President.