... epic and intimate.

In telling the stories of Martha Wright and Frances Seward, Ms. Wickenden relies heavily on their letters and diaries and those of close family members. The result is an intimate, detailed portrait of the women, including the effect that their activism had on their families.

Wickenden knows a thing or two about writing with grace and economy, and she seamlessly braids her subjects' stories together into a riveting book.

... an impressive narrative of three women who were at the center of a burgeoning movement. Their trailblazing path is captured and related deftly by the author, their triumphs and tragedies narrated emphatically for a modern audience. All three women lived and breathed for the freedom of all men and women, selflessly giving as much as they were capable. An A+ historical narrative..

[Wickenden] brings a reporter’s eye for detail to this complex history.

Wickenden has mined the annals of social, political and cultural history in composing this complex, wide-ranging tome. She shows each woman in particular situations that highlight her aspirations.

The book outlines many fascinating and crucial events, with much information packed into each paragraph. Throughout all the details, Wickenden keeps the focus on how attitudes toward slavery and women’s rights changed, how the two causes worked together for human rights at a time when that notion didn’t exist. She’s especially good at showing how strong, determined individuals can make big changes, how lone voices can find others to join into a powerful chorus. There are a lot of names to keep straight but the story is powerfully clear—the horrors of slavery demanded everyone to respond.

Uneven sources might help explain why The Agitators is sometimes hard to follow. We simply know more about some pieces of the story than we do about others.

... accessible, engaging writing.

Wickenden brings three fascinating women to life in rich, humanizing detail, and shares how their 'insubordination' against slavery and the oppression of women brought them together.

Wickenden expertly weaves together the biographies of 'co-conspirators and intimate friends' Harriet Tubman, Martha Wright, and Frances Seward in this novelistic history.

Wickenden braids together the intersecting threads of their lives and accomplishments into a highly readable, instructive historical narrative.