I’m not sure what it was about the book Prairie Cinderella: Vinnie Ream and the Gilded Age that appealed to me; I just knew when I saw it that I had to read it. After finishing it, I loved the book about someone I had never heard of before. Vinnie Ream is the artist behind the sculpture of Abraham Lincoln in the Capitol Building as well as the bronze sculpture of Admiral Farragut in Farragut Square. My thought goes back to something I’ve questioned so much over the years: why isn’t this being taught in school, especially when we want to highlight strong women who succeed despite everything that is stacked against them?

Lavinia “Vinnie” Ream was born in Wisconsin. Her family moved to the Arkansas prairie on the border of Oklahoma when she was very young. That is where she grew up and where she loved living. Poor choices on the part of her father, plus the Civil War, led to them moving to Washington DC at the outset of the war. Her father was initially promised a full-time job, but ended up being relegated to part-time work. They did take in boarders, but this did not pay all the bills. Desperate to support her family, a teenage Vinnie took a job in the post office. She knew that would only last until the war was over and the men came home.

One of the family’s friends in Congress took Vinnie to the Mills Sculpting Studio, where she met and became an apprentice of Clark Mills. Vinnie’s mother was initially reluctant for her to do this. She was trying to raise Vinnie and her sister, Mary, to respect the boundaries of polite society so they could marry well. Throughout the book, Vinnie pushes against those boundaries. Vinnie is described as a very alluring woman who had many suitors. Her heart belonged to one man, though, back in Arkansas.

Prairie Cinderella: Vinnie Ream and the Gilded Age is written as historical fiction, but it’s based on real life, including journals and letters written by Vinnie herself. It’s not easy to tell how much is real and how much is fictionalized. Author Joan Koster has put a lot of research into the book and does a good job getting the feel for who Vinnie was as a person. She is tiny and beautiful, the constant subject of men’s unwanted advances, but manages to use that to boost what she wants to do. She is driven to be an artist but had no formal training when she was young. Still, the work she does becomes in demand, even if the allure of watching her sculpt draws people to her for the wrong reason. Instead of resenting that, she uses it to her advantage.

At the same time, her mother is there wanting her to marry into wealth. Her sister Mary seems to have done just that, but there are cracks in the world of her marriage. Throughout the book, Vinnie seems to feel the burden of responsibility for her whole family. It’s a tough burden to carry, especially with her mother carping all the time about what people are saying and nagging Vinnie to turn her back on her artistic abilities and settle down.

It’s when she wins the assignment for a marble sculpture of Abraham Lincoln for the Capitol Building that her life changes. With the advance, she takes her parents with her through Europe, meeting sculptors and artists while heading towards the great marble quarries in Italy for the marble for the statue. She manages her money poorly and seems to constantly be reproached by her mother for every choice she makes, while at the same time knowing that she is supporting them. It hardly seems fair from the perspective of a woman in this day and age. At the same time, I could see the basis for how the tabloids now tear down women and have for quite some time. It was another way to keep women subject to men. There are many times Vinnie thinks about settling down, but then her husband will have the power over her to take away her art. This is something she very much wants to avoid.

The social mores of this time make it very interesting and gave me a good appreciation for just how far we’ve come as a society, where a woman like Vinnie could be an independent artist and succeed on her own without all of the pressure for her to be a wife and mother, the only role seen as acceptable for women back in the day. I enjoyed this very much, and it’s a good book to read for a women’s month book club or any time you want to iilustrate what women were up against in their lives to achieve what they did.

Note: Thank you to NetGalley, BooksGoSocial, and author Joan Koster for the advance reader copy of this book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.