Unruly Human Hearts
Elizabeth Tilton, a devout housewife, shares liberal ideals with her journalist husband, Theodore, and her pastor, Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, both influential reformers of the Reconstruction Era. She is torn between admiration for her husband’s stand on women’s rights and resentment of his dominating ways. When Theodore justifies his extramarital affairs in terms of the “free love” doctrine that marriage should not restrict other genuine loves, she finds the courage to express her feelings for Reverend Beecher.
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The three partners in this triangle struggle with love, desire, jealousy, fear of public exposure, and legal battles. Once passion for her pastor undermines the moral certainties of her generation, Elizabeth enters uncharted territory. Telling the truth may cost her everything. Can a woman accustomed to following the lead of men find her own path and define her own truth?
What readers are reviewers saying about Unruly Human Hearts...
“In Unruly Human Hearts, Barbara Southard masterfully unravels the poignant story of Elizabeth Tilton, ensnared in a scandalous love triangle of the 1870s. Rich with period detail and emotional depth, Southard’s flawless reimagining brings to life a time when a woman’s desires and concerns were considered a fault. Elizabeth's journey of resilience and self-discovery amidst societal constraints is both heart-wrenching and inspiring. With an eye for historical accuracy and a gift for heartfelt storytelling, Barbara illuminates the struggle of a courageous woman ahead of her time, whose fight for dignity and understanding serves as a stark reminder that the quest for gender equality and freedom remains as an ongoing challenge.”
​Elba Iris Pérez, author of The Things We Didn’t Know
"Free love"? Elizabeth Tilton wasn't counting on the two well-known men she loved at the same time to attack each other so vehemently, shattering her life, but neither were they expecting her to finally admit her own truth so openly. In this complex portrait of power, lies, and sexual attraction, Barbara Southard conveys foibles not too removed from the present yet peppered with the intricacies of nineteenth-century characters and situations that engross readers. I couldn't put this novel down.”
​María Soledad Rodríguez, English Department, University of Puerto Rico
“Imposition of impossible goals, insensitive statements, lies, taking your children away, shame, physical threats, gaslighting—women undergo similar incidents of violence no matter the times and circumstances. Elizabeth Tilton is a mirror to our own experiences. Unruly Human Hearts speaks to our world with loudspeakers, leaving us with a sense of impotence, rage, and hope. It sheds light on suffragist women in the US and women who fight for their rights everywhere.”
​Yolanda Rivera Castillo author of Emergencia de la luz and Baladas de tentación y destierro.
KIRKUS Book Review
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"Southard offers a historical novel about the real-life Beecher-Tilton sex scandal, told from the perspective of the woman at its center.
The novel opens with Elizabeth Tilton on her deathbed in Brooklyn, New York, in 1897,reflecting on the defining moments of her life that still haunt her. In her infirmity, she struggles to recognize some of her children; she has no friends she can count on, as the choices she has made have turned her into a social pariah. In this state, she slips between the present and memories from about 30 years earlier. At the time, her husband, Theodore, was a prominent New York newspaper publisher and journalist who championed the rights of enslaved people and women and the doctrine of “free love.” Elizabeth was deeply involved in progressive reform and active in the liberal Plymouth Church, led by the renowned Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. Theodore and Elizabeth’s marriage was happy and collaborative; however, the death of their infant son, Paul, devastated them both. When Theodore confessed to a past affair, Elizabeth turned to Beecher for emotional comfort, which led to physical intimacy. Theodore, suspecting the liaison, began to publicly accuse Beecher of seducing his wife, throwing Elizabeth, Beecher, and himself into a scandal that stretched on for years, pushing them all to the brink of ruin. Over the course of this novel based on true events, Southard’s prose is gripping (“The glass feels icy cold to my fingers. Dry leaves are still swirling in the wind. Tears run down my cheeks, leaving droplets on the windowsill”), and the story is suitably elegiac, calling to mind many touchstonehistorical romances. The characters are well-defined and memorable, and include such prominent historical figures as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Readers will find themselves engrossed in the drama while also learning about a peripheral but compelling piece of American history.
A superbly written story of love, betrayal, and resistance in the face of crisis."
Foreword Clarion Review
A strong woman with a penchant for forgiveness navigates the tumult of her complicated relationships in the historical novel Unruly Human Hearts.
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"In Barbara Southard’s rousing historical novel Unruly Human Hearts, a woman navigates the challenges of the Reconstruction-era US.
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About the 1875 adultery trial involving Henry Beecher, Theodore Tilton, and Elizabeth Tilton, the story is told from Elizabeth’s intimate perspective. It covers her complex relationships with her pastor, Henry, and her husband, Theo. In a dreamlike flashback from her deathbed, she covers almost ten years of repeated turmoil and forgiveness in their love triangle, culminating in the dramatic public trial of Henry for adultery.
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The prose is direct about outlining Elizabeth’s thoughts and feelings, and its switches between 1897, when Elizabeth is on her deathbed, and the 1870s, when the core story takes place, are immersive on multiple levels. Period language is used for verisimilitude, and the tone is cozy. Details about the trio’s setting are also used to imbue the tragic story with warmth.
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The strength of Elizabeth’s character is at the novel’s core. There are moments of eroticism in which she exercises power and agency, refuting her husband’s claims that she was stupid and naive to fall for Henry’s seduction. Elizabeth is also the only one of the three to take responsibility for her actions. She wrestles with guilt and blames herself. She also reminds herself of the good within Henry and Theo, who are both willing to sacrifice Elizabeth to save their own reputations. Her penchant for forgiveness and understanding is conveyed as not a weakness but a strength, further solidifying Elizabeth’s heroine status.
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If forgiveness is one of the novel’s threads, the other is hypocrisy. Theo, who supports the suffrage movement, is somewhat self-serving; he advocates for free love and divorce for women so he can sleep with who he wants. In addition, his treatment of Elizabeth is domineering, as though she’s a lesser person, and this fails to align with his public claims toward equality. Henry displays hypocrisy as well, starting as a safe haven for Elizabeth but soon becoming just as manipulative as her husband. Elizabeth is forced to see how hypocrisy corrodes both interpersonal relationships and political action, resulting in added depth.
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Letters, court exchanges, and newspaper articles are copied verbatim from historical documents for context. And in addition to the central trio, there are other historical figures present, including Susan B. Anthony—herein a kind, understanding woman who, despite full knowledge of Elizabeth’s mistakes, helps her see her worth, easing the unfairness and hypocrisy coming from Henry and Theo. Such relationships punctuate the novel’s feminist themes.
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The riveting historical novel Unruly Human Hearts is sensitive in following a strong woman as she overcomes adversity."