Terrible Virtue

Although I had heard the name Margaret Sanger at some point in my life, I couldn't determine who exactly she was or why she was important until just the other day when I sat down with Terrible Virtue by Ellen Feldman.

Feldman's work has been on my radar for a few years, and since I enjoy historical fiction, I continue to look forward to learning more about the various people and topics she constructs her novels around.

Terrible Virtue is a fictionalized story of Margaret Sanger, the woman credited with founding Planned Parenthood.  

Sanger's own life experiences gave her the perspective of what life was like in a family that had too many children and not enough money.  Her mother died young from tuberculosis after giving birth to nearly a dozen children (which did not include stillbirths or miscarriages).  Losing her mother and seeing how her life had unfolded gave her the desire to help other women avoid a life without choice, overcome with too many mouths to feed.  

Sanger led a life that focused on women's health issues; she often was absent from the lives of her children, and started and ended relationships with men with seemingly little emotion.  Her true passion was her quest to allow women to choose whether or not they wanted to have children.

I really liked this fictionalized book about Margaret Sanger. I'm a sucker for any fictionalized biography, and this one didn't disappoint.