I had expected to be denied my request but it stung nevertheless. Reverend Mother, I wish to write a letter to my mam.
The Sisters, who had come from France to establish an order in Buffalo, had given me a new name upon my arrival. Why are you not at the laundry, Elisabeth? Before I could change my mind, I steeled myself and knocked on her door. As I approached her office, my body, weighted with a swollen belly, grew heavier. The silent period was in effect, but I couldn’t wait any longer. Ihad been with the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge for four months when I finally drew up the courage to speak to the Mother Superior. This affecting tale of a 19th-century American woman struggling to prove her worth other than as a marriage prospect leaves a lasting impression.”įorgiveness means letting go of the hope for a better past. “Drawing on a true story, Hadlock uses authentic period detail and well-drawn characters to pull readers into Annie/Bessie’s precarious journey toward redemption, which comes to an unexpected ending. Inspired by a true story and set amid the burgeoning women’s rights movement, The Lives of Diamond Bessie is a haunting tale of betrayal and redemption that explores whether seeking revenge is worth the price you might pay.
But Bessie doesn’t let her story end there. She’s proven wrong when she suffers the ultimate betrayal at the hands of the man she thought would be her salvation. With her marriage, she believes her dream of returning to proper society has finally come true.
But few rights or opportunities are available to a woman in the 1860s, and after failing to find a respectable job, Annie resorts to prostitution in order to survive.Īs a highly sought-after demi-mondaine, Annie-now Bessie-garners many expensive gifts from her admirers, and eventually meets and marries the son of a wealthy jeweler. When the nuns take her baby, Annie escapes, determined to find a way to be reunited with her daughter. Pregnant out of wedlock, sixteen-year-old Annie Moore is sent to live at a convent for fallen women. Diamonds aren’t always a girl’s best friend.
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