Carol Faulkner, Syracuse University, author of
Lucretia Mott's Heresy: Abolition and Women's Rights in 19th-Century America:
"The Tie That Bound Us is an essential read for anyone interested in John Brown, the fight against slavery, and the coming of the Civil War. Bonnie Laughlin-Schultz offers a new and fascinating look at John Brown and the raid on Harper's Ferry from the perspective of his wife and daughters. She shows how the Brown women participated in John's war on slavery in essential ways: by moving to North Elba; by sacrificing their husbands, brothers, and sons; and by housekeeping at Harper's Ferry. In addition, after John Brown's execution, the Brown women, especially his wife Mary, became public symbols of his martyrdom. As Laughlin-Schultz argues, their story is both ordinary, in their daily labors for their households, and extraordinary, in their famous connection to the antislavery warrior."
"This book offers an approach to the John Brown saga that focuses on the women of the family, while not neglecting his importance. Laughlin-Schultz... emphasizes the fact that the Brown women made it possible for Brown to implement his militant abolition plans in Kansas and at Harpers Ferry. A poignant account of a neglected side of the John Brown saga."
Evan Carton, University of Texas at Austin, author of Patriotic Treason: John Brown and the Soul of America:
"Bonnie Laughlin-Schultz has opened up new territory. Among its important original contributions, The Tie That Bound Us brings the women of John Brown's family into rich and critical relation to Brown himself, explains how this relation continues to develop and change long after Brown's own death, and, for the first time, shows that these crucial associates of Brown are at the center of his story rather than at its margins. Such recentering casts new light on that story and on the larger stories of antislavery reform and militant abolitionism."
"To the vast literature on John Brown, Laughlin-Schultz offers something new and revealing—namely, an intelligent and informative study of the women who stood behind and for John Brown and his family in their radical abolitionism and then in preserving their memory as men of principle.... She shows how the private became public and the personal political. In doing so she brings us close to the man John Brown, and his sons, who understood and demanded the necessity of women's courage. This is a book every student of antislavery, women’s, and Civil War history will read with profit."
Beverly C. Tomek:
"Laughlin-Schultz complicates the abolitionist argument that the Brown women supported John's agenda unquestioningly and describes the role of daughters Ruth and Annie in their father's mission. Perhpas most interestingly, the author describes the competition between the Brown family and the abolitionist community to shape the memory of the man and his actions in Kansas and at Harpers Ferry.... [The] book makes a valuable contribution to abolition studies as well as to women's history."
Lee V. Chambers:
"With skillful writing rooted in exemplary research, Bonnie Laughlin-Schultz explores the complex relationships of a family constituted by and for abolition. She reminds us that marriage, parenthood, childhood, and sibship configure women's roles in movements for social change."
Kelly Erby:
"Historian Bonnie Laughlin-Schultz sheds light on the Brown family women—long neglected in historical studies of Brown—in order to offer insight into nineteenth-century American women's lives.... The Tie that Bound Us is a significant contribution to women's history and to studies examining the ways that Americans have remembered the Civil War.... Though Laughlin-Schultz's focus is not on Brown himself, what she reveals about the women of his family—especially their support and devotion to him—is nonetheless important to understanding the abolitionist."
Karol K. Weaver:
"[The Tie That Bound Us] is outstanding and will appeal to various readers. Historians of antislavery will find it a fascinating study of radical abolitionism, and those who study women's history will appreciate Laughlin-Schultz's careful analysis of the Brown women, their participation in John Brown's vision, and their attempts to shape and craft his legacy and the place of their family in American history."
Evan C. Rothera:
"In The Tie That Bound Us, Bonnie Laughlin-Schultz analyzes John Brown's wife and daughters. In doing so, Laughlin-Schultz makes an important contribution to the scholarly literature on John Brown.... This is a deeply researched, well-written, and important book. Laughlin-Schultz succeeds in rescuing Mary Brown and her daughters from obscurity and her analysis of their lives, their sacrifices and struggles, and how they contested and shaped Brown’s memory is superb.... This compelling book will be welcomed by anyone interested in New York history, John Brown, gender, slavery and abolition, as well as the Civil War and its legacy; and will appeal to both a scholarly and a lay audience."
Harriet Hyman Alonso:
"This fascinating work acts as a supplement to previous scholarship on Brown. Reading this book is a wonderful way to obtain more informationa bout the endlessly fascinating John Brown family."
Tony Horwitz, author of Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War:
"In The Tie That Bound Us, Bonnie Laughlin-Schultz liberates the John Brown story from its conventional manliness. She reveals the pivotal roles played by Brown's wife and daughters, who melded ordinary domestic duties with the extraordinary demands of militant abolitionism. Deeply researched and lucidly told, this is a pioneering exploration of the dramatic, often tragic lives of women in the Civil War era."
