I've never really been one to read the introduction to books however I've definitely been converted after reading Ambrose Kelly's new introduction at the start of The Crux.
The Crux was originally published as a series of articles in Charlotte Gilman's periodical The Forerunner before later being collated into this novel. The introduction was invaluable to me as it's a period of time and American history I know nearly nothing about so it truly helped to set the scene and allowed me to enjoy my reading to a greater degree than I would have otherwise. There was also some fascinating information about the author and I truly admire her being an outspoken feminist in her time as well as trying to warn people of certain dancers which propriety deemed it unsuitable to discuss.
On to the story itself we follow young Vivian who strikes out on her own, moving across the country to work in a family friends boarding house with dreams to set up a kindergarten once she is established. While there she bumps into Morton, he old childhood crush and their blossoming relationship soon brings a marriage proposal. However Morton has enjoyed his life well since leaving their home town and is now carrying syphilis and gonorrhoea, leaving Vivian with a difficult decision to make.
The story and some of the ideals within are very much of their time, in particular it being a woman's duty to marry and a man's duty to provide however the authors writing just flowed so beautifully and the characters were so dimensional you couldn't help but be swept up in the story.
The idea that Gilman wrote this in order to warn the younger generation of hidden dangers is really touching and if you enjoy anything of the historical genre I think you would really enjoy this novel.
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