The Valiant Woman

March 1, 2016

Alvarez (religion, Temple Univ.) has written a well-researched exploration of America's widespread interest in the Virgin Mary between the Immaculate Conception declaration of 1854 and its semicentennial in 1904. In five roughly chronological and thematic chapters, Alvarez examines specific moments in Mariology through cultural sources such as conversion fiction, the popular press, mass-produced Marian imagery, and acclaimed art history texts. She convincingly argues that Americans of the period, Protestant and Catholic alike, understood Mary as an exemplar of both woman- and motherhood. The author teases out differences between Catholic and Protestant invocations of Mary as a figure of veneration and documents the deployment of the icon by those who saw in divine motherhood a powerful metaphor for women's political leadership. The work could have spent more time discussing where Mary fits within other models available to Americans during this period as well as included a discussion of Marian imagery and rhetoric in the context of the era's racial politics. For example, what role did she play within the enslaved and free black communities, among Mexican Americans, and to the white supremacists of the Reconstruction South? A more intersectional analysis would have strengthened this study. VERDICT Scholars of 19th-century women's and gender, religious, and visual history will appreciate Alvarez's insights.--Anna J. Clutterbuck-Cook, Massachusetts Historical Soc. Lib., Boston

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