Daughter of Earth

This gritty, sweeping novel follows a burgeoning political activist in the early twentieth century: a precious, priceless book (Alice Walker).

We owe our world to women like Agnes Smedley, who worked without peace or resolution toward a future they could not see. –Paola Mendoza

First released in 1929, Daughter of Earth remains a seminal work of American socialist literature. This semiautobiographical account of an early twentieth-century activist describes growing up in rural poverty in farming settlements and mining towns; discovering the double standards of race and sex among East Coast intellectuals; facing false espionage charges; and maintaining her independence through two tormented marriages.

Groundbreaking in its portrayal of sexism within the leftist movement, Daughter of Earth was uniquely prescient in its intersectional exploration of oppression, demanding that progressive movements embody political justice with integrity and introspection.