Hester Prynne, the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel, “The Scarlet Letter,” was inspired by a real person: Margaret Fuller.
Fuller was described by historical novelist Allison Pataki as Hawthorne’s muse, the “radiant genius and fiery heart” of the Transcendentalists, a literary and philosophical movement born in the 1820s in New England, which bolstered the idea that people are inherently good.
Those attending the Rye Historical Society’s Annual Spring Luncheon on May 9 at the Shenorock Shore Club learned about Fuller from Pataki, whose latest book, “Finding Margaret Fuller” spans the 1830s to 1850s, and follows Fuller through much of the 19th century, during which she was the first American female war correspondent and an unabashed supporter of women’s rights.
Though Fuller is not a household name, Pataki dove deeply into her life, just as she has the heroines of her previous historical novels, which all focus on little-known women who made giant contributions to society in their lives. These books include “The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Merriweather Post,” heir to the Post Cereal fortune; “The Queen’s Fortune: A Novel of Desiree, Napoleon, and the Dynasty That Outlasted the Empire,” a story set in the time of the French Revolution, and “Sisi: Empress on Her Own,” which imagines the life of the empress of Austria-Hungary.
More than 180 people attended the event, which included a shopping boutique and lunch. The event was chaired by Vanessa Mayo, Kendra Moran, and Allison Young.