We Are Gathered Here

We Are Gathered Here is a landmark novel about nineteenth-century women. It will touch the hearts of all women and caring men. In part inspired by her own family history, Micah Perks's novel invites reappraisal of our own society's attitudes toward individuality, religion, illness, sexual orientation, and, especially, friendship, as we approach the turn of this century. This is the story of two women caught in the rural America of the 1880s. Regina Sartwell, recovering from a near-fatal mishap, is aided by her new friend, Olive Honsinger. The two share adventures that will take them beyond homes of privilege to alternative societies of Adirondack women: gypsy camps, a madhouse, and, most important, a commune of renegade Shaker women. In doing so, they explore the avenues open to women of their time and find a place for themselves.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction, Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.