A Right Worthy Woman: A Novel

Written by Ruth P. Watson

Narrated by Janina Edwards

In the vein of The Personal Librarian and The House of Eve, a “remarkable and stirring novel” (Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author) based on the inspiring true story of Virginia’s Black Wall Street and the indomitable Maggie Lena Walker, the daughter of a formerly enslaved woman who became the first Black woman to establish and preside over a bank in the United States.

Maggie Lena Walker was ambitious and unafraid. Her childhood in 19th-century Virginia helping her mother with her laundry service opened her eyes to the overwhelming discrepancy between the Black residents and her mother’s affluent white clients. She vowed to not only secure the same kind of home and finery for herself, but she would also help others in her community achieve the same.

With her single-minded determination, Maggie buckled down and went from schoolteacher to secretary-treasurer of the Independent Order of St. Luke, founder of a newspaper, a bank, and a department store where Black customers were treated with respect. With the help of influential friends like W.E.B. DuBois and Mary McLeod, she revolutionized Richmond in ways that are still felt today. Now, “with rich period detail and emotional impact” (Tracey Enerson Wood, author of The Engineer’s Wife), her riveting full story is finally revealed in this stirring and intimate novel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Jun 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9781797158402

Ruth P. Watson

Ruth P. Watson is the author of Blackberry Days of Summer, An Elderberry Fall, Cranberry Winter, and Strawberry Spring. A musical stage play, Blackberry Daze, is based on her debut novel. She is the recipient of the Caversham Fellowship, an artist and writer’s residency in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where she published her first children’s book in Zulu, Our Secret Bond. She is a freelance writer and member of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and has written for Upscale, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and other publications. She is an adjunct professor and project manager, who lives with family in Atlanta, Georgia.

Reviews for A Right Worthy Woman

[CrystalForte · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Loved this historical story of courage and determination definitely needs to be heard and read by other readers!

[AvidReader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The heroine is such an inspiring and powerful historical figure but the writing was somewhat lackluster. It read like a story written for a teenager and seemed to move quite fast through Maggie Wlaker's life story. I yearned to feel the poignancy of the highest and lowest moments but the writing rarely delivered that for me.