I Dwell in Possibility:
Women Build a Nation 1600-1920

"The American woman: courageous, motivated, resourceful, diligent. This book tells her story. From the heralded to the humble, the obvious to the obscure, those American women who helped shape our country are gloriously revealed in Lucey's illuminating account. The celebrated stand shoulder to shoulder with the common: for every Sojourner Truth there is a Sarah Walker, for every Edith Wharton there is an Anne Bradstreet, and in Lucey's hands, they are transformed from stolid, historical figures into vibrant, literal people. Through revealing anecdotes, romantic legends, and compelling illustrations, many never before published, Lucey vividly illustrates the humanity behind the history, providing a panoramic overview of twelve generations and three centuries of women's unselfish and unacknowledged contributions to every aspect of America's heritage. Page after page, Lucey has assembled an inspirational gallery that entices the reader to learn more about America's overlooked and underappreciated women. Delightfully entertaining, sublimely captivating, this is how history should be communicated."

—Carol Haggas, BookList

Redcoats on the attack, Sybil Ludington raced by horse forty miles across Connecticut to warn patriots during the American Revolution. During the Civil War, plantation mistress Adelicia H.F.A Cheatham outfoxed Union and Confederate soldiers alike to make a fortune cashing in her cotton crop in London. With a 40,000 dollar bounty on her head, Harriet Tubman led slaves to freedom. Molly Brown refused to sink.

In I Dwell in Possibility, award-winning author Donna Lucey turns our attention to the pioneering, innovative, and brave ways that women influenced the building of America before they had the right to vote.Through diaries, letters, and rare photographs and art works, this book evokes the many struggles and indispensable contributions of women who forged the nation we know today. Ranging from the outrageous -- daring young woman smoke in the Gilded Age! -- to the heartstopping -- an African-American woman jumps to her death rather than face slavery -- Lucey masterfully reveals that women's contributions to the life of America did not begin only with the right to vote, but long before even the concept of such a right became the American ideal.Intimate, compelling, and richly illustrated, I Dwell in Possibility is a truly unique look at American history.