The Great Divorce

In The Great Divorce, Ilyon Woo recounts the gripping true story of Eunice Chapman, a young mother who, in 1814, boldly defied societal norms to reclaim her children from her estranged husband, who had taken them to live with the Shakers. As she confronts her husband, the Shaker community, and the legal system, her battle unfolds against the backdrop of 19th-century America’s struggles with women's rights, marriage, and religious freedom. Woo blends historical detail with narrative flair to illuminate Chapman's extraordinary fight and its profound impact on the emerging values of a new republic.