In the vein of Hidden Figures, FEARLESS is fascinating and moving look at a “hidden history” of women at the forefront of a movement of great and lasting impact.

FEARLESS
The Hidden Story of The Women Who Powered America’s Anti-Slavery Movement
by Ann Hagedorn
Simon & Schuster, 2025
(via The Martell Agency)

© Pat Williamsen

From the author of Edgar Award finalist Sleeper Agent comes FEARLESS: The Hidden Story of The Women Who Powered America’s Anti-Slavery Movement, which recounts the heretofore unchronicled lives of seven activist women – Black and white, urban and rural, rich and poor and middle class — who formed the backbone of the Abolitionist movement in the decades leading up to the Civil War, networking and organizing across the country, forming anti-slavery societies, newspapers, conventions and lecture circuits, raising funds that were critical to the cause and daring to stand up for their beliefs amidst widespread condemnation.

Ann Hagedorn, an award-winning author and journalist, has been a staff writer for The Wall Street Journal and has written for other publications including The Washington Post. She has taught writing at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She is the author of Sleeper Agent (2022); The Invisible Soldiers (Simon & Schuster); Savage Peace: Hope and Fear in America, 1919 (Simon & Schuster); Beyond the River: A True Story of the Underground Railroad (Simon & Schuster); Ransom: The Untold Story of Global Kidnapping (Holt) and Wild Ride: The Rise and Fall of Calumet Farm, Inc. America’s Premier Racing Dynasty (Holt).