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From the acclaimed author of What the Ermine Saw and Behaving Badly, a portrait of Victoria Woodhull, a celebrated and maligned 19th century businesswoman and activist and a leader in the fight for women’s suffrage and labor reforms.

New York Times Editors’ Choice

One of The Millions‘ Great Summer 2025 Books

“Collinsworth recounts the twists and turns of Woodhull’s story with wit and aplomb. . . .A skillful storyteller, [she] wrangles all of Woodhull’s truth and lies into a coherent portrait. This book captures her in all her contradictions.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“Collinsworth deftly weaves in the political, economic, social, and moral ethos of the nineteenth century as she tells the fascinating story of a remarkable woman.”
—Booklist (starred review)

“Sharply drawn…Collinsworth’s propulsive narrative traces Woodhull’s path…through her life, but, rather than sensationalizing her scandals…highlights Woodhull’s flair for reinvention, and her drive to set the terms by which she would be remembered.”
—The New Yorker

“Delightful… Collinsworth gives readers a close-up view of an ambitious freethinker and a lively picture of the milieu in which she operated.”
—Wall Street Journal

“[A] beguiling biography of Victoria Woodhull (1838–1927), a groundbreaking and enigmatic figure in women’s history. . . .Collinsworth’s Woodhull is captivating . . . .A transfixing character study.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A zesty biography of a colorful woman in the raucous Gilded Age.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“A highly recommended, well-researched biography that brings Woodhull and her achievements to life.”
—Library Journal (starred review)

“[A] fast-paced, dramatic narrative . . . Collinsworth conveys Woodhull’s story with gusto, traversing continents and, along the way, running into such notable figures as Marx, Henry Ward Beecher and Frederick Douglass. Overall, Collinsworth’s enthusiasm for her subject is infectious, and The Improbable Victoria Woodhull is a splendid account of a unique woman who was ahead of her time, and perhaps ours too.”
—BookPage

“If anyone believes our Victorian ancestors were staid or undersexed, Eden Collinsworth’s lively biography of Victoria Woodhull should set them straight. From seances and spiritualism to calling out the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher for his backroom forays into free love, Woodhull exemplifies an era where American women began their march to personal freedom and political and human rights. Collinsworth tells the lively story with all the gusto it deserves.”
— Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of Scientist: E.O. Wilson

“Eden Collinsworth’s improbable, riveting, and wonderfully true tale of this female Horatio Alger–self-reliant huckster and feminist, con artist and capitalist, progressive and marvelous provocateur–is nothing short of the story of America.”
—  Brenda Wineapple, National Book Critics Circle Finalist and author of Keeping the Faith: God, Democracy, and the Trial That Riveted a Nation

“Victoria Woodhull provides a thrilling lens through which to interrogate the American dream. Full of twists and turns, Collinsworth’s audacious narration and nuanced understanding of the political machine of Woodhull’s time makes her work a gift for the reader. The Improbable Victoria Woodhull brings history to life with humanity, wit, and impeccable flair.”
— Gay Talese, author of Bartleby and Me: Reflections of an Old Scrivener

“The Improbable Victoria Woodhull takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of 19th-Century America in this rags to riches tale of two beautiful con artists who rose from the backwaters of Ohio to conquer British society. Victoria Woodhull was a truly original American character.”
— Debby Applegate, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Most Famous Man in American: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher

“The Improbable Victoria Woodhull shows how far we have come—and how far there is to go—in pursuit of a fairer and kinder society. Eden Collinsworth’s engaging biography brings Victoria to life in all her glorious contradictions and enthusiasms.”
— Amanda Foreman, National Book Critics Circle Award winner and author of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire

“Everything about Victoria Woodhull was audacious, and Eden Collinsworth captures the twists and turns of her remarkable life with ingenuity and elan. Born in poverty and abused by her parents, Woodhull made fortunes and married into them, spent time in jail and testified before Congress. She defied the expectations for women in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by forging various careers—some of them dubious—and running for president. She cut a wide swath in Britain and the United States with her stunning opportunism, all of which Collinsworth describes unflinchingly as well as sympathetically, sweeping in a fascinating cast of characters drawn from impressive research. ”
— Sally Bedell Smith, author of George VI and Elizabeth: The Marriage That Saved the Monarchy

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A Preview

“What Victoria Woodhull’s Presidential Run Can Teach Us About America Today” in Time.