Frances Perkins was a force to be reckoned with: a zealous advocate for labor, the nation’s first female Cabinet officer, and—as the creator of Social Security–a transformative figure in Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal administration. In Fearless, A Novel of Frances Perkins and Social Security, Jonna Higgins-Freese shows us how Perkins created a place for herself in a man’s world of business and politics, at the same time dealing with challenges in her marriage and family. Higgins-Freese portrays this extraordinary woman with sympathetic admiration, deftly showing us how she threaded her way through the political maze of New Deal politics to successfully craft the most important social program of the century. Richly detailed, deeply satisfying, a novel that speaks to the heart of its time, and ours.

—Susan Wittig Albert, author of Loving Eleanor and Someone Always

Nearby, a Novel of Georgia O’Keeffe and Maria Chabot