***** FIVE STARS   Regardless of where many think a woman's sole place and situation must be, in the historical novel NAKED TRUTH: OR EQUALITY THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT by Carrie Hayes, two irrepressible sisters are determined to carve out their own positions in this world.Considering that in all the years of existence America has yet to have a female president, the issues explored in Carrie Hayes’ historical novel NAKED TRUTH: OR EQUALITY THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT are quite timely. In an era when women are expected to follow the law though not yet allowed to vote on what laws include, and women are legally subject to the whims of any husband who ‘owns’ them, historically true life sisters Tennesse Claflin and Victoria Woodhull wantonly challenge the repressive status quo by publishing their own newspaper, opening a stock brokerage firm, and aiming to have Victoria become the first woman running for the top political position in the land.Supported by a wealth of photographic illustration and real life newspaper clippings of the time, NAKED TRUTH is imaginative fiction based on fact at its best. Around 1868, stage craft, hypnotism, mesmerism, spiritualism, the concerns of the haves and the have nots, hidden and blatant corruption, suffragettes, racism, sexism, and each type of activism such societal currents spawn all run rampant, with many people sure the time for radical change has come, while others equally vehement that the nation can only benefit from social mores continuing to remain the same. It is an explosive era, with appearances by noted figures such as Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B Anthony, Harriett Beecher Stowe, and conflicting passions richly depicted from: “It is an insult to the entire mass of women in the United States if Negroes, Chinese, and every description of ignorant and brute male foreigners are granted suffrage while women remain excluded from that right” to “When women, because they are women, are hunted down through the cities of New York and New Orleans; when they are dragged from their houses and hung upon lamp-posts; when their children are torn from their arms, and their brains dashed out upon the pavement….then they will have an urgency to obtain the ballot equal to our own.” All the more riveting because the details are based on truth.Divisiveness. Chutzpah. Seduction. Politics. Oppression. Spirituality. Gender relations. Betrayal. Healers -vs- scam artists. Fortitude. Dismay. Against-all-odds battles. Fighting the good fight. Just like the plight of humanity today, the historical and excellently well-crafted novel, NAKED TRUTH: OR EQUALITY THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT by Carrie Hayes has it all.~C.S. Holmes for IndieReader 

Hayes tells the story of two real-life pioneering feminists in late 19th-century America in this debut historical novel.

In 1868 New York City, the Claflin sisters are fraudulent mediums at the height of the Spiritualist movement—a time when the public is desperate for contact with deceased loved ones. However, the pair has bigger plans. For example, Tennessee Claflin—who pretends to be a half-naked ghost during a seance—would much rather work as a stockbroker. Their parents, who are longtime con artists themselves, beg for the sisters to perform one last ruse: a magical and sensuous “healing” regimen on a wealthy mark. The target: Cornelius Vanderbilt, one of the richest men in America. Tennessee succeeds in becoming Vanderbilt’s lover, which grants her access to the upper echelons of wealthy New York society. Her married older sibling, Victoria Woodhull, has plans of her own; after adopting the philosophy of “Social Freedom”—which rejects both marriage and religion—the increasingly political Victoria plans to be the first female candidate for the presidency of the United States. To do so, she’ll need to win the support of members of the growing women’s suffrage movement. But when the sisters’ family brings a case against Victoria’s husband, the siblings’ futures are thrown into jeopardy. Hayes’ prose successfully evokes the elegant language of the era in which it’s set, even when discussing the secret and the unpleasant, as when Tennessee notes that “she can only assume that what has plagued her is indeed the French disease. Scars of Venus, courtesy of a devil who gave her the scaling which crawls across her hips, down her inner thigh with an itch, something fierce.” The book is based on a true story, and Hayes writes with such care and authenticity that the reader will likely be unsure where the history ends and the fiction begins. There are a few places where the narrative becomes a bit overcrowded, but for the most part, the author delivers a novel that presents a lifelike portrait of two remarkable (and remarkably modern) women, and an immersive dive into a colorful era’s scammers, activists, and elites.

An informative and engaging tale of shifting morals in the Victorian era.

***** FIVE STARS Naked Truth: Or Equality, The Forbidden Fruit is a work of fiction in the historical and interpersonal drama sub-genres and was penned by author Carrie Hayes. Written for mature audiences, the work contains some usage of explicit language, sexual situations, and moderate violence. Set in the late nineteenth century on the cusp of the Gilded Age, this uplifting and dramatic work takes us through the early feminist movements made by a pair of incredible sisters in a novel based on some real-life events. As Victoria and Tennie move through life’s struggles, their incredible spirit and passion to make history as strong, powerful women endure despite the betrayals of friends and family, and the odds stacked against them by New York City’s traditional ways.Author Carrie Hayes has crafted a highly engaging read, which balances a strong character-led story with a wider conceptual view of empowerment and gender rights. Fans of city history and feminist movements will enjoy seeing the sisters make their stand against the traditions of New York society at the time, and the work is peppered with intelligent references to characterize the period and the context in which they do so. I particularly loved the dialogue, which brought the unique personalities of the two women forward, especially when they spoke with one another, but also set the age of the period perfectly. A snapshot of equality history with plenty of twists and turns in its plot, this is a work of fiction that both entertains and educates, and overall I would highly recommend Naked Truth to readers of historical fiction everywhere.