ON THE MARCH is about three women, all strangers, who meet on the bus journeying from Kansas to Washington, D.C., to participate in the 2017 Women’s March on Washington. Henrietta Oldham is an elderly woman who runs a failing antique store; Birdie Jackson is a shy African-American teenager who is marching at the insistence of her feminist aunt; Emily Messer is a recent college graduate who needs more in her life than her job as a barista. All three women have secret, undisclosed reasons for attending the march, and in the course of the novel, as the women begin to know and trust each other, these secrets are revealed.
Although Henrietta, Birdie, and Emily appear to have little in common as they begin their ride, ON THE MARCH confirms that classic women’s issues – sexual harassment, pay inequity, self-sabotage, even bra-stuffing – serve as common intersectional bonds among women across the generations. Even more, sharing their stories on the 34-hour trip together as well as participating in the march itself becomes the catalyst for changing each of their lives for the better.
ON THE MARCH is about the revived feminist spirit of our times, an intellectual, cultural, and often hilarious novel of the zeitgeist. It will appeal to millions of women who are now culturally and politically engaged, whether they marched or not. The idea behind the novel was to watch the way the events of the march helped women of different ages, races, and backgrounds come together to create positive change in the world and in each of their lives. #metoo #shepersisted