Intersection Column | The Secret Society of Spinsters
- mtlmagazine
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
by Karen Witemeyer
When it came time to brainstorm a new historical romance series, I knew I wanted to focus on a group of strong women, but I wasn't sure what their connection would be. Sisters? Friends? Co-workers in a corset factory? I like my heroines feisty and independent, and the more I thought about it, the more I began leaning toward a group of spinsters.
In the 19th century, women were expected to marry and set up households, often by the age of eighteen. Some married by sixteen. Not only did society expect it, but on a practical level, a woman depended on first her father and then her husband to provide for her. With few acceptable occupations for women during this time, singleness presented a financial challenge.
Today's women are often encouraged to follow a career path, and finding love later in life is not uncommon. Yet the pressure to marry still exists. I work at a Christian university, and many of our female students feel a desperation to have a “ring by spring” before they graduate. The longer a woman goes without marrying, the more isolated she can become. Her friends have husbands to spend time with now, and soon babies come along. Lives that once felt very similar now seem worlds apart.
I've watched my own daughter struggle with this. She is twenty-seven and soon to graduate with a PhD in computer science. She is brilliant, and I couldn't be more proud of her. Yet her choice to focus on her education and career has left her feeling on the outside. She's watched both of her younger brothers marry, and a part of her feels like a failure for not meeting that standard. This amazing, brilliant, creative woman is no failure! She is fearfully and wonderfully made. Exactly who God designed her to be.
I think God used my mama love for my daughter to inspire this series. The Secret Society of Spinsters is a group of single women from various backgrounds and experiences who come together to support each other and to work to better their community. Three of their founding members are dear friends and serve as the heroines for this series. In their upper twenties and early thirties, these ladies have each chosen spinsterhood for a different reason. One is a career-focused woman who feels called to teach. One is a shy preacher's daughter who is allergic to men. And the first, Noreen O'Sullivan, is a fiery temperance reformer determined to save the town from the destructive influence of liquor and doesn't care how many men she offends during her campaigns.
Each of these ladies has her own special giftedness from God, and they are perfectly complete without a husband or suitor in their lives. Yet one-by-one, they will eventually find love—love with godly men who won't try to change them but are strong enough to walk beside them as true partners. Men who help them become even better versions of themselves, as they do the same for their fellas. The kind of man I pray my daughter may someday meet and marry. However, there are ladies in this society who will remain spinsters, and they are in no way diminished. That is the message I wish to convey, a difficult one for a romance writer who adores happy endings with kisses and weddings.
Singleness can be a spiritual gift. As Paul wrote, “The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband” (1 Corinthians 7:34). The spinsters in my fictional society work together to do the Lord's work in their community. They reclaim the stigmatized term of spinster and reshape it into a badge of honor.
Whether you are single, married, widowed, or divorced, God can use you in His kingdom. You are beautiful in His sight and abounding with gifts. May you feel His love for you as you get lost in a story about a feisty temperance fighter and the deputy tasked with keeping her under control. Beneath the romantic sparks, the moments of humor, and the page-turning plot, I pray you'll hear God whispering acceptance, grace, and redemption into your heart.
About the Author
Voted #1 Readers' Favorite Christian Historical Author of 2023 by Family Fiction Magazine, bestselling author Karen Witemeyer offers warmhearted historical romance with a flair for humor, feisty heroines, and swoon-worthy Texas heroes. Karen's books have won numerous awards, including the prestigious Christy and Carol Awards.
About the Book
Noreen O'Sullivan is an enthusiastic member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. However, her passionate campaigning often puts her at odds with the men around her—including the local deputy. When tensions escalate at the saloon, Deputy James Paxton must choose between gaining a sheriff’s badge or protecting the woman who's captured his heart—knowing either choice could cost him everything.