A well written fictional biography of the young Marjory Stoneman. Raised by her maternal grandparents and aunt in Staunton, MA after her mother went mad, she went to Wellsley where she discovered her love of writing. After graduation she made an unfortunate marriage to a con man, Kenneth Douglas, from which she was eventually rescued by her uncle and her father. Moving to Miami, she began working for father at the Miami Herald which he had recently founded, and she falls in love with a young reporter. WW I looms, he goes to war, she goes to Paris to work for the Red Cross, and they both eventually return to Miami where Marjory is faced with the choice of a life with a needy veteran or one of independence.

The best parts of the book were the descriptions of a vibrant, undeveloped Miami,bursting with energy and a mostly untouched, but threatened Everglades. The story was a bit heavy on the romance aspects (her marriage was real, but the love affair in Miami is probably fictional). I was disappointed the book ended before Stoneman Douglas became effective activist she was. ( )

As a young girl Marjory Stoneman loved her mother fiercely. Her creativity, imagination and love of life inspired Marjory. However, her mother's passion soon revealed a mental illness that forced Marjory's father to leave and Marjory and her mother to return to her mother's home in Taunton, Massachusetts. At her grandparent's house, Marjory does not receive much affection, but she does receive an education at Wellesley where she learns the joys of writing and becomes involved in women's suffrage. After school, Marjorie becomes entangled with Kenneth Douglas, a swindler who eventually tries to get money out of Marjorie's estranged father. This works out well for Marjorie as she is reunited with her father, works for him at his newspaper in Miami and becomes enthralled with the wild environment of the Everglades.

Written in beautiful, flowing, prose that captures the spirit of Marjorie Stoneman Douglass and her writing, Among the Beautiful Beasts artfully tells the story of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas' life. Beginning with Marjory's early life, we are able to see where her passion stems from as well as how her early life set her up for a life of independence and activism. I loved the descriptions of the Everglades and the wild that existed in Florida before it was developed. Seeing the Everglades through Marjory's eyes helped to see how she became captivated with the wilderness. I enjoyed learning about Marjory's life and how she constantly fought for her independence and what she believed was right. Overall, an amazing story about a captivating and determined woman.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )

3.5Marjory Stoneman Douglas loved her new home in Florida and her job writing for her father's newspaper. She arrived in 1915, a crucial time when developers were dredging up the sea bottom to create coastal retreats, destroying the ecosystem of the unique habitat known as the Everglades.

Marjory's adored mother was mentally ill, causing her father to leave them when she was a girl. Her mother in an asylum, Marjory was cared for by grandparents and an aunt who supported her college education. She found work writing for a newspaper.

Marjory considered herself to be plain; then she met a man who swept her off her feet and she leapt into marriage, learning his true history and nature too late. To escape, Marjory joined her estranged father in Florida, writing for his newspaper.

Waiting for her divorce to be granted, Marjory falls in love. WWI separates them, and when he returns, she must decide between marriage to a wounded soul or a career and work as an activist to protect the Everglades.

The imagined early life of Marjory Stoneman Douglas is a story of a woman rising above the limitations of family and social constraints. The novel is in her voice, and told in alternating time lines of her early life within a suspenseful frame story. It is a page-turner.

The novel offers a vivid portrait of Florida, Miami Beach merely an idea, Coconut Grove isolated cottages. Marjory witnesses how a sand bar and mangrove swamp was drained and filled in to create Miami Beach.

He was stealing the land--changing it, moving it, using it--but unlike a common thief, he felt no need to hide.~ from Among the Beautiful Beasts by Lori McMullen

Now, I want a second volume that tells the story of her life's work as a writer and activist! Marjory lived to be 108 years old!

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased. ( )