After seeing the play "Glensheen" at the Minnesota History Center, I felt obliged to read Nightengale: A Memoir of Murder, Madness, and the Messenger of Spring by Suzanne Congdon Leroy. I felt I owed it to the Congdon family to read about the life of Elizabeth Congdon because so much media attention has been given to her death. Talented in math, physics and German, Elizabeth was ahead of her time. She was a feminist before it was cool to be a feminist. She had goals in life and she accomplished them. Unable to have children due to health problems, she adopted two girls. In the 1930's it was unusual to adopt anyone much less talk about it but very unusual to let a single woman adopt. No doubt her social prestige helped grease those wheels. Wealth and social prestige aren't everything. In the case of Elizabeth's daughter, Marjorie, wealth and prestige, in my opinion, made her life worse. Marjorie might have been better off growing up in poverty. The book is about Elizabeth who was cultured, grateful, gracious, generous, interested and interesting. Well written by Elizabeth's granddaughter, Suzanne, the book tells Elizabeth's story without spelling things out directly.
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