First published in 1874, Fettered for Life is both a page-turning melodrama and a classic of subversive literature. As young Laura Stanley struggles to make her way independently in New York City, she faces prejudices, limitations, and dangers based on her gender. She also encounters a colorful cast of villains and heroes representing a cross-section of New York society: a vile and corrupt judge, a working-class wife-batterer, a suffragist woman doctor, a gutsy washer-woman, a female crossdresser, and the young man who must accept Laura as an equal before he can win her love.