"An eloquently drawn portrait of Bloomfield-Zeisler, this volume examines the artist’s life as she strove to balance her fame and touring with the expectation that she be the 'ideal' mother and wife. With wonderful and imaginative attention to detail, Macleod brings the era to life, artfully weaving together a variety of disparate themes, from societal attitudes toward female artists, the blossoming of classical music in the United States, and anti-Semitism at home and abroad, to the cultural growth of Chicago, and even the vagaries of railroad travel in America at the time. This impressive work marks an important contribution to the often neglected study of women's role in music history."--Larry Ward, College of DuPage

"Macleod adroitly documents both Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler's tremendous musical accomplishments and zest for life. It seems the fire that burned around her as a girl became the woman's fire within."--Journal of Illinois History
 

"Macleod's biography offers a valuable contribution to a limited collection of literature on female musicians performing in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The author's work not only gives meaning to a heretofore famous pianist's achievements but also provides a volume exploring the dichotomy of the "new woman" striving to have a family and a career."--Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society
 

"The book is written in an informative, descriptive style and is not too academically dry or needlessly wordy. . . . For this reason, this book is very instructive to students in learning about nineteenth-century ways, attitudes, and lifestyles, as well as the prominence and musical stardom of an American Jewish woman."--The American Jewish Archives Journal

"Will fill a void in the literature on this remarkable pianist. The author has done an excellent job."--Judy Tsou, coeditor of Cecilia Reclaimed: Feminist Perspectives on Gender and Music