Review: Loudmouth

Loudmouth: Emma Goldman vs. America (a love story)

by Deborah Heiligman

Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2025

Category: Young Adult

Reviewer: Rachel Aronowitz

 

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Loudmouth is a biography of Emma Goldman: early 20th century anarchist, talented orator, tireless fighter for woman's rights and labor rights, imprisoned many times, proponent of free love, newspaper editor and a Russian Jewish immigrant. Goldman's life is so full of adventure, idealism, and history that the reader is enthralled and engaged for the nearly 300 page book. It is a fascinating romp though the politics and everyday life of the turn of the 20th century and especially what life was like for women, laborers, and working class people of that era. As an adult reader I was captivated by Goldman's life; however, I often questioned whether a teen reader would be the right audience for this exploration. There are details of the horrors of prison life, polyamory, violent scenes of gun wounds, and the planning of assassinations in addition to details of depressed, suicidal characters, and sex work. Much like Emma Goldman's famous autobiography, Living My Life, I think this would be a better fit in the adult nonfiction section of a library and older teens or young adults can find it if they are drawn to it.

Although Goldman's family and many of her close friends were Jewish, I don't believe it is an integral part of the story. There is no detail of Jewish life or customs or culture and Goldman professed many times that she was an atheist and non-practicing Jew. There are instances that relate that immigrants and Jews often experienced prejudice and stereotyping such as mentions of a "Jewish nose" or characters being demeaned because they are immigrants and these details were both educational and authentic.

 

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Reviewer Rachel Aronowitz currently works as a librarian at the Springfield Public Library near Eugene, OR, and spends many delightful days each week working in the children’s room. Before that, she spent almost a decade working as a librarian in her hometown of San Francisco, CA. When not at work, she enjoys baking, playing music, gardening, listening to political podcasts, and spending time with her husband and daughter.