Call Me a Bastard
Welcome to Call Me a Bastard, a serialized lost and found story about Aimee Henry and Mary Martha Parker, two Gilded Age women locked in an epic battle of belonging. I’m thrilled you’re here!
The headline that led to Call Me a Bastard was spread across two columns in the September 19, 1928 issue of The New York Daily News: Woman Sues to Call Self a Love Child. The entire article was just seven paragraphs, but that was plenty to kick my curiosity into overdrive.
On June 25, 2024, the first chapter of Call Me a Bastard was released here on Substack, and, over the next 20 weeks, Aimee’s remarkably true story kept readers begging for more.
What readers have to say about Call Me a Bastard
Wow, wow, wow! This is a truly riveting story! I'm learning, however, the intricacies of families can be so convoluted that it makes even the most "out there" soap operas seem tame! - Rael
This should be required reading for genealogists and historians. Sooner or later you will stumble into family secrets and there is a skill for navigating the facts, lies and emotions of relatives. Well done! - David
The reading of your excerpts every Tuesday go by too fast. - Marci
Thoroughly captivated by the episodic storytelling! Didn't want it to end as it has been a pleasure to read. - Jill
omg...at this point, I am glad that I "discovered" this story in November. I get to "binge read" it. I would hate to be waiting now for the next installment! - Ann
Note: In serializing Call Me a Bastard, material was divided into Chapters and Bonus Content. Chapters share the continuing story of Aimee’s struggle to know who she is and where she belongs, and Bonus Content offers historical and social context to help readers better understand and engage with the previous Chapter.
I hope you enjoy reading this captivating lost & found story, and welcome you to share yours thoughts, questions and reactions in the comments.
Chapter 1: Stitched Together
Release Date; June 25, 2024
CHAPTER 1: Far from the prying eyes of society, Aimee Henry finds life at boarding school challenging and questions arise her Boston Brahmin guardian, Mary Martha Parker.
A Culture Unto Itself
Release Date: June 28, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: A look at the culture of boarding schools during the years Aimee Henry was a student, including dress codes, popular opinion and a history of women's education.
Chapter 2: Christmas in Baltimore
Release Date: July 2, 2024
CHAPTER TWO: When Aimee is invited to spend Christmas with Mary Martha and Archibald in Baltimore, she decides it's time to get answers to the questions she, and others, have been asking.
Baseborn
Release Date: July 5, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: A look at the shame surrounding illegitimate births and the lengths to which some families went to keep them secret.
Chapter 3: The Pivot
Release Date: July 9, 2024
CHAPTER THREE: As Aimee's situation changes, she's forced to change course to avoid the wrath of her Boston Brahmin guardian, Mary Martha Parker.
Nursing America
Release Date: July 12, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: A look at private duty nursing, the Baltimore Directory and the role of nurses and nursing education in America during the early part of the 1900s.
Chapter 4: Old Money
Release Date: July 16, 2024
CHAPTER FOUR: Mary Martha Parker had a lot to lose when Aimee Henry suggested the two might be blood related. In this chapter, we take a look at Boston Brahmins and the generational wealth that kept them at the top of the social ladder.
Harvey on a Roll
Release Date: July 19, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: A look at what Harvey Parker brought to the table, including the Saturday Club and it's famous members, and the Parker House Roll.
Generational Wealth Explained
Release Date: July 21, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: A closer look at the ways Mary Martha’s maternal great-grandfather, Israel Thorndike, created generational wealth and the impact it had on his family.
Chapter 5: The Butler
Release Date: July 23, 2024
CHAPTER FIVE: Aimee Henry represents a threat to Mary Martha Parker Taylor, and the Baltimore society lady is having none of it, in this chapter filled with a shocking turn of events.
The Herstory of Hysteria
Release Date: July 26, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: A look at women and mental health, including the diagnosis of hysteria, and the Rest Cure at the heart of The Yellow Wallpaper.
Chapter 6: Amelia Spills the Tea
Release Date: July 30, 2024
CHAPTER SIX: When Aimee Henry seeks out the help of Amelia Wright, Mary Martha Parker's longtime nurse and companion, she gets more than she bargained for!
Dating Aimee
Release Date: August 2, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: A look at how to construct a reasonable historical timeline based on inconsistent information and memories that don't always make sense.
Chapter 7: The Balancing Act
Release Date: August 6, 2024
CHAPTER SEVEN: Devastated by Amelia Wright's revelation, and needing to escape the influence of her mother, Aimee Henry gets married, and is forced to reckon with her own paternity.
Grover's Secret
Release Date: August 9, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: A look at the political scandal over illegitimacy that haunted Grover Cleveland, and the impact it had on those involved.
Chapter 8: Bad Math
Release Date: August 13, 2024
CHAPTER EIGHT: Amelia Wright reveals the name of Aimee's father to Aimee, but some things simply don't add up.
Hero to Zero
Release Date: August 16, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: A look at the myth and the man that was Allen Thorndike Rice, Mary Martha's cousin, and the man Aimee believed was her father.
Chapter 9: The Rollercoaster
Release Date: August 20, 2024
CHAPTER 10: Aimee's joy at being a wife and mother is tempered by John's knowledge that she's not who he thought she was.
Down the Rabbit Hole
Release Date: August 23, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: A look at what Mary Martha's plans for Aimee might have been, and how and why things changed.
Chapter 10: Earthquake
Release Date: August 27, 2024
CHAPTER 10: Pushed to the end of her rope, Aimee has some big decisions to make, and what she decides changes everything.
The Academics of Secrets
Release Date: August 30, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: A look at the research and science of keeping secrets and with insight into the secrets at the heart of Call Me a Bastard, the true story of Aimee Henry and Mary Martha Parker.
Chapter 11: The Long Game
Release Date: September 3, 2024
CHAPTER 11: After recognizing the betrayal and manipulation she has endured at the hands of Mary Martha and John for what it is, Aimee's need for reckoning grows.
The State of Marriage
Release Date: September 6, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: Looking at marriage through Dorothy Dix, Senor del Toro and Gretna Greene.
Chapter 12: Let the Battle Begin
Release Date: September 10, 2024,
CHAPTER 12: Aimee and her legal team fire the first shots in a battle to force Mary Martha to acknowledge she is Aimee's mother.
Archibald’s Will
Release Date: September 13, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: A look at how Mary Martha’s husband divided his estate, and what it might say about him.
Chapter 13: The Court of Public Opinion
Release Date: September 17, 2024
CHAPTER 13: Aimee's sworn statement, the Rothesay affidavits and Mary Martha's own words all come together to tell reveal Mary Martha's secret
Dames, Names & Documents
Release Date: September 20, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: A look at why Aimee chose to push for membership in the Society of Colonial Dames as part of her case against Mary Martha.
Chapter 14: Catch-22
Release Date: September 24, 2024
CHAPTER 14: The Wheels of Justice Grind Slow but Grind Fine ~ Sun Tzu
Breadlines
Release Date: September 27, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: One woman's experience of hunger and the Great Depression in 1932.
Chapter 15: The Price of Silence
Release Date: October 1, 2024
CHAPTER 15: And The Cost of Keeping a Secret.
Chapter 16: Differently Motivated
Release Date: October 8, 2024
CHAPTER 16: We all do things for reasons others may never understand.
Aimee's Second Chance
Release Date: October 18, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: "We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less second chances." Harrison Ford
Chapter 18: A House of Cards
Release Date: October 22, 2024
CHAPTER 18: Mary Martha's efforts to control her inheritance fall apart.
Chapter 19: The Lawyers Take Over
Release Date: October 29, 2024
CHAPTER 19: Mary Martha's convoluted will leads to legal battles and a major surprise
Chapter 20: Mary Martha's Secrets
Release Date: November 5, 2024
CHAPTER 20: In the end, there are no secrets time won't reveal.
A Family Connection
Release Date: November 12, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: My Conversation with Lainey Tibbetts.
That's a Wrap
Release Date: November 8, 2024
BONUS CONTENT: Readers have questions, and I'm answering them.