"Why go through all the meaningless antics of a meaningless day? Why even live? Why O Lord!- let me not depart in peace, the woman with the empty hands?" -Marion Hamilton Carter, The Woman With Empty Hands (1913) The Woman With Empty Hands (1913) by Marion Hamilton Carter is a novel that was originally published anonymously under the guise that it was an autobiographical account of a well-known suffragette. One scene of the novel portrays a 1912 New York suffrage parade, leading the reader to believe the work is based on the main character's life. Rather, it was a work of fiction with the main character as a composite of different women's suffrage activists of the time. A landmark work that helped spur the women's suffrage movement, this book is a must-read for readers who love historical fiction.