Chap­ter 7 explores the trans­for­ma­tive jour­ney of Katharine Lee Bates, focus­ing on her expe­ri­ences in Eng­land dur­ing the 1880s. Katie embarks on a chal­leng­ing voy­age aboard the State of Nebras­ka, endur­ing phys­i­cal and emo­tion­al hard­ships as she bids farewell to her loved ones. Despite the dif­fi­cul­ty of the jour­ney, she finds com­fort in her explo­ration of Eng­lish libraries and the serene coun­try­side. A moment of per­son­al joy aris­es when she dis­cov­ers a room at the British Muse­um that car­ries her sur­name, and where her own book, Rose and Thorn, is fea­tured. This dis­cov­ery, along with vis­its to stun­ning Goth­ic cathe­drals, pro­vides her with a sense of accom­plish­ment, though it is tem­pered by her grow­ing uncer­tain­ties about her faith. As she reflects on her beliefs, she becomes increas­ing­ly wary of tra­di­tion­al the­ol­o­gy, fur­ther com­pli­cat­ing her sense of self.

At the same time, the Unit­ed States under­goes sig­nif­i­cant social and polit­i­cal shifts due to an influx of immi­grants, which stirs fears of job com­pe­ti­tion and reveals poor work­ing con­di­tions for many. From her priv­i­leged posi­tion in Eng­land, Katie observes these changes with a crit­i­cal eye, notic­ing the fragili­ty of the Amer­i­can demo­c­ra­t­ic ideals that she had once held dear. Her per­spec­tive on Amer­i­ca is marked by a sense of dis­il­lu­sion­ment, as she sees how the coun­try is grap­pling with its own chal­lenges and con­tra­dic­tions. The strug­gles of the work­ing class, cou­pled with the ten­sions caused by immi­gra­tion, make Katie ques­tion the strength and resilience of the Amer­i­can demo­c­ra­t­ic sys­tem. This peri­od of reflec­tion abroad becomes a turn­ing point for Katie, shap­ing her future actions and ideas as she returns to the Unit­ed States.

Upon return­ing home, Katie emerges from her year abroad with a new­found sense of pur­pose. She earns her master’s degree from Welles­ley Col­lege, assum­ing a lead­er­ship role as the head of her depart­ment. Despite her aca­d­e­m­ic achieve­ments, Katie feels the weight of soci­etal expec­ta­tions placed on her as a woman. While her male col­leagues are free to pur­sue their careers with­out the con­straints of domes­tic oblig­a­tions, Katie finds her­self bound by the dual bur­dens of pro­fes­sion­al suc­cess and the pres­sure to ful­fill tra­di­tion­al gen­der roles. This ten­sion between her pro­fes­sion­al ambi­tions and the lim­i­ta­tions imposed on her by soci­ety forms a cen­tral theme in the chap­ter, high­light­ing the strug­gles many women faced in bal­anc­ing their per­son­al and pro­fes­sion­al lives. Katie’s frus­tra­tion with these expec­ta­tions under­scores the larg­er soci­etal issues sur­round­ing gen­der roles and wom­en’s rights dur­ing this peri­od.

At Welles­ley, Katie forms mean­ing­ful rela­tion­ships with her col­leagues, one of the most impor­tant being with Pro­fes­sor Katharine Coman. Coman, a pio­neer­ing his­to­ri­an who focused on labor rights, shares a deep emo­tion­al con­nec­tion with Katie that spans over two decades. Their cor­re­spon­dence reveals a com­plex bond, with some schol­ars inter­pret­ing it as roman­tic in nature, while oth­ers argue that it exem­pli­fies the strong, emo­tion­al­ly rich friend­ships that were com­mon among women dur­ing that time. The con­nec­tion between Katie and Coman is marked by intel­lec­tu­al exchange, per­son­al sup­port, and mutu­al respect, and their rela­tion­ship becomes a source of strength for Katie through­out her life. As Katie grap­ples with her own doubts and spir­i­tu­al strug­gles, Coman’s stead­fast faith becomes some­thing she longs for, cre­at­ing a con­trast between their beliefs. This inter­play between faith, doubt, and per­son­al rela­tion­ships offers a poignant explo­ration of Katie’s inter­nal con­flicts, as she nav­i­gates the chal­lenges of bal­anc­ing her intel­lec­tu­al and emo­tion­al needs.

Katie’s time in Eng­land fur­ther empha­sizes her com­plex feel­ings about faith, pro­fes­sion­al ambi­tion, and per­son­al con­nec­tions. Her let­ters to Coman from across the ocean express her deep emo­tion­al attach­ment and long­ing for the intel­lec­tu­al and spir­i­tu­al guid­ance that Coman rep­re­sents. In turn, Coman’s unwa­ver­ing faith inspires Katie to seek a sim­i­lar con­vic­tion, though it remains elu­sive to her. Through this dynam­ic, the chap­ter delves into the ways in which per­son­al and pro­fes­sion­al lives inter­sect, and how rela­tion­ships can shape one’s jour­ney, par­tic­u­lar­ly for women nav­i­gat­ing the restric­tive gen­der norms of their time. Katie’s emo­tion­al attach­ment to Coman, com­bined with her search for a sense of spir­i­tu­al and intel­lec­tu­al ful­fill­ment, paints a nuanced por­trait of a woman caught between ambi­tion, doubt, and the desire for con­nec­tion.