I loved this book because it totally changed my view of Shakespeare. In fact I can no longer read or see a Shakespeare play or read a Shakespeare biography without thinking that the plays and sonnets were NOT written by the Bard of Avon, but rather by a mysterious author or group of authors, some of whom were likely women, all of whom for various reasons did not want to make their names public. The need to purchase another's name and even biography was common for female writers up until modern times, and could have also applied to some of the other candidates in this fascinating detective story. Some could have needed to hide in exile, being spies; others needed to guard their reputation as upstanding aristocrats who didn't stoop to the lowly trade of playwright. I won't tell you their identities - you'll have to read the book yourself to find out. The author also exposes the huge chasm that exists between "Stratfordian" scholars who claim that the genius bard sprang from nowhere to create this amazing body of literature, and those who doubt Shakespeare's identity - the "Anti-Stratfordians". It exposes the power struggles in the halls of academe that have kept the myth going for centuries, through what seem like bullying tactics to quiet the dissenters. This is an excellently researched piece of investigative journalism and a hugely fun read. The author doesn't share whom she thinks might have done it in this true whodunit, but provides well-structured cases for each and let's you decide for yourself whom to believe or not.
A thrillingly provocative investigation into the Shakespeare authorship question, exploring how doubting that William Shakespeare wrote his plays became an act of blasphemy...and who the Bard might really be.
The theory that Shakespeare may not have written the works that bear his name is the most horrible, vexed, unspeakable subject in the history of English literature. Scholars admit that the Bard's biography is a "black hole," yet to publicly question the identity of the god of English literature is unacceptable, even (some say) "immoral."
In Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies, journalist and literary critic Elizabeth Winkler sets out…
I loved the book because it opened my eyes to the fact that the women's movement started long before the mid-20th Century when I came upon it. In fact the book reveals the lives and characters of the many women in the mid-18th century who, despite all odds, banded together, mentored each other, and created intellectual safe havens – salons – where men and women could freely discuss topics as disparate as physics, languages, and literature. It took courage and often money and social status to buck the system where women were thought weak and silly creatures, to instead follow their dreams of equal discourse and study, and sometimes even romance. We get to know these women and the lives they led, some with heartbreaking multiple pregnancies and deaths of children, others prevented from marrying their lovers. We learn that the term "bluestocking" was initially a positive term applied to the man who first wore blue stockings to one of the salons because he didn't have time to change into his silk stockings. Sadly it became a derogatory term applied to women as a put down for those women who sought equal intellectual opportunities with men. And even more sadly, the belief that many of the brilliant pieces of work these women produced had to have been written by their husbands, male friends, or lovers persists to this day. For those of us women coming up through the ranks of male dominated hierarchies, as I did mid-20th century in my field of medicine, this book proves that the more things change, the more they stay the same. However, we are fortunate that these brave women paved the way for our modern women who are now recognized for their creative and intellectual endeavors, and free to pursue them without stigma or disparagement!
In England in the 1700s, a woman who was an intellectual, spoke out, or wrote professionally was considered unnatural. After all, as the wisdom of the era dictated, a clever woman-if there were such a thing-would never make a good wife. But a circle of women called the Bluestockings did something extraordinary: coming together in glittering salons to discuss and debate as intellectual equals with men, they fought for women to be educated and to have a public role in society.
In this intimate and revelatory history, Susannah Gibson delves into the lives of these pioneering women. Elizabeth Montagu established…
I loved this book because it changed my view of Jane Austen as the first female novelist. I love Jane Austen, but never knew how much previous women authors inspired her. Like many creative geniuses, she took the inspiration to the next level, and perhaps that is why we have forgotten those who preceded her. I loved the structure of this book, written like a detective story, where the author finds references throughout Austen's works, some subtle, to the women authors and the characters they wrote, whom she admired - or didn't! From there the author, an antiquarian bookseller, tracked down long since out of print books by those authors, read the original works, and found where Jane borrowed their ideas and even sometimes their words. Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility were terms used in Jane Austen's time by others. That's not to say she plagiarized these authors, but she was not the only one writing about these themes. This is a fascinating detective story of the origins of a favorite author's sources of inspiration!
From rare book dealer and guest star of the hit show Pawn Stars, a page-turning literary adventure featuring “your favorite author's favorite authors” (Today)—the women who inspired Jane Austen—that's “a meditation on reading and writing, on honesty and self-discovery—and on what books can teach us, if we let them” (The Washington Post).
Long before she was a rare book dealer, Rebecca Romney was a devoted reader of Jane Austen. She loved that Austen's books took the lives of women seriously, explored relationships with wit and confidence, and always, allowed for the possibility of a happy ending. She read and reread…
WELL at WORK: Creating Wellbeing in any Workspace By Esther M. Sternberg, M.D. Drawing on her pioneering research, Esther M. Sternberg, MD, shows how to design any workspace—at home, the office, or anywhere in between—to enhance both physical and emotional wellbeing. Staying healthy at work has never been more top-of-mind than it is today. But staying healthy isn’t the same as staying well. Staying well at work isn’t just about the germs and toxins that impact how we feel physically or even make us sick; it’s also about the many aspects of the environment that affect our stress levels, mood, focus, and productivity. Whether you work in a traditional office or a corner of your bedroom, healthy workplaces need not be a luxury. Well at Work reveals how to design these spaces for wellbeing across the seven domains of integrative health: stress and resilience, movement, sleep, relationships, nutrition, spirituality, nature and the air we breathe. And these principles apply to any spaces not only where you work but also where you live and learn! You’ll learn: • How the environment you work in all day can impact your sleep at night • Optimal lighting and noise levels for reducing stress and staying alert • How to adjust temperature and humidity to protect against infection • Why open-plan offices can keep you more active • The myriad benefits of access to nature (and how to bring nature indoors) • Office layouts that foster social interaction, but not distraction. • Foods to enhance cognitive performance • And more On this eye-opening journey of discovery, you’ll meet Dr. Sternberg’s colleagues in science and medicine, design and architecture, and building sciences who are striving to make workplaces more conducive to wellbeing. And you’ll glimpse into the future of the workplace, where artificial intelligence and the metaverse will help us design environments that respond to our individual needs. Above all, you’ll come away with a menu of simple steps anyone can take to be—and stay—well at work.
