As part of Gen X, I was raised by a strong mother and surrounded by steely southern women, transforming their lives from housewives to more liberated women during the turbulent 1970s as women’s rights and civil rights blossomed. I admired second-wave feminists like Gloria Steinem and attended women’s studies courses in college. I was steeped in change, optimism, and hope for a better world for all. But this awareness was rooted in a critical eye to the past injustices and an understanding that the personal is the political, and how women live their lives, what obstacles they face, and how they handle them, is a testament to their power at home and in society.
I love The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon because even though it’s fiction, the main character is based on a real midwife who kept a diary of the happenings in a small town in Maine.
During the time in the 19th century when women’s everyday life was a struggle, I found Martha Ballard inspiring as someone who challenged the patriarchal order of the day by searching for the truth behind a murder despite the serious threats to her safety and well-being.
I was fascinated by the vivid details portraying daily life for women in a harsh physical environment constantly hemmed in by even stricter limitations on what women were allowed to do, to be, and to say.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • GMA BOOK CLUB PICK • AN NPR BOOK OF THE YEAR • From the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and Code Name Hélène comes a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.
"Fans of Outlander’s Claire Fraser will enjoy Lawhon’s Martha, who is brave and outspoken when it comes to protecting the innocent. . . impressive."—The Washington Post
"Once again, Lawhon works storytelling magic with a real-life heroine." —People Magazine
I was moved to tears reading about how Isabel Allende copes with her daughter’s coma in her memoir, Paula, a series of written letters telling her daughter about her own life and family history.
I was struck by how honest she was about her most vulnerable moments of despair when she was grieving and desperate for her daughter’s healing.
Allende’s reflections on her exile after the 1973 Chilean coup highlight the surreal nature of how we go through our daily lives when the world is literally falling apart around us in a larger political sense, and then she shows us how we cope when, on a much smaller scale, we lose the great loves of our lives.
When Isabel Allende's daughter, Paula, became gravely ill and fell into a coma, the author began to write the story of her family for her unconscious child. In the telling, bizarre ancestors appear before our eyes; we hear both delightful and bitter childhood memories, amazing anecdotes of youthful years, and the most intimate secrets passed along in whispers. With Paula, Allende has written a powerful autobiography whose straightforward acceptance of the magical and spiritual worlds will remind readers of her first book, The House of the Spirits.
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A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
I will never forget the first time I read Within the Whirlwind by Eugenia Ginzburg when I was in college, a memoir of Ginzburg’s ten-year survival of Soviet prisons and labor camps after the Stalinist purges of 1937.
I was stunned by the inhumanity of what happened to her and others and equally stunned about how easily mass executions can happen in civilized society. I was awakened to how quickly evil men can grab power and destroy lives.
This book continues the narrative of Ginzburg's nightmarish eighteen-year survival of Soviet prisons and labor camps, following the Stalinist purges of 1937. Introduction by Heinrich Böll. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book
When I started The Tell, a memoir by Amy Griffith, I couldn’t put it down and read it in a day or so.
I was captivated by the process she went through under her therapist’s supervision, taking psychedelics to unlock a buried trauma she’d been running from her entire life. I believe her story illustrates the fact that strong women are often the radical truth tellers in our society, and when they speak up, like Amy, they are often met with a spectrum of responses, both helpful and harmful.
'What beautiful writing, crafting, and pacing. And what a heart Amy Griffin has. Your own heart will break, and mend, as you read' Susan Cain, #1 New York Times bestselling author
'With this powerful little book, she joins the ranks of women who, like the brilliant Gisele Pelicot in France, are shaking off the stigma of abuse and reattaching it to the perpetrators' The Times
'For such a long time, people discussed my running. It took up so much space in my life. And yet nobody ever thought to ask: What are you running from?'
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
This book by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey is another book I couldn’t put down.
Two dogged journalists publish a report about Harvey Weinstein’s sexual abuses that helps launch the #metoo movement. Not only were the journalists brave in their pursuit of the truth surrounding powerful men, the voices of all the women who came forward when they were subject to danger for doing so were a testament to the power of true stories and women coming together for a greater good.
*SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING CAREY MULLIGAN AND ZOE KAZAN*
'Explosive' Margaret Atwood
'Seismic' Observer
'Brilliant' Nigella Lawson
'Gripping' Jon Ronson
A FINANCIAL TIMES, NEW STATESMAN, DAILY TELEGRAPH, METRO AND ELLE BOOK OF THE YEAR
On 5 October 2017, the New York Times published an article by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey that helped change the world.
Hollywood was talking as never before. Kantor and Twohey outmanoeuvred Harvey Weinstein, his team of defenders and private investigators, convincing some of the most famous women in the world - and some unknown ones - to go on the record.…
My book is about an ordinary woman who does extraordinary things. Lilly Ledbetter overcame impossible obstacles and odds to become the face of fair pay for women in the workforce.
Lilly never set out to leave a legacy for generations to come. She simply wanted the best life for her family. But at the end of her career as a manager at Goodyear, she discovered she was making almost 40% less than the other male managers. She sued and won, but lost on appeal. The Supreme Court ruled against her saying she should have sued within 180 days of working at Goodyear. She carried her case to Congress who returned the law to its original intent, making each new discriminatory paycheck a reset for the time someone has to sue.
