Gender studies: women and girls Books

Book SynopsisA New York Times Notable Book of 2015 "Surprising and richly satisfying" (Megan Marshall); "beautifully crafted…subtle, polished, and poised" (Stacy Schiff).Trade Review"Beautifully written…Begins like a fairy tale…In Nimura's deftly interwoven account, the three girls emerge as contrasting types, like Chekhov's Three Sisters." -- Christopher Benfey - New York Times Book Review"Janice P. Nimura achieves the elusive dream of the historian, producing a work that will engage and satisfy academic and non-specialist audiences alike. The author offers both sets of readers a magnificently and meticulously detailed account of three women whose lives epitomize key features of the changing landscape of late 19th and early 20th century Japan." -- Miriam Kingsberg - Los Angeles Review of Books"This remarkable and beautifully written story—often as riveting as a page-turning novel—is both scholarly and accessible to non-specialists." -- Wingate Packard - Seattle Times"You’d be hard-pressed to find a novelist who is as deft at portraying relationships and inner thoughts…. [Nimura] skillfully bridges Japanese and American cultures, using the seemingly small story of three young people to tell a much larger tale of another time." -- Becky Krystal - Washington Post"Nimura's exhaustively researched historical biography is as immersive as any work of fiction, heartwrenching in its depiction of these cultural orphans turned pioneers." -- Julia Pierpont - Oprah.com"Nimura has done an impressive amount of research to tell her story…. Most of the time Daughters of the Samurai reads like a novel about the meeting of East and West and how it transformed the lives of three extraordinary young women." -- Elizabeth Bennett - Dallas Morning News"You won’t welcome intrusions while reading this unprecedented, true story…memorably illuminating." -- Terry Hong - Christian Science Monitor"This is feminism for Japanese women in its infancy, and Janice P. Nimura enhances the reality of the entire experience with this superb historical nonfiction account." -- Historical Novel Society"Daughters of the Samurai reads like a novel that happens to be true: three girls uprooted by fate, bridging the gulf between the elegant rhythms of Old Japan and the exhilarating opportunities of America. Janice P. Nimura paints history in cinematic strokes and brings a forgotten story to vivid, unforgettable life." -- Arthur Golden, author of Memoirs of a Geisha"At a reform-minded moment, Japan dispatched five young girls to be educated in America. Patiently, vividly, Janice P. Nimura reconstructs their Alice in Wonderland adventure. A beautifully crafted narrative, subtle, polished, and poised." -- Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Cleopatra"Surprising and richly satisfying…In Nimura's skillful telling, Sutematsu, Shige, and Ume become ambassadors once again, bringing to life an era from which we can learn important lessons about intercultural understanding, conflict, and compromise, still vital to our survival in the global twenty-first century." -- Megan Marshall, author of The Peabody Sisters and Margaret Fuller: A New American Life, winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Biography"A riveting story of three remarkable girls, caught in the maelstrom of one of the strangest culture clashes in modern history, Daughters of the Samurai is history writing at its finest and required reading for anyone interested in Japan." -- Ruth Ozeki, author of A Tale for the Time Being"Nimura brings the girls and their late nineteenth-century exploits to life in a narrative that feels like an international variation on Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, so very appealing and delightful…." -- Booklist, Starred review"Nimura produces a story of real-life heroines in this masterful biography…." -- Publishers Weekly

Read more less

Book SynopsisA daughter’s memoir of her mother evolves beautifully into a narrative of the far-reaching changes in women’s lives in the twentieth century.Trade Review"In Moore’s supremely capable hands, what began as a labor of love and filial duty expands into a dazzling epic portrait of a fascinating American family and a mother-daughter story unlike any other. A superb feat of empathetic imagination and meticulous historical reconstruction, full of drama, passion, and the deepest wisdom." -- Sigrid Nunez, National Book Award–winning author of The Friend"Our Revolution begins with the sudden, catastrophic death of a mother and ends only when that mother has been returned to vibrant, textured life by her memoirist and poet daughter. Here is that emergence, beautifully recorded, documented, and envisioned as feminist art and American history." -- Margo Jefferson, National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of Negroland"Our Revolution is a tour de force of a memoir, one that describes Honor Moore’s upper-crust background and difficult relationship with her mother with equal parts tenderness and rigor. It will have something to say to anyone who has wondered at the mysteries of family lineage and the vexed journey to becoming an individual while holding on to a larger identity as a sibling and daughter." -- Daphne Merkin, author of This Close to Happy"The revolutionary insight of this remarkable book arises from the discovery that for Honor Moore and her mother, turning in to their writer selves was also a turning to each other. Gripping and profoundly moving, Our Revolution is also a signal contribution to feminism." -- Carol Gilligan, coauthor of Why Does Patriarchy Persist?"Honor Moore’s vivid, compassionate, scrupulously honest portrait of her mother deftly charts the complex entanglements of family love, need, and pain. But this memoir-biography is also an intimate history of the ideas and events that jolted America during the three decades that followed the Second World War. The gaping rifts of class, race, and sex that set the country on fire then are still burning. Our Revolution is a book about those times for our times." -- Siri Hustvedt, author of Memories of the Future"Our Revolution is the poignant book that Honor Moore was destined to write: a passionate biographical memoir that uncovers, almost five decades after her mother’s death, a tale of family, faith, and fortitude—and of human rights, religion, and women, of mothers and daughters struggling to find themselves and each other against a midcentury backdrop of tumultuous change, uncertainty, and abiding love. Compassionate, genuine, hard to put down, it’s also a tale for today, not to be missed." -- Brenda Wineapple

Read more less

Book SynopsisA creative writing group unites and inspires girls of the first South African generation “born free.”Trade Review"Wise, observant, compassionate, and free of sanctimony, Burge does a lovely job of skillfully—and respectfully—weaving the girls’ narratives into the larger story of a radically changing society still burdened by the wounds of an oppressive system. The Born Frees would be my pick for a book to give young women and girls (and the males in their lives) to inspire them to activism and hope." -- Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies and A Wedding in Haiti"In this compelling and personal book, Kimberly Burge takes us deep inside the hearts and minds of a group of extraordinary young women whose struggles and courage epitomize what South Africa is like today." -- Jim Wallis, New York Times bestselling author of The (Un)Common Good and president of Sojourners"Readers will take the stories in The Born Frees with them forever. It is especially important for young people to know about and discuss, to build a wider world awareness and ignite passionate exploration of what matters." -- Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabes"Such a warm book, full of brave young women you will never forget. My heart was deeply moved by their perception of their own condition, and that of the country at large." -- Amana Fontanella-Khan, author of Pink Sari Revolution"Incredible and inspiring, this account belongs in every library and on every bookshelf." -- Library Journal, Starred review"Deftly combining memoir and sociology, journalist Burge describes her experience teaching creative writing to adolescent girls in the South African township of Gugulethu, near Cape Town, in 2010…. Through [these] stories, readers will understand what life is like for many young women in South Africa…. This is a troubling but inspiring read." -- Publishers Weekly"[S]earing, close-up personal stories of teenage girls in a writing club…. [T]he individual profiles are rooted in harsh daily lives that spell out the heartbreak and the hope of what some have called a discarded generation…will make a strong connection with YA readers." -- Booklist"An affecting portrait of post-apartheid South Africa, particularly useful for writing instructors serving at-risk constituencies." -- Kirkus Reviews

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first major biography of eighteenth-century writer and socialite Lady Anne Barnard.Trade Review"An eccentric life, wonderfully told. Lady Anne Barnard was a brave traveler, artist and observer. Stephen Taylor brings her brilliantly out of the shadows." -- Stella Tillyard, author of A Royal Affair"Shrewd and wonderfully vivid." -- Miranda Seymour, author of Mary Shelley"Stephen Taylor’s biography is scrupulous, affectionate and well-written… [Anne’s] appetite for life speaks to us across the centuries, and she wears her affections irresistibly on her sleeve, so that her loves are our loves, and likewise her losses." -- Virginia Nicholson - The Times (London)"Taylor’s biography gives a sense of both the richness of the life Anne created for herself and the melancholy that came with not conforming to expectations… [A] captivating portrait of a woman of huge courage, talent, and warmth." -- Lucy Moore - Literary Review"Captivating… [A] sparkling portrait of a woman unapologetically ahead of her time." -- Margaret Flanagan - Booklist"An edifying, uncluttered, and enjoyable picture of life in Regency England." -- Kirkus"Full and compelling... [A] page-turning introduction to a fascinating life." -- Publishers Weekly

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis Road I Ride is the remarkable story of one woman’s solo journey around the world by bicycle.Trade Review"Now this is feminism!. . . Buhring is in a class with Amelia Earhart and Kathrine Switzer; brave, strong, and a little crazy in the best possible way." -- Douglas Lord - Library Journal"Vivid…Buhring insists she is…just an ordinary person pushing outside her comfort zone. That is exactly what makes her story so amazing." -- Booklist"[A] testament to the human will to overcome and survive as well as a moving portrait of a woman on a deeply personal quest to define the meaning of her life. A searching, engaging memoir from an author who "can be at home no matter where I am in the world."" -- Kirkus Reviews"This is an inspirational memoir about the power of one's undefeatable determination that will appeal to adrenaline seekers." -- Publisher's Weekly"An incredible journey that is awe inspiring and completely captivating. I couldn’t put the book down, couldn’t wait to find out how Buhring would overcome the next barrier! She makes one realize that great dreams are possible to achieve. One of my all-time favorites!" -- Lynne Cox, author of Swimming to Antarctica and Grayson"Juliana Buhring endured fear, doubt, and pain to achieve a truly remarkable feat. But Buhring is more than an athlete—she’s a phoenix, who rose from the ashes of a horrific childhood and a devastating personal loss to test herself against the unknown. You’ll be amazed and inspired by this book." -- Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive"I read this book in a single sitting, transfixed by Juliana's incredible story… The physical achievement of riding around the world pales in comparison to the mental achievement of holding herself together and staying the course through such hardship. This is one of those stories that just pulls you along for the ride. Once I embarked, it just whisked me along until the end." -- Alex Honnold, author of Alone on the Wall

Read more less

Book SynopsisThrough her beautifully lyrical writing, Judith Ortiz Cofer tells us of the women's lives that entangled with hers in El Building in Paterson, New Jersey.Trade Review"This powerful collection of stories, essays, and poems shows a remarkable range, and, like a great singer, Judith Ortiz Cofer knows how to hit all the notes." -- Larry Brown

Read more less

Book SynopsisA comprehensive and engaging biography of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of the beloved classic The Yearling.Trade Review"McCutchan is a sensitive observer of Rawlings’s work, and of her deeply unconventional life... It’s a pleasure to meet this cursing, hard-drinking, brilliant, self-destructive, car-wrecking, fun-loving, chain-smoking, alligator-hunting, moonshine-making, food-obsessed woman again on the page... Come to this biography for Rawlings’s outsize personality... Stay for the portrait of a woman whose writing meant everything to her." -- Dwight Garner - New York Times"[McCutchan] has a graceful style enlivened by glints of wry humor... The book re-creates the lush tropicality of north-central Florida in the 1930s and 1940s, before developers began to bulldoze over its natural wonders. And readers get a penetrating look at one driven writer's work process... [A] vivid portrait of a woman who gave her all to do her best work." -- Mary Ann Gwinn - Minneapolis Star Tribune"An engaging, lively biography of an accomplished and complicated woman... All of it adds up to a rich portrait of a woman who loved Florida, and of a Florida that’s now all but vanished." -- Colette Bancroft - Tampa Bay Times"Rawlings cleared her path through life as though armed with a machete; McCutchan, gracefully, records every chop." -- Jonathan Miles - Garden & Gun"Absorbing, affectionate, and long overdue... McCutchan looks closely at Rawlings’ letters, stories, novels and memoirs and mines the ways they reveal Rawlings’ writerly mind... The Life She Wished to Live is the biography that Rawlings has long deserved." -- BookPage"It’s been a quarter of a century since we’ve had a new biography of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and Ann McCutchan delivers. From Rawlings’s early newspaper days to the triumph of The Yearling, McCutchan shows us a writer of complexity, ambition, and conviction. A deeply researched and satisfying read." -- Martha Ackmann, author of These Fevered Days"An affectionate biography of the beloved author…Work by work, McCutchan carefully details Rawlings’s gradual development as a professional writer who keenly absorbed [Cross Creek, Florida’s] history, culture, and dialects…An all-inclusive and intimate assessment that could help Rawlings attract a new generation of readers." -- Kirkus Reviews"In Ann McCutchan’s welcome biography, we follow Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’s evolution as a writer, glimpse her friendships with writers as various as Ernest Hemingway, Robert Frost, Margaret Mitchell and Zora Neale Hurston, and witness her vibrant literary life. Most striking is the fascinating account, unearthed from letters, of Rawlings’ personal struggle against what we would now call racist consciousness and her evolution as an ally of early 20th century struggles for social justice." -- Honor Moore, author of Our Revolution"How many contradictions can one life contain? Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings bridged the world of alligator hunting/orange growing/racially segregated early 20th century Florida and the world of legendary writers and elite New York-based editors. Ann McCutchan’s richly researched biography of the Pulitzer prize-winning author vividly portrays the uncompromising, hard-drinking and versatile Rawlings, who was equally at home wading through swamps as she was writing a novel or a cookbook, or conversing with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zora Neale Hurston and Robert Frost. The complexities of Rawlings’ massive inner insecurities and her outward, outsized personality make for a compelling and thoughtful biography." -- Julie Dobrow, author of After Emily

Read more less

Book SynopsisShocking revelations of a wife’s adultery explode in an incendiary nineteenth-century trial, exposing upper-crust New York society and its secrets.Trade Review"A suspenseful courtroom drama…[A] page-turning glimpse into the lives of 19th-century New York's upper crust." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)"The seductive first sentence of Barbara Weisberg’s riveting historical drama, Strong Passions, sweeps the reader into the vanished world of old New York. It sets the scene for a bitterly contested divorce trial that offered a rare glimpse into the lives of men and women of all classes, from tenements to gilded mansions. Strong Passions is that rare combination of page-turner and thought-provoker." -- Helen Whitney, award-winning film producer, writer, and director"If you think your divorce was bad, Barbara Weisberg has a story for you! Strong Passions tells the true-life tale of a misbegotten marriage with echoes of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edith Wharton, and the Real Housewives of New York. A cautionary tale for wives at a time when women’s rights are increasingly under attack." -- Debby Applegate, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age"Strong Passions delivers a superb and insightful narrative of a disappointed young wife and mother who strayed into a lover’s arms in 1860s New York City. Barbara Weisberg’s rigorous detective work brings clarity to the competing accounts as she carefully teases out the characters’ emotions about love, sex, and marriage. Strong Passions is a very engrossing and sympathetic read." -- Patricia Cline Cohen, author of The Murder of Helen Jewett: The Life and Death of a Prostitute in Nineteenth-Century New York"‘He said/she said,’—the characters for and against husband and wife echo the cast of an Agatha Christie whodunit. Strong Passions is a breathless read, a story to challenge the reader’s own judgment and character." -- Major General Mari K. Eder, author of The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line: Untold Stories of the Women Who Changed the Course of World War II"Beautifully written, solidly researched, and singularly empathetic, Barbara Weisberg’s Strong Passions is a tour de force. There are plenty of juicy, soap opera-worthy details here, yet Weisberg is alive to their larger social and cultural contexts." -- Clifton Hood, author of In Pursuit of Privilege: A History of New York City’s Upper Class and the Making of a Metropolis"Strong Passions is that rare delight—a fascinating, beautifully written story grounded in research rigorous enough to satisfy the most exacting historian. Weisberg’s book is more than a riveting legal drama about gender and power in old New York; it is also a thoughtful commentary on the anxieties created by the shifting boundary between private behaviors and public selves that beset Americans today." -- Joan Shelley Rubin, Dexter Perkins Professor of History, University of Rochester, author of The Making of Middlebrow Culture"The story of Strong vs. Strong is fascinating, disturbing, and a compelling dip into a divorce of the messiest sort. Weisberg marshals her facts and exposes 19th-century New York divorce laws and the suffering of women who experienced them firsthand." -- Deirdre Sinnott, author of The Third Mrs. Galway

Read more less

Book SynopsisA daughter’s “tender and unflinching portrait of her complex, privileged, wildly talented mother” (Louise Erdrich) evolves beautifully into a narrative of the far-reaching changes in women’s lives in the twentieth century.Trade Review"A dazzling, epic portrait of a fascinating American family." -- Sigrid Nunez"Searching.… The process of understanding a parent, perhaps like memoir writing, never ends. The writer and the child return repeatedly to a collection of fragments, rearranging and reconsidering them in the shifting light of age." -- Janny Scott - New York Times Book Review"[Moore] evokes the turbulence of the women’s rights movement in this elegiac account of her mother’s trek from Social Register to social justice activist." -- O, The Oprah Magazine"A monumental and loving excavation of a life so richly promising, and quenched so early.… It’s a victory of awareness and self-distancing, the task of writing in order to see the self.… [Moore] makes sense of a complex history and of complex and intimate relationships in clear, nuanced, and strategically paced prose. The culmination comes in the form of the mutual understanding she and her mother were granted, or rather, granted each other, through remarkable powers of moral imagination—in both women. The daughter writer has made her writer mother live again." -- Rosanna Warren - Literary Matters"A sharp portrait of two women who struggled to shape their lives as their world changed.… A deeply insightful, empathetic family history." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"Moore shares intimate glimpses of her family life and coming-of-age story, beautifully integrating excerpts from her mother’s writing among her own recollections and research.… [A] rich exploration of an individual whose life and family were dramatically altered by second-wave feminism." -- Library Journal"Our Revolution begins with the sudden, catastrophic death of a mother and ends only when that mother has been returned to vibrant, textured life by her memoirist and poet daughter. Here is that emergence, beautifully recorded, documented, and envisioned as feminist art and American history." -- Margo Jefferson, National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of Negroland"Our Revolution, Honor Moore’s tender and unflinching portrait of her complex, privileged, wildly talented mother, has been my book companion for a week. I could not hope for better. Jenny McKean through her daughter’s eyes is a deeply loving presence. Moore seamlessly blends her own voice with her mother’s writings to create a compelling world of 1960s and ’70s male idealism that rested upon the invisible labor of women." -- Louise Erdrich, via the Birchbark Books Instagram"Honor Moore’s vivid, compassionate, scrupulously honest portrait of her mother deftly charts the complex entanglements of family love, need, and pain. But this memoir-biography is also an intimate history of the ideas and events that jolted America during the three decades that followed the Second World War. The gaping rifts of class, race, and sex that set the country on fire then are still burning. Our Revolution is a book about those times for our times." -- Siri Hustvedt, author of Memories of the Future"Our Revolution is the poignant book that Honor Moore was destined to write: a passionate biographical memoir that uncovers, almost five decades after her mother’s death, a tale of family, faith, and fortitude—and of human rights, religion, and women, of mothers and daughters struggling to find themselves and each other against a midcentury backdrop of tumultuous change, uncertainty, and abiding love. Compassionate, genuine, hard to put down, it’s also a tale for today, not to be missed." -- Brenda Wineapple, author of The Impeachers

Read more less

Book SynopsisWinner of a 2020 Border Regional Library Association Southwest Book Award “Truly transcendent.” —Jessica Lustig, New York Times Book ReviewTrade Review"You will remember [these] tenacious and utterly winning people… for a long, long time, and you will never forget the horses." -- Pam Houston, author of Deep Creek"[Half Broke] shows a side of New Mexico that is seldom seen?the poverty and the struggle, but also the hopefulness and odd beauty of spirit within the people and the horses." -- Leslie Marmon Silko, author of Ceremony"Half Broke—with its painful candor and spare, incisive prose—is captivating." -- Michael Upchurch - Seattle Times"Fascinating.… Some of the most compelling characters here don’t speak in words: They are horses. And in Gaffney’s story, they come alive." -- Deborah Hopkinson - BookPage"With sensitive, soul-bearing prose, Gaffney weaves together her personal experiences as a horse trainer with the struggles of damaged humans and damaged horses. I was also moved by the depth of vulnerability and intuition of the horses. As Lorin Lindner’s Birds of a Feather reveals for traumatized parrots and soldiers, so Half Broke reveals for horses and parolees." -- Jonathan Balcombe, author of What a Fish Knows"Ginger Gaffney is a bold and original talent.… Savor this book, and then buy a copy for your best friend." -- Anne Hillerman, New York Times best-selling author"Gaffney pulls off the impressive feat of translating horses and humans. She creates lyricism through experience, landscape, and empathy." -- Gretchen Lida - Washington Independent Review of Books"This marvelous memoir, peopled with folks in serious trouble of one kind or another, and the horses they care for, creatures with their own sophisticated ways of communicating, taught me as much about language as have my seventy-seven years on the planet." -- Abigail Thomas, author of What Comes Next and How to Like It"Half Broke is the rare gift of a story exquisitely told, a book that shows us how to save ourselves by saving what we’ve left behind." -- Nickole Brown, author of To Those Who Were Our First Gods"Heartfelt and healing, Half Broke asks us to look at horses and ourselves in a new way. A very moving book for all animal lovers from a true horse whisperer." -- Brenda Peterson, author of Wolf Nation: The Life, Death, and Return of Wild American Wolves

Read more less

Book SynopsisA CrimeReads Best True Crime Book of 2021 A People Best Book of Summer A New York Times Most Anticipated Book of the Summer A riveting investigation into a cold case asks how much control women have over their bodies and the direction of their lives.Trade Review"Dykstra casts a searing light on racism, sexism, and the stigma of being a ‘bad’ girl. This is the perfect blueprint for any true crime writer moved to investigate a cold case." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)"Paula’s story is riveting—not only for her time, but for our own. This book is fascinating, heartbreaking, and empowering all at once." -- Abby Sher, coauthor of Sanctuary"A sharp and seductive investigation into the unsolved death of a young woman fifty years ago becomes, in Dykstra’s telling, an investigation into the genre of dead-girl true crime itself. A bracing and powerful book, unsentimental and sleek, and a roadmap for actual change." -- Lacy Crawford, author of Notes on a Silencing"A vivid, unflinching account, with its share of rage and sensitivity, equal in power and tenderness, What Happened to Paula is the story of the daring task of living in a female body. This deeply moving investigation is required reading for anyone who is or knows a woman." -- Mira Ptacin, author of Poor Your Soul and The In-Betweens"A book like no other. A murder mystery. A powerful exploration of what it means to be a vibrant woman in this cold, unfeeling, and somehow, still wonderful world. Debut author Katherine Dykstra will blow your mind." -- Marcy Dermansky, author of Very Nice"The most chilling thing about What Happened to Paula is that although Paula died fifty years ago, her story could be that of a teenage girl in 1990 or 2000 or today. This is essential reading, as gripping as any thriller." -- Julia Dahl, author of Invisible City and The Missing Hours"The missing-girl narrative can create a sort of pleasing cleanliness around the idea of violence against women: a heinous act, an innocent girl, all to be properly vilified and mourned. What Happened to Paula upends and unpacks all the smaller, subtler, scarier violences that live inside of this: what of all the ways the girl wasn’t innocent, what of all the ways none of us are?" -- Lynn Steger Strong, author of Want"A missing person, an unsolved mystery — but this is no typical true crime book. Instead, Dykstra looks at the context, the life Paula lived, in all its small moments of violence and violation, before she was murdered. Thoughtful and thought-provoking." -- Kate Tuttle - Boston Globe"A provocative true-crime page-turner on how sexism, racism and public opinion set up women for violence." -- People"What Happened to Paula resists the true crime genre...The book doesn’t rely on [Paula’s] homicide to be the climax. It resists playing into the very problem it is critiquing. The book is an unspooling of all the people and systems that conspired in Paula’s death. It has not one cause, but too many." -- Tana Wojczuk - BOMB"What Happened to Paula is not only the story exploring theories about the crime that ended Paula's life; it also reflects on other true crime stories with women as their victims, including rape and rape-murder stories, and on the burdensome costs of being born in a female body. What Happened to Paula is sobering, insightful, and a highly recommended addition to both true crime and women's issues collections." -- Midwest Book Review"Rather than simply trying to piece together a perpetrator from the facts of the case, Katherine Dykstra takes a different, more thoughtful, approach to Paula’s story, examining how stifling community standards, antagonism against interracial relationships, and assumptions about “bad girls” worked in tandem to condemn Paula and bury her story." -- Molly Odintz - CrimeReads

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn incisive, intersectional look at the mother of all gender biases: a resistance to women’s authority and power.Trade Review"Persuasive.… [P]unchy and incisive.… I would warmly recommend [this book] to men." -- James McConnachie - Sunday Times"Mary Ann Sieghart combines an absorbing review of the contemporary evidence on the systematic undervaluing of women with some powerful new insights. There is much to learn from this book, including some very practical tips on creating change that you can implement the minute after you turn the last page." -- Julia Gillard, former prime minister of Australia"Well-written and illuminating.… [The Authority Gap] has some excellent comebacks, statistics and arguments for the rest of us to use against the office sexists, or to understand better the gap that harms even very successful women." -- Isabel Berwick - Financial Times"At last, here is a credible roadmap that is capable of taking women from the margins to the center by bridging the authority gap that holds back even the best and most talented of women." -- Mary McAleese, former president of Ireland"Sieghart draws together a remarkable wealth of research… to analyse and deconstruct this pervasive underestimation of women’s competence.… An impassioned, meticulously argued and optimistic call to arms for anyone who cares about creating a fairer society." -- Stephanie Merritt - Observer"Thorough and sometimes enraging.… [Sieghart] takes something ubiquitous, something that perhaps many have become desensitised to, and slowly exposes its far-reaching implications." -- Nesrine Malik - Guardian"Sieghart writes with empathy, clarity and passion.… The book is enormously authoritative, knitting together academic studies with interviews of leading public figures." -- Frieda Klotz - Irish Independent

Read more less

Book SynopsisInstant New York Times bestseller One of Vanity Fair's Favorite Books to Gift • One of PureWow's 42 Books to Gift This Year • One of Kirkus's Best Books of 2023 The story of art as it’s never been told before, from the Renaissance to the present day, with more than 300 works of art.Trade Review"Excellent, authoritative, exuberant, and elegantly written." -- Simon Sebag Montefiore, on Twitter"What Hessel achieves here is extraordinary . . . She covers a wide range of mediums (from silhouette papercutting to body art) and themes (including postcolonial narratives and queer pride). And though she keeps the focus on the women, she includes a few choice slurs by men as evidence of what these artists were—and are—up against . . . This [is a] spellbinding book." -- Margot Mifflin - Los Angeles Times"[The Story of Art Without Men] should become a founding text in the history of art by women . . . Inspiring and indispensable." -- Bidisha Mamta - Guardian"Sweeping . . . Part revisionist history, part coffee-table book, part collective portrait, part archival treasure hunt." -- Tiana Reid - New York Times"A revelation and an important first step towards redressing the balance of an art world in which women have been sidelined." -- Katy Thompsett - Refinery29"Katy Hessel presents art as you’ve never seen it before, with women in the spotlight—and without a Leonardo in sight." -- Rachel Campbell-Johnston - Times (London)"There’s still some way to go until the gender imbalance is totally redressed, but The Story of Art Without Men, which describes how women achieved artistic excellence against colossal odds, has firmly cracked open the canon." -- Chloë Ashby - Spectator"The Story of Art Without Men is an extraordinary achievement that will have a disruptive cultural legacy and help determine the landscape for years to come." -- Helena Lee - Harper’s Bazaar"It’s a radical premise, rewriting history and upending the dominance men have held over so much of our culture. ([Hessel] includes sections on queer artists and artists of color, too.) Reading the book, I felt almost giddy as I reached each art-historical moment without the usual suspects mentioned." -- Grace Edquist - Vogue"After reading The Story of Art Without Men, educators may aspire to redesign their art history surveys and syllabi—and trade some Picassos for Gegos." -- Nageen Shaikh - Hyperallergic"An indispensable primer on the history of art, with an exclusive focus on women . . . A constructive, revelatory project . . . [and] an overdue upending of art historical discourse." -- Kirkus (starred review)"I’d urge you to pick up [this] book, which is an extraordinary eye-opener, and very readable . . . We badly need books like Hessel’s." -- Hattie Crisell - Evening Standard"This book has blown my mind. Really passionately recommend." -- India Knight - Sunday Times"Hessel’s clear love for the history of art shines. She . . . embarks on nuanced, poetic visual descriptions with reverence and excitement, as if discovering her subjects for the first time. . . . The Story of Art Without Men is an invitation to constantly rethink art history and continue to fill in the gaps." -- Annabel Keenan - Artillery

Read more less

Book SynopsisA spirited portrait of twentieth-century war correspondent Maggie Higgins and her tenacious fight to the top in a male-dominated profession.Trade Review"[A] mesmerizing, meticulously researched biography.... Higgins was only 45 when she died on Jan. 3, 1966. Ms. Conant’s book has brought her back to life." -- Andrew Nagorski - Wall Street Journal"The glamorous, accomplished 20th-century war journalist Higgins—a Pulitzer winner with a nose for news and the nerve to chase it at any cost—gets her due in this lively biography." -- New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice"Higgins’s life is now rendered in full, no longer lost to the march of male-dominated history." -- Helene Stapinski - Washington Post"Kept me turning the pages because this true story is more compelling than most novels.... A tale of triumph over almost insurmountable odds." -- Sandy Kenyon - WABC-TV"No one who reads the first chapter will be able to set this book aside, rich as it is in rare insights and high drama. Fierce Ambition left me believing that if Maggie Higgins could have selected her biographer it would have been Jenny Conant." -- Cynthia McFadden, senior investigative and legal correspondent, NBC News"The remarkable story of an irrepressible wartime reporter who would do almost anything to get a scoop. Beautiful, brilliant, and demanding, Maggie Higgins was a comet in the gray, male world of mid-twentieth-century American journalism captured in all of her complexity by Jennet Conant in her utterly compelling Fierce Ambition." -- Gay Talese, author of The Kingdom and the Power"Jennet Conant’s brilliant storytelling and extraordinary granular research bring Maggie Higgins’s long-forgotten but vital story to life…Her fearless quest to bring the truth to light will serve as inspiration for a new generation of pathfinding women. What a woman, what a legend." -- Janine di Giovanni, author of The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches from Syria"Maggie Higgins lived life at a gallop and this book keeps up with her…Jenny Conant tells the whole story with verve, insight, and deep appreciation for this fascinating, complex, and pioneering woman." -- Richard Cohen, four-time Pulitzer Prize finalist"Fierce Ambition is a reflection of journalism, hung on the passionate, brilliant, sexy, hilarious, honest, complicated, moving, tough, heartbreaking, outrageous, courageous, astonishing life of the intrepid ‘girl’ war correspondent Maggie Higgins. Slam! Bang! Kapow! If you’re a journalist and you’re not reading Fierce Ambition, you’re not doing your homework." -- Terry McDonell, author of The Accidental Life: An Editor’s Notes on Writing and Writers"Doggedly reported, incisive, and one fabulous ride, Fierce Ambition shows us a Maggie Higgins who is bold, shrewd, and indomitable, a role model not just for aspiring journalists but for fearless women of every stripe." -- Mimi Swartz, executive editor, Texas Monthly"Engrossing.... Propulsive and high-spirited, this is a riveting depiction of a larger-than-life trailblazer." -- Publishers Weekly"An admiring, cleareyed portrait of an ambitious, successful woman." -- Kirkus Reviews

Read more less

Book SynopsisA New York Times Best SellerA collection of striking and intimate photographs of Michelle Obama—many never before seen—coupled with personal reflections and behind-the-scenes stories from Official White House Photographer Amanda Lucidon, presented in a deluxe format. Michelle Obama is one of the most admired First Ladies in history, known for her grace, spirit, and beauty, as well as for the amazing work she did during her tenure to promote girls’ education, combat childhood obesity, and support military families. In Chasing Light, former White House photographer Amanda Lucidon, who spent four years covering the First Lady, shares a rare insider’s perspective, from documenting life at the White House to covering domestic and overseas travel. This collection of 150 candid photos—many previously unreleased—and Amanda’s narrative reflections reveal just what makes Mrs. Obama so special. Fro

Read more less

Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A story-driven collection of essays on the twelve powerful phrases we use to sustain our relationships, from the bestselling author of Glitter and Glue and The Middle Place “Kelly Corrigan takes on all the big, difficult questions here, with great warmth and courage.”—Glennon DoyleNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY REAL SIMPLE AND BUSTLEIt’s a crazy idea: trying to name the phrases that make love and connection possible. But that’s just what Kelly Corrigan has set out to do here. In her New York Times bestselling memoirs, Corrigan distilled our core relationships to their essences, showcasing a warm, easy storytelling style. Now, in Tell Me More, she’s back with a deeply personal, unfailingly honest, and often hilarious examination of the essential phrases that turn the wheel of life. In “I D

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisA captivating biography of the remarkable young Scotswoman whose bold decision to help “Bonnie” Prince Charlie—the Stuart claimant to the British throne—evade capture and flee the country has become the stuff of legend.After his decisive defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, Prince Charles Edward Stuart was a man on the run. Seeking refuge in the Outer Hebrides, hoping to escape to France, he found an unlikely ally in Flora MacDonald, a young woman in her early twenties, loyal to the Stuarts. Disguising the prince as an Irish maid, petticoats and all, Flora conveyed Charles by boat to Skye, where they lodged safely with her family, until the prince’s inexpert handling of feminine attire caused concern, and he was persuaded to forgo the ruse before fleeing the area undetected. Flora never saw him again. This famous incident led to Flora’s enduring appeal as a courageous Scottish heroine, inspiring and influencing countl

Read more less

Book SynopsisNATIONAL BESTSELLER • The dramatic, untold history of the heroic women recruited by Britain’s elite spy agency to help pave the way for Allied victory in World War II“Gripping. Spies, romance, Gestapo thugs, blown-up trains, courage, and treachery (lots of treachery)—and all of it true.”—Erik Larson, author of The Devil in the White City and Dead Wake In 1942, the Allies were losing, Germany seemed unstoppable, and every able man in England was on the front lines. To “set Europe ablaze,” in the words of Winston Churchill, the Special Operations Executive  (SOE), whose spies were trained in everything from demolition to sharpshooting, was forced to do something unprecedented: recruit women. Thirty-nine answered the call, leaving their lives and families to become saboteurs in France. In D-Day Girls, Sarah Rose draws on recently de­classified files, diaries, and oral histories to tell the thrilling story of three of these remarkable women. There’s Andrée Borrel, a scrappy and streetwise Parisian who blew up power lines with the Gestapo hot on her heels; Odette Sansom, an unhappily married suburban mother who saw the SOE as her ticket out of domestic life and into a meaningful adventure; and Lise de Baissac, a fiercely independent member of French colonial high society and the SOE’s unflap­pable “queen.” Together, they destroyed train lines, ambushed Nazis, plotted prison breaks, and gathered crucial intelligence—laying the groundwork for the D-Day invasion that proved to be the turning point in the war.Rigorously researched and written with razor-sharp wit, D-Day Girls is an inspiring story for our own moment of resistance: a reminder of what courage—and the energy of politically animated women—can accomplish when the stakes seem incalculably high.Praise for D-Day Girls“Rigorously researched . . . [a] thriller in the form of a non-fiction book.”—Refinery29“Equal parts espionage-romance thriller and historical narrative, D-Day Girls traces the lives and secret activities of the 39 women who answered the call to infiltrate France. . . . While chronicling the James Bond-worthy missions and love affairs of these women, Rose vividly captures the broken landscape of war.”—The Washington Post“Gripping history . . . thoroughly researched and written as smoothly as a good thriller, this is a mesmerizing story of creativity, perseverance, and astonishing heroism.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Read more less

Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “The plot provided by the universe was filled with starvation, war and rape. I would not—could not—live in that tale.”   Clemantine Wamariya was six years old when her mother and father began to speak in whispers, when neighbors began to disappear, and when she heard the loud, ugly sounds her brother said were thunder. In 1994, she and her fifteen-year-old sister, Claire, fled the Rwandan massacre and spent the next six years migrating through seven African countries, searching for safety—perpetually hungry, imprisoned and abused, enduring and escaping refugee camps, finding unexpected kindness, witnessing inhuman cruelty. They did not know whether their parents were dead or alive.   When Clemantine was twelve, she and her sister were granted refugee status in the United States; there, in Chicago, their lives diverged. Though their bond remained unbreakable, Claire, who had for so lo

Read more less

Book SynopsisNew York Times bestselling author Nicole Lapin is back with a sassy and actionable guide empowering women to be the boss of their own lives and careers.  You don’t need dozens or hundreds of employees to be a boss, says financial expert and serial entrepreneur Nicole Lapin. Hell, you don’t even need one. You just need to be confident, savvy, and ready to get out there and make your success happen. You need to find your inner Boss Bitch — your most confident, savvy, ambitious self—and own it.  A Boss Bitch is the she-ro of her own story. She is someone who takes charge of herself and her future and embraces being a “boss” in all senses of the word: whether as the boss of her own life, a boss at work, or the literal boss of her own company (or all three). Whichever she chooses, being a Boss Bitch isn’t something to apologize for—it’s something to be proud of! We all have what it tak

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun discovers the hidden pleasures of Italy in a sumptuous travel narrative that crisscrosses the country, with inventive new recipes celebrating Italian cuisine. Don’t miss Frances Mayes in PBS’s Dream of Italy: Tuscan Sun Special! “Reading this book is a vacation in itself.”—The New York Times Book Review (Best Travel Books of the Summer)The Roman Forum, the Leaning Tower, the Piazza San Marco: these are the sights synonymous with Italy. But such landmarks only scratch the surface of this magical country's offerings. In See You in the Piazza, Frances Mayes introduces us to the Italy only the locals know, as she and her husband, Ed, eat and drink their way through thirteen regions—from Friuli to Sicily. Along the way, she seeks out the cultural and historic gems not found in traditional guidebooks

Read more less

Book SynopsisNew York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice • A sharply observed memoir of motherhood and the self, and a love letter to Maine, by a writer Eula Biss calls “witty, sly, critical, inventive” and whose mind Leslie Jamison calls “electric.”“An absolute stunner: frank, funny, self-aware, constantly surprising.”—George SaundersThat night, in his bed, I spread my son’s palm wide and tried to read it. If the hand was a map that led to a future person, was there any changing the destination? One summer Heidi Julavits sees her son silhouetted by the sun and notices he is at the threshold of what she calls “the end times of childhood.” When did this happen, she asks herself. Who is my son becoming—and what qualifies me to be his guide?The next four years feel like uncharted waters. Rape allegations rock the university campus where Julavits teaches, unleashing questions

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisWomen''s Health Psychology is the first comprehensive collection ever published to consider the developmental, reproductive, and sociocultural contexts of health decision-making and behavior for women. It provides current, expert advice to help policy makers, researchers, and clinicians make the best decisions concerning topics including: The Context of Women''s Health: history of women''s healthcare, employment and women''s health, and the effects of intimate partner violence Health Challenges: smoking, alcohol, eating disorders, and sleep Reproductive Health: premenstrual dysphoric disorder, the stress of infertility, psychiatric symptoms and pregnancy, and menopause Disability and Chronic Conditions: women''s responses to disability, experiencing cancer, the psychology of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and rheumatic, heart, and Alzheimer''s diseases Table of ContentsForeword ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xiii List of Contributors xv SECTION 1: Women's Health in Context Chapter 1 Historical Roots of Women's Healthcare 3Heather Munro Prescott and Wendy Kline Chapter 2 Retheorizing Women’s Health Through Intersectionality's Prism 25Lisa Bowleg Chapter 3 Employment and Women's Health 46Nancy L. Marshall Chapter 4 Effects of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women 64Kathy McCloskey and Deidre Hussey SECTION II: Well-Being and Health Challenges Chapter 5 Alcohol Use in Women 91Nancy Vogeltanz-Holm, Kaitlin Lilienthal, Allison Kulig, and Sharon C. Wilsnack Chapter 6 Women and Smoking 123Bradley N. Collins and Uma S. Nair Chapter 7 Obesity in Women 149Michael R. Lowe, Meghan L. Butryn, and Alice V. Ely Chapter 8 Eating and Weight-Related Disorders 173Matthew Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, Ross Krawczyk, Lina Ricciardelli, and J. Kevin Thompson Chapter 9 Cosmetic Medical Procedures and Body Adornment 199Canice E. Crerand, Leanne Magee, Jacqueline Spitzer, and David B. Sarwer Chapter 10 Women's Sleep Throughout the Lifespan 223Jacqueline D. Kloss and Christina O. Nash Chapter 11 Promotion of Physical Activity for Women's Health 255Dori Pekmezi, Sarah Linke, Sheri Hartman, and Bess H. Marcus SECTION III: Reproductive Health Chapter 12 Women's Sexual Health 281Patricia J. Morokoff and Maggie L. Gorraiz Chapter 13 Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder 305Simone N. Vigod and Meir Steiner Chapter 14 The Stress of Infertility 328Lauren B. Prince and Alice D. Domar Chapter 15 The Psychology of Agency in Childbearing 355Pamela A. Geller, Alexandra R. Nelson, and Efrat Eichenbaum Chapter 16 Psychiatric Symptoms and Pregnancy 389Danielle M. Novick and Heather A. Flynn Chapter 17 Breastfeeding and Maternal Mental and Physical Health 414Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook, Chris Dunkel Schetter, and Martie Haselton Chapter 18 Rethinking Menopause 440Paula S. Derry and Heather E. Dillaway SECTION IV: Disability and Chronic Conditions Chapter 19 Women's Responses to Disability 467Rhoda Olkin Chapter 20 The Experience of Cancer in Women 491Annette L. Stanton and Betina Yanez Chapter 21 The Psychology of Irritable Bowel Syndrome 514Sarah K. Ballou and Laurie Keefer Chapter 22 Stress and Resilience in Women With Rheumatic Disease 539Sharon Danoff-Burg Chapter 23 Neurological Disorders in Women 556M. Meredith Gillis, Kara R. Douglas-Newman, and Mary V. Spiers Chapter 24 Converging Issues in Heart Disease, Stroke, and Alzheimer's Disease in Women 581Mary V. Spiers Author Index 605 Subject Index 637

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis critique explodes the stereotypical assumption that men are more prone than women to physical aggression by presenting a cogent and holistic assessment of the theoretical positions and research concerning female aggression. Gavin and Porter examine the treatment, punishment, and community response to female aggressive behavior.Table of ContentsPreface ix Acknowledgements xi 1 Theories, Research and Misconceptions about Female Aggression 1 Introduction 1 Aggression and Women 2 Violent Crime and Women 5 Theories of Aggression 8 Theories based on biological difference 8 Environmental factors 18 Psychological models 19 Measuring aggression 26 2 The Evolution of Aggression 29 Darwinism and Sociobiology 29 The Naked Ape – Was She in the Jungle or the Sea? 31 The Evolution of Aggression and the Archaeology of War 32 Intersexual vs Intrasexual Aggression 33 Conclusion 36 3 Indirect Aggression 38 Indirect Aggression in Girls and Teens 39 Women and Indirect Aggression 40 4 Child Abuse and Neglect by Women 44 Introduction 44 Prevalence 45 Mental Illness 48 Social Learning and Own Abuse History 49 Antisocial Mothers 50 Other Factors in Child Abuse 52 Failure to Protect 53 Abusive Mothers’ Perspective on Their Children 54 Recidivism 57 Effects of Abuse on Children 57 Conclusion 59 5 Intimate Partner Violence by Women 61 Introduction 61 Prevalence of Women’s Violence Against Heterosexual Partners 64 Prevalence of Women’s Violence Against Homosexual Partners 67 Severity and Injury 67 Recidivism 68 Women’s Intimate Partner Violence and Stalking 68 Intimate Partner Violence by Women Resulting in Homicide 69 Intimate Partner Violence Initiation vs Self-Defence 70 Anger, Communication and Control 71 Social Learning and Intimate Partner Violence by Women 72 Personality and Intimate Partner Violence by Women 73 Typologies 74 Reporting Issues by Victims 75 Witnessing Inter-Parental Violence 76 Treatment 77 Conclusion 78 6 Rape, Sexual Assault and Molestation by Women 80 Introduction 80 Rape, Sexual Assaults and Coercion: Beyond the Male Perpetrator–Female Victim Paradigm 80 The Prevalence of Female Sexual Assaults Based on Perpetrator Self-Report 81 Victim prevalence reports 82 Theories Regarding Sexual Assault by Women 83 Women Who Sexually Offend Against Children 85 Prevalence 85 Similarities and differences compared with male sex offenders (MSOs) 85 Typologies 87 Deviant arousal and mental illness 90 Past victimization 91 Child Pornography and the Internet 92 Victim Effects 93 Awareness, Gender Bias and the Social Construction of Women 94 Legal Issues 95 Assessment, Treatment and Recidivism 96 A Brief Note on Juvenile Female Sex Offenders 100 Conclusion 101 7 Filicide by Women 102 Introduction 102 Neonaticide 103 Pregnancy Concealment, Denial and Negation 104 Infanticide 107 Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Infanticide 108 Child Homicide by Women 109 Language, Filicide and Objectification 111 Gender and Filicide 112 Typologies 113 Mental Illness and Filicide 114 Serial Infanticide 117 Legalities 120 Conclusion 122 8 Homicide and Women 123 What Is Homicide? 123 Types of Homicide 124 Genocide 124 Mass murder 128 Mass murder for ideology 131 Murder 132 Killing for love 133 Women who kill from fear 134 Women who kill for money 136 Girls who kill 137 Manslaughter 142 Suicide 142 Conclusion 143 9 Serial Murder and Women 144 What Is Serial Murder? 145 Explanations for Serial Murder 146 Childhood 146 Psychiatric explanations 152 The role of psychopathy 153 The role of paraphilias 155 Neurological contributions 157 Female Serial Killers 158 Comfort serial killers 158 Couples Who Kill 160 Conclusion 163 10 Conclusion 165 References 169 Index 217

Read more less