Books about women hidden in history
Books about women hidden in history
There are books which introduce you to some amazing women, often tucked away in history and forgotten by history lessons. When a book brings these women to life, there’s nothing like it! Here’s a few books where you can meet amazing women from history.
The Bone Hunters by Joanne Burn
Meet – Mary Anning (21 May 1799 – 9 March 1847)
Mary Anning was an English fossil collector, dealer, and palaeontologist who became known around the world for the discoveries she made in the rocks and fossils found on Lyme Regis beach. Her work and findings helped change scientific thinking about prehistoric life and the history of the Earth.
The WarTime book club by Katherine Thompson
Meet – Grace La Mottée and the librarians of St Helier, Jersey
A fictional name but representative of the women who worked at the library during the war. They really did do what the women in the book did – They helped and supported each other, hid escaped prisoners and tried to keep up morale.
The Household Stacey Halls
Meet – Angela Burdett-Coutts
She was a very rich heiress and a keen philanthropist. With the author Charles Dickens, she set up a home for young women who had “turned to a life of immorality”, including theft and prostitution. The home was known as Urania Cottage and this novel is all about that!
She was committed to working with and helping children. Such was her passion that she co-founded the London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. (Today known as the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children/ NSPCC)
Madwoman paperback cover
Madwoman by Louisa Treger
Meet – Nellie Bly (May 5, 1864 – January 27, 1922)
Nellie Bly, was an American journalist, who was widely known for her record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days in emulation of Jules Verne’s fictional character Phileas Fogg. What she was also known for ( and the theme of this novel) is an exposé in which she worked undercover to report on a mental institution from within. She got herself incarcerated into the asylum on a Manhattan island.
That Bonesetter Woman by Frances Quinn
Meet – Endurance Proudfoot
Endurance is inspired by many women of her time who wanted to work in medicine or science but were told it was a man’s world. What Endurance does, what she learns and how she deals with the sexism is remarkable. She is representative of so many women of her time.
And do not forget this one!!!
The Woman who basically did the most groundbreaking work around DNA. Three men stole her glory:
Dr Rosalind Franklin was instrumental in the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953 – the helix structure – through her work. What she discovered was ground-breaking. What men tried to steal from her was heart-breaking.
