Publication Date March 5, 2024

This is a book about 18 women who made an impact in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century, but who lost their places in history because they didn’t conform to the standards of society at that time. Nevertheless, these women, and women like them helped to open up a world of possibilities for the women who came ofter them.

The writing is irreverent and witty, which is helpful because most of these stories will make you want to scream. I thought I was fairly familiar with figures in women’s history, but some of these were entirely new to me.

There are chapters about  performers, entrepreneurs and tycoons, innovators, religious figures, social justice advocates, and women who were so outside of societal norms that even the suffragists avoided them. 

In this book we meet a circus fat lady who decided that if people were going to stare at her and mock her, they should at least pay her for it. There’s a vaudeville dancer, a poker player, and a reindeer herder who became Alaska’s first self-made female millionaire. There are some names I recognized, like Ida B. Wells, Carrie Nation and Mother Jones, but even with these women there were important parts of their stories that I hadn’t known. 

Lena Himmelstein Bryant Malsin invented the first commercial maternity dress, but wasn’t allowed to advertise it for years because it was considered obscene. 

Elizabeth Packard was locked in a mental asylum for three years by her husband because she didn’t want to be a Presbyterian anymore. When she was released, she fought the system that allowed such incarceration.

Not all the women are entirely likable, but that’s kind of the point.

This was an interesting and well-researched book.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the free eARC which I received in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating 5/5

About the Author

Therese Oneill is a New York Times best-selling author. This is her third book. To learn more about her, check out her website.