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rosieclaverton's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent biography of literary women and their close female companions, particularly those who influenced their literary works. I appreciated the detail of their lives and works that helped a non-expert navigate, as I had more familiarity with Austen and Brontë than Eliot and Woolf.
If you have an interest in literary history concerning women, I highly recommend this book.
If you have an interest in literary history concerning women, I highly recommend this book.
joayenne's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting and informative, although I wouldn't recommend it to someone only casually interested in the subjects - if this is your first experience of the biography of these women you may find it quite dry, as well as have a little difficulty following the timeline (as it really only covers the periods of the women's friendships, per the title). I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narration, though I found the accents she used for different women distracting. Not that she did the accents badly, but I felt they disrupted the flow a little.
whitreadslit's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book! It has been sitting on my shelf for entirely too long. I was most interested in the sections about Austen and Brontë since I’ve read and loved their novels, but the other two sections were fascinating as well. It was non-fiction that read like fiction, which I always enjoy. If you are interested in the behind the scenes parts of author’s lives, this is a great read for you! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
balletbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
I really, really want to love this book more than I do. I like the concept of this book - reconstructing major literary friendships of major 19th century/early 20th English lady writers - but I feel the construction of brings it down. The authors try to walk a line between straight literary biography and historical fiction with imagined scenes of the women's lives interspersed with sentences drawn from letters and diaries and it didn't work for me. I would have preferred a much more straightforward literary biography, personally, with longer quotes from the primary source material rather. Also some notation/citations in the text would have been nice (I had a digital galley that appeared very close to the finished product without notation so perhaps the finished copies have that.)
egould1's review against another edition
4.0
I found this book to be very interesting - a brief overview of the lives of several literary women and an engaging description of how particular friendships helped them both as women and as writers. I haven’t read biographies of any of the four women, so I learned a lot. The prow was very engaging and moved quickly (but not too quickly) through each writer’s life, drawing lessons and themes along the way.
suvata's review against another edition
4.0
#PemberLittens #JaneandtheExcellentReadalong September/October 2022 @SprainedBrain
#StoryGraph: nonfiction biography history reflective slow-paced
365 pages | first published 2017
Through letters and diaries that have never been published before, A Secret Sisterhood resurrects these forgotten stories of female friendships. They were sometimes scandalous and volatile, sometimes supportive and inspiring, but always—until now—tantalizingly consigned to the shadows. Two female writers and best friends bring to light the literary friendships of four iconic female authors.
Description
Male literary friendships are the stuff of legend; think Byron and Shelley, Fitzgerald and Hemingway. But the world’s best-loved female authors are usually mythologized as solitary eccentrics or isolated geniuses. Coauthors and real-life friends Emily Midorikawa and Emma Claire Sweeney prove this wrong, thanks to their discovery of a wealth of surprising collaborations: the friendship between Jane Austen and one of the family servants, playwright Anne Sharp; the daring feminist author Mary Taylor, who shaped the work of Charlotte Brontë; the transatlantic friendship of the seemingly aloof George Eliot and Harriet Beecher Stowe; and Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield, most often portrayed as bitter foes, but who, in fact, enjoyed a complex friendship fired by an underlying erotic charge. Through letters and diaries that have never been published before, A Secret Sisterhood resurrects these forgotten stories of female friendships. They were sometimes scandalous and volatile, sometimes supportive and inspiring, but always—until now—tantalizingly consigned to the shadows. Two female writers and best friends bring to light the literary friendships of four iconic female authors. “A medley of vivid narratives.” —The Atlantic With a foreword by Margaret Atwood
#StoryGraph: nonfiction biography history reflective slow-paced
365 pages | first published 2017
Through letters and diaries that have never been published before, A Secret Sisterhood resurrects these forgotten stories of female friendships. They were sometimes scandalous and volatile, sometimes supportive and inspiring, but always—until now—tantalizingly consigned to the shadows. Two female writers and best friends bring to light the literary friendships of four iconic female authors.
Description
Male literary friendships are the stuff of legend; think Byron and Shelley, Fitzgerald and Hemingway. But the world’s best-loved female authors are usually mythologized as solitary eccentrics or isolated geniuses. Coauthors and real-life friends Emily Midorikawa and Emma Claire Sweeney prove this wrong, thanks to their discovery of a wealth of surprising collaborations: the friendship between Jane Austen and one of the family servants, playwright Anne Sharp; the daring feminist author Mary Taylor, who shaped the work of Charlotte Brontë; the transatlantic friendship of the seemingly aloof George Eliot and Harriet Beecher Stowe; and Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield, most often portrayed as bitter foes, but who, in fact, enjoyed a complex friendship fired by an underlying erotic charge. Through letters and diaries that have never been published before, A Secret Sisterhood resurrects these forgotten stories of female friendships. They were sometimes scandalous and volatile, sometimes supportive and inspiring, but always—until now—tantalizingly consigned to the shadows. Two female writers and best friends bring to light the literary friendships of four iconic female authors. “A medley of vivid narratives.” —The Atlantic With a foreword by Margaret Atwood
bak8382's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this book up off the Women's History Month display in March at my public library mostly because it mentioned Jane Austen on the cover. The authors, who are literary friends themselves, decided to investigate little known friendships of famous female authors because so much more is known about male author friendships than female ones. With the exception of Jane Austen's friendship all the rest are friendships between published authors. Much of the research for this book is based on letters and diary entries and it is a fascinating look at the daily lives of these famous women. So many of them endured so much heartbreak, it feels like everyone Bronte knew died of tuberculosis. I also liked the way all the authors lives were intertwined as Austen and Bronte were an influence on Eliot and Woolf.
kittykornerlibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
I don't often read non-fiction, and this is a terrific book. It's interesting, well-researched, and accessible. Can't wait to read the fiction by these two authors.
pearlagcalo's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating! The pairs, their relationships- it’s all so intriguing. I appreciate how the book imparts a positive image on the women’s friendships. Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Virginia Woolf, Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison are all mentioned in here. All the greats and their connections to each other. It was so interesting.