You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
ravenofoctober 's review for:
The Secret History of Wonder Woman
by Jill Lepore
Interesting read! It's light on actual Wonder Woman, though, but the story of Marston, his odd life and family life, and the larger ties to feminism made for an engaging read nonetheless.
Marston was quite a piece of work. I'm still trying to decide if I think he was mostly a con man or what. And I find it interesting that the man who created Wonder Woman came across, at times, like a misogynist. He claimed to think women were superior and would rule the world someday, yet when he married Sadie Holloway he forced her to change even her FIRST name to Betty because he didn't like her first or middle names. Then he forced her to accept his relationship with Olive Byrne. Holloway turned that to her advantage as best she could (having kids and leaving Byrne to care for them while Holloway pursues her career), but it was still a situation forced upon her by a man who purported to think women were superior and should be in control.
The connection between Marston and Margaret Sanger was fascinating to me, and Wonder Woman's place in feminist history is undeniable. Lepore has done her research quite thoroughly and draws clear connections to various women in Marston's life, including Sanger, and different traits of Wonder Woman clearly influenced by those women. And even though this book is a bit long, I found it an easy read. (The only reason it took me so long to finish was because I was participating in NaNoWriMo.) A lot of nonfiction can be dense, the writing terse or bland, but Lepore's writing is clean and moves the book along well. Maybe part of that is helped by the subject matter.
The book covers more about Marston than Wonder Woman, to be clear. I do find the title of the book slightly misleading, as the focus is really on Marston and the history AROUND Wonder Woman rather than the history OF Wonder Woman. In some ways they are one and the same, but not quite. There is a lot of history of the suffrage and early feminist movements, and showing how Marston was involved or influenced by those. Which did go on to inspire his creation of Wonder Woman, but is still not quite the same as the history OF the character. I didn't mind. It was a nice refresher for some feminist history, and also illuminated things I hadn't already known about that movement. And Marston was a fascinating person with a unique personal life, so learning about all that held my interest as well.
Marston was quite a piece of work. I'm still trying to decide if I think he was mostly a con man or what. And I find it interesting that the man who created Wonder Woman came across, at times, like a misogynist. He claimed to think women were superior and would rule the world someday, yet when he married Sadie Holloway he forced her to change even her FIRST name to Betty because he didn't like her first or middle names. Then he forced her to accept his relationship with Olive Byrne. Holloway turned that to her advantage as best she could (having kids and leaving Byrne to care for them while Holloway pursues her career), but it was still a situation forced upon her by a man who purported to think women were superior and should be in control.
The connection between Marston and Margaret Sanger was fascinating to me, and Wonder Woman's place in feminist history is undeniable. Lepore has done her research quite thoroughly and draws clear connections to various women in Marston's life, including Sanger, and different traits of Wonder Woman clearly influenced by those women. And even though this book is a bit long, I found it an easy read. (The only reason it took me so long to finish was because I was participating in NaNoWriMo.) A lot of nonfiction can be dense, the writing terse or bland, but Lepore's writing is clean and moves the book along well. Maybe part of that is helped by the subject matter.
The book covers more about Marston than Wonder Woman, to be clear. I do find the title of the book slightly misleading, as the focus is really on Marston and the history AROUND Wonder Woman rather than the history OF Wonder Woman. In some ways they are one and the same, but not quite. There is a lot of history of the suffrage and early feminist movements, and showing how Marston was involved or influenced by those. Which did go on to inspire his creation of Wonder Woman, but is still not quite the same as the history OF the character. I didn't mind. It was a nice refresher for some feminist history, and also illuminated things I hadn't already known about that movement. And Marston was a fascinating person with a unique personal life, so learning about all that held my interest as well.