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Shakespeare's Sisters: How Women Wrote the Renaissance
This remarkable work about women writers in the English Renaissance explodes our notion of the Shakespearean period by drawing us into the lives of four women who were committed to their craft long before there was any possibility of “a room of one’s own.”
In an innovative and engaging narrative of everyday life in Shakespeare’s England, Ramie Targoff carries us from the sumptuous coronation of Queen Elizabeth in the mid-sixteenth century into the private lives of four women writers working at a time when women were legally the property of men. Some readers may have heard of Mary Sidney, accomplished poet and sister of the famous Sir Philip Sidney, but few will have heard of Aemilia Lanyer, the first woman in the seventeenth century to publish a book of original poetry, which offered a feminist take on the crucifixion, or Elizabeth Cary, who published the first original play by a woman, about the plight of the Jewish princess Mariam. Then there was Anne Clifford, a lifelong diarist who fought for decades against a patriarchy that tried to rob her of her land in one of England’s most infamous inheritance battles. These women had husbands and children to care for and little support for their art, yet against all odds they defined themselves as writers, finding rooms of their own where doors had been shut for centuries. Targoff flings those doors open, revealing the treasures left by these extraordinary women; in the process, she helps us see the Renaissance in a fresh light, creating a richer understanding of history and offering a much-needed female perspective on life in Shakespeare’s day.
In an innovative and engaging narrative of everyday life in Shakespeare’s England, Ramie Targoff carries us from the sumptuous coronation of Queen Elizabeth in the mid-sixteenth century into the private lives of four women writers working at a time when women were legally the property of men. Some readers may have heard of Mary Sidney, accomplished poet and sister of the famous Sir Philip Sidney, but few will have heard of Aemilia Lanyer, the first woman in the seventeenth century to publish a book of original poetry, which offered a feminist take on the crucifixion, or Elizabeth Cary, who published the first original play by a woman, about the plight of the Jewish princess Mariam. Then there was Anne Clifford, a lifelong diarist who fought for decades against a patriarchy that tried to rob her of her land in one of England’s most infamous inheritance battles. These women had husbands and children to care for and little support for their art, yet against all odds they defined themselves as writers, finding rooms of their own where doors had been shut for centuries. Targoff flings those doors open, revealing the treasures left by these extraordinary women; in the process, she helps us see the Renaissance in a fresh light, creating a richer understanding of history and offering a much-needed female perspective on life in Shakespeare’s day.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published March 12, 2024
About the author
Ramie Targoff
10 books49 followersRamie Targoff is professor of English, co-chair of Italian Studies, and the Jehuda Reinharz Director of the Mandel Center for the Humanities at Brandeis University. She holds a B.A. from Yale University and Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of multiple books on Renaissance poetry and religion. Her most recent book, Renaissance Woman, is a biography of Vittoria Colonna, the first woman poet ever published in Italy (in 1538) and Michelangelo's best friend.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
November 11, 2023
I got this book for a review on netgally.
I was instantly interested to read this non fiction when I saw it. Women who wrote and published works when a time it wasn't very accessible for women to be writers? Instantly intruiged. Very informative about different women and their lives and others. It sometimes felt a bit heavy with all the info but that's quite common for me and non fiction. I didn't know about them before so always great to learn something new.
I was instantly interested to read this non fiction when I saw it. Women who wrote and published works when a time it wasn't very accessible for women to be writers? Instantly intruiged. Very informative about different women and their lives and others. It sometimes felt a bit heavy with all the info but that's quite common for me and non fiction. I didn't know about them before so always great to learn something new.
March 17, 2024
Shakespeare’s Sisters by Ramie Targoff is an eye-opening work about women who were writing during the Renaissance in England, during the time of Shakespeare. These women, and their various works, largely went unknown for four centuries before slowly beginning to emerge in the mid 20th century. Now, a considerable amount has been amassed on the works, and lives, of Mary Sidney, Amelia Lanyer, Elizabeth Cary, and Anne Clifford. Because women’s lives during the 16th century were so circumscribed by the males surrounding them (father, husband, brother, son), this book also necessarily brings in much detail of their lives, relationships, and places in society, including standing with the Queen or King.
These women were lucky in having parents who wanted educated daughters which was not the norm even among the wealthy. Social proficiency was often considered more important. Mary Sidney, the sister of well known poet Philip Sidney, was a poet in her own right and one who became known in her own time. Amelia Lanyer was the first English woman to publish a book of original poetry. Elizabeth Cary was the first English woman to publish an original play. Anne Clifford kept a detailed diary for her entire life. A great deal of the diary still exists and was used to recreate the legal battle she fought most of her adult life to regain property that should have become hers after the death of her husband.
Examples of each woman’s work are provided throughout the text.
I recommend this for anyone interested in English literature and history, the Renaissance period in England. There are copious notes and sources provided by the author.
Thanks to Alfred A. Knopf and NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book. This review is my own.
These women were lucky in having parents who wanted educated daughters which was not the norm even among the wealthy. Social proficiency was often considered more important. Mary Sidney, the sister of well known poet Philip Sidney, was a poet in her own right and one who became known in her own time. Amelia Lanyer was the first English woman to publish a book of original poetry. Elizabeth Cary was the first English woman to publish an original play. Anne Clifford kept a detailed diary for her entire life. A great deal of the diary still exists and was used to recreate the legal battle she fought most of her adult life to regain property that should have become hers after the death of her husband.
Examples of each woman’s work are provided throughout the text.
I recommend this for anyone interested in English literature and history, the Renaissance period in England. There are copious notes and sources provided by the author.
Thanks to Alfred A. Knopf and NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book. This review is my own.
Read
March 11, 2024"Shakespear's Sisters" does not mean Shakespear's actual family, but we could say sisters in spirit, in other words, woman writers roughly of the same period. This engagingly written, at times vivid and image-rich academic work rewarded slow reading. Absolutely solid with primary source grounding and quotations, the book examines the lives and work of four women, and their impact on the evolving scene of English literature.
It's especially interesting to see these various ways the modern novel was beginning to bud. Fiction of course has been around for a long time. Chaucer being a fine example. But the evolution, particularly with respect to the twists and turns of English history--the puritan era--is an absorbing subject in itself.
It's all there: early publicity (coffee houses, broadsides) plays, women writing plays, fictional autobiography, education of women, translating across languages, balancing the inner life of the writer with that of a woman of the times, and her obligations. Targoff's book is well worth having in hardback, so that one can reference its stellar notes.
It's especially interesting to see these various ways the modern novel was beginning to bud. Fiction of course has been around for a long time. Chaucer being a fine example. But the evolution, particularly with respect to the twists and turns of English history--the puritan era--is an absorbing subject in itself.
It's all there: early publicity (coffee houses, broadsides) plays, women writing plays, fictional autobiography, education of women, translating across languages, balancing the inner life of the writer with that of a woman of the times, and her obligations. Targoff's book is well worth having in hardback, so that one can reference its stellar notes.
October 4, 2023
I've read a lot about the history of England in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and this book was full of new information about one woman I'd heard of and three I had not. I knew who Mary Sidney was, and that generally she was a writer like her brother had been, but that was about it. In addition to filling out the picture of her life and what writing she did, Targoff introduces the reader to three other women you're not likely to have encountered before. In each case, writing was just part of an extremely eventful life in Tudor and Stuart England, and each woman was an active and vital personality.
You won't come away from this book with much idea of what these women's writing was like, but that was not Targoff's purpose. In her epilogue she lets you know what has been published and when, so you can go read more if you want. I guess I should not be surprised that their work was not even known, let alone published, until extremely recently.
The book is very well written, and when I read the acknowledgements and saw that I know the copyeditor, I could see why! I did spot one factual error that might have been corrected in a final careful read: at one point, discussing an event in 1599, Elizabeth is referred to as "the 62 year old queen" but having been born in September 1533 she was 65 or maybe 66.
While perhaps there was a little more extended description of funeral processions of royalty than I needed, the book was also a smooth and quick read. It's hard to know given the overall context of their lives how much each of these women was committed to her craft, but clearly they were proud of and dedicated to the quality of what they did write. Mary Sidney's psalm translations and Elizabeth Cary's dramas sound the most interesting. Aemilia Lanyer's poetry has been misunderstood and mistreated for years because of a couple of outdated and poorly supported assertions that she might have been Shakespeare's 'dark lady' (assuming he even had one). And Anne Clifford was just formidable, no other word for her. I'd like to read more books like this one, please!
You won't come away from this book with much idea of what these women's writing was like, but that was not Targoff's purpose. In her epilogue she lets you know what has been published and when, so you can go read more if you want. I guess I should not be surprised that their work was not even known, let alone published, until extremely recently.
The book is very well written, and when I read the acknowledgements and saw that I know the copyeditor, I could see why! I did spot one factual error that might have been corrected in a final careful read: at one point, discussing an event in 1599, Elizabeth is referred to as "the 62 year old queen" but having been born in September 1533 she was 65 or maybe 66.
While perhaps there was a little more extended description of funeral processions of royalty than I needed, the book was also a smooth and quick read. It's hard to know given the overall context of their lives how much each of these women was committed to her craft, but clearly they were proud of and dedicated to the quality of what they did write. Mary Sidney's psalm translations and Elizabeth Cary's dramas sound the most interesting. Aemilia Lanyer's poetry has been misunderstood and mistreated for years because of a couple of outdated and poorly supported assertions that she might have been Shakespeare's 'dark lady' (assuming he even had one). And Anne Clifford was just formidable, no other word for her. I'd like to read more books like this one, please!
January 17, 2024
This work of non-fiction is an absolute gem. It’s a fascinating premise that is superbly written and researched and holds one’s attention. Ramie Targoff lifts the veil on Renaissance England from a woman’s perspective, offering an inspiring, indispensable vision of indomitable (if sometimes unfamiliar) characters. It will undoubtedly appeal to readers beyond the narrow academic clique.
My thanks to Quercus Books and NetGalley for granting this e-ARC.
My thanks to Quercus Books and NetGalley for granting this e-ARC.
January 3, 2024
Was it a choice to read this book immediately after taking a semester-long course on an identical topic? Yeah. Do I regret it? No absolutely not, now I know what Aemilia Lanyer's astrologer thought about her.
Shakespeare's Sisters is an incredibly passionate and empathetic biography of four English women authors, Mary Sidney, Aemilia Lanyer, Elizabeth Cary, and Anne Clifford. Even though all these women overlap chronologically, they could not be more different in their chosen medium, personal lives, or temperaments. While there are several amazing women authors from the period that Targoff did not touch on, her choices of who to include demonstrate the sheer breadth of content in this field. We start with Sidney's massive collection of Biblical poetry but ultimately end up with Clifford's relentless and calculating legal campaign, with a quick detour into the absolute insanity that is Elizabeth Cary's one-woman campaign to revive Catholicism. There is plenty to enjoy in this book even if you aren't looking for very technical literary analysis of their works.
I really liked the chronological layout of this book, since it emphasized how interconnected these women were, as well as how much they reflect this period in English history. It did make it confusing, however, when we don't see Sidney and Lanyer for large periods of time. Overall, I would recommend to anyone interested in women authors, Renaissance literature, or even those just craving some juicy Early Modern gossip.
4.5 stars rounded up. Thank you Knopf and NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my review!
Shakespeare's Sisters is an incredibly passionate and empathetic biography of four English women authors, Mary Sidney, Aemilia Lanyer, Elizabeth Cary, and Anne Clifford. Even though all these women overlap chronologically, they could not be more different in their chosen medium, personal lives, or temperaments. While there are several amazing women authors from the period that Targoff did not touch on, her choices of who to include demonstrate the sheer breadth of content in this field. We start with Sidney's massive collection of Biblical poetry but ultimately end up with Clifford's relentless and calculating legal campaign, with a quick detour into the absolute insanity that is Elizabeth Cary's one-woman campaign to revive Catholicism. There is plenty to enjoy in this book even if you aren't looking for very technical literary analysis of their works.
I really liked the chronological layout of this book, since it emphasized how interconnected these women were, as well as how much they reflect this period in English history. It did make it confusing, however, when we don't see Sidney and Lanyer for large periods of time. Overall, I would recommend to anyone interested in women authors, Renaissance literature, or even those just craving some juicy Early Modern gossip.
4.5 stars rounded up. Thank you Knopf and NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my review!
November 9, 2023
Shakespeare's Sisters by Ramie Targoff is an eye-opening introduction to Renaissance life throught the eyes of intelligent women who lived then. Targoff tells us that probably less than 10% of English women were educated. Each of the women studied learned most of what they knew on their own. They struggled with capricious laws designed to keep them financially dependent on husbands who were much less intelligent than they were. Their writing was often credited to the men in their lives. Most of the women experienced periods of comfortable wealth as well as grinding poverty. Targoff does an excellent job of introducing readers to probabilities where there is no evidence or record to explain events in the women's lives. This is a very readable scholarly work that will entertain and appall.
April 12, 2024
Incredibly interesting and digestible to someone like me who is not well-versed in Renaissance literature. I found the stories and history of these four women welcoming and made me want to seek out their writing or what has survived of their writings. A great look into Renaissance women's history that has otherwise been ignored for some time.
April 2, 2024
Thank you Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Knopf for allowing me to read and review Shakespeare's Sisters How Women Wrote the Renaissance on NetGalley.
Published: 03/12/24
Stars: 4
My attention wavered. With that said, I'm not a super fan of the Renaissance; I do enjoy learning and trivia. The beautiful cover started my trip back to Shakespeare's day.
At age 13 you were a woman? Well, the girls married,were abused, uneducated and all with their father's blessings. Shakespeare's Sisters How Women Wrote the Renaissance is full of the second class treatment of women and children. While reading I could see parallels to today's world and it saddened me, forcing my brain to flip ahead.
This is nicely written and full of facts that often blurred my vision.
I would gift this in a basket with a bottle and cheese.
Published: 03/12/24
Stars: 4
My attention wavered. With that said, I'm not a super fan of the Renaissance; I do enjoy learning and trivia. The beautiful cover started my trip back to Shakespeare's day.
At age 13 you were a woman? Well, the girls married,were abused, uneducated and all with their father's blessings. Shakespeare's Sisters How Women Wrote the Renaissance is full of the second class treatment of women and children. While reading I could see parallels to today's world and it saddened me, forcing my brain to flip ahead.
This is nicely written and full of facts that often blurred my vision.
I would gift this in a basket with a bottle and cheese.
April 5, 2024
DNF, actually, with less than 70 pages to go. Confusingly organized, Targoff embeds single paragraphs about the actual women's writing in full chapters about their battles over property and whose castles they stayed in. She reduces a period of radical social change to accounts of doweries and acreages.
February 28, 2024
Wanted to like this but the writing is just incredibly dull. There's nothing original here either. These women have been written about before by other scholars. Targoff is simply regurgitating their biographies.
Read
April 16, 2024Elizabeth I’s funeral procession in April 1603 was lavish and long, the extravagant bier topped with a wax effigy of the queen in red wig, crown and all. Thousands watched the procession as it moved from Whitehall to Westminster, and within or around it were four female writers who would change Renaissance literature in England.
The purpose of Ramie Targoff’s book is to belie Virginia Woolf’s claim, made centuries later in A Room of One’s Own, that it would be impossible for a woman of that time to be a serious writer; if Shakespeare had had a talented sister, Woolf said, she would surely have gone mad and died by suicide in the face of overwhelming obstacles. But Woolf was wrong. While only Shakespeare was Shakespeare, there were ‘sisters’ of considerable literary skill (albeit ones with aristocratic connections).
One of them was in Elizabeth’s funeral procession: Mary Sidney. Perhaps best known as the dedicatee of her brother Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia, by the time of the queen’s funeral Mary Sidney had a growing reputation due to her own sophisticated and experimental poems, most of them based on psalms. She had also published her translations of her brother’s French writer friends, most notably Robert Garnier’s Marc Antoine, the first dramatisation of the Antony and Cleopatra story in English and a probable source for Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra.
Peripheral to the procession, but connected to it by participating relations, were the three other women whose lives and work Targoff describes. Aged 13, Anne Clifford was judged too young to participate, but her mother, Margaret, Countess of Cumberland, was among Elizabeth’s aristocratic mourners. Clifford’s diaries and autobiography are filled with tremendous strength of purpose revealing her struggle for her rightful inheritance. Then there is Elizabeth Cary, whose father-in-law marched as Master of the Queen’s Jewel House. Her two closet dramas, Mariam and Edward II, were written during an unhappy marriage and feature strong women standing up to powerful men. Finally, Aemilia Lanyer was a member of the minor gentry, whose husband Alfonso was part of the royal recorder consort. Her single book of poems, published in the same year as the King James Bible (1611) and including the story of Christ’s passion told entirely from a woman’s point of view, took 400 years to enter the Renaissance literary canon, but it is unlikely to leave any time soon, partly because the poems are simply very good.
Read the rest of the review at HistoryToday.com
Susanne Woods is the editor of The Poems of Aemilia Lanyer and author of Lanyer: A Renaissance Woman Poet (Oxford University Press, 1995 and 1999).
The purpose of Ramie Targoff’s book is to belie Virginia Woolf’s claim, made centuries later in A Room of One’s Own, that it would be impossible for a woman of that time to be a serious writer; if Shakespeare had had a talented sister, Woolf said, she would surely have gone mad and died by suicide in the face of overwhelming obstacles. But Woolf was wrong. While only Shakespeare was Shakespeare, there were ‘sisters’ of considerable literary skill (albeit ones with aristocratic connections).
One of them was in Elizabeth’s funeral procession: Mary Sidney. Perhaps best known as the dedicatee of her brother Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia, by the time of the queen’s funeral Mary Sidney had a growing reputation due to her own sophisticated and experimental poems, most of them based on psalms. She had also published her translations of her brother’s French writer friends, most notably Robert Garnier’s Marc Antoine, the first dramatisation of the Antony and Cleopatra story in English and a probable source for Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra.
Peripheral to the procession, but connected to it by participating relations, were the three other women whose lives and work Targoff describes. Aged 13, Anne Clifford was judged too young to participate, but her mother, Margaret, Countess of Cumberland, was among Elizabeth’s aristocratic mourners. Clifford’s diaries and autobiography are filled with tremendous strength of purpose revealing her struggle for her rightful inheritance. Then there is Elizabeth Cary, whose father-in-law marched as Master of the Queen’s Jewel House. Her two closet dramas, Mariam and Edward II, were written during an unhappy marriage and feature strong women standing up to powerful men. Finally, Aemilia Lanyer was a member of the minor gentry, whose husband Alfonso was part of the royal recorder consort. Her single book of poems, published in the same year as the King James Bible (1611) and including the story of Christ’s passion told entirely from a woman’s point of view, took 400 years to enter the Renaissance literary canon, but it is unlikely to leave any time soon, partly because the poems are simply very good.
Read the rest of the review at HistoryToday.com
Susanne Woods is the editor of The Poems of Aemilia Lanyer and author of Lanyer: A Renaissance Woman Poet (Oxford University Press, 1995 and 1999).
April 12, 2024
This book is incredibly dense. Super informative but as someone who doesn’t know much about the renaissance, I was pretty overwhelmed. That being said, some people love books that read like textbooks and may be able to absorb all the information easily. I’m not like that so really struggled.
Additionally, this book focuses on authors that were all connected in some way. I found this cool, but to better help the reader understand everything given the context, the author almost seems to go on tangents. This also kind of overwhelmed me.
My favorite quotes:
“She may have broken through the glass ceiling, but she didn’t care whether others followed suit.” Re: Queen Elizabeth I (pg 22)
“[Queen] Elizabeth didn't simply have a talent for writing: she worshipped at its altar.” Pg 23
“For a girl of such extraordinary intelligence-she was clearly a child prodigy—to be reduced to a monetary sum on the marriage market seems devastating to modern eyes.” Re: Elizabeth Cary (pg 99)
“If men are sinful enough to crucify their savior, then women should be liberated from men's rule.” (Pg 150)
“"But to be quoted in the margin": what better description could there be of women's role in history?” (Pg 226)
Additionally, this book focuses on authors that were all connected in some way. I found this cool, but to better help the reader understand everything given the context, the author almost seems to go on tangents. This also kind of overwhelmed me.
My favorite quotes:
“She may have broken through the glass ceiling, but she didn’t care whether others followed suit.” Re: Queen Elizabeth I (pg 22)
“[Queen] Elizabeth didn't simply have a talent for writing: she worshipped at its altar.” Pg 23
“For a girl of such extraordinary intelligence-she was clearly a child prodigy—to be reduced to a monetary sum on the marriage market seems devastating to modern eyes.” Re: Elizabeth Cary (pg 99)
“If men are sinful enough to crucify their savior, then women should be liberated from men's rule.” (Pg 150)
“"But to be quoted in the margin": what better description could there be of women's role in history?” (Pg 226)
March 13, 2024
Read via NetGalley.
I'm here for pretty much any book that helps to prove Joanna Russ' point that women have always written, and that society (men) have always tried to squash the memory of those women so that women don't have a tradition to hold to. (See How to Suppress Women's Writing.)
Mary Sidney, Aemilia Lanyer, Elizabeth Cary and Anne Clifford all overlapped for several decades in the late Elizabethan/ early Jacobean period in England - which, yes, means they also overlapped with Shakespeare. Hence the title, referencing Virginia Woolf's warning that an imaginary sister of William's, with equal talent, would have gone mad because she would not have been allowed to write. Targoff doesn't claim it was always easy for these women to write - especially for Lanyer, the only non-aristocrat. What she does show, though, is the sheer determination of these women TO write. And they were often writing what would be classified as feminist work, too: biblical stories from a woman's perspective, for instance. And they were also often getting themselves published - also a feminist, revolutionary move. A woman in public?? Horror!
Essentially this book is a short biography of each of the women, gneerally focusing on their education and then their writing - what they wrote, speculating on why they wrote, and how they managed to do so (finding the time, basically). There's also an exploration of what happened to their work: some of it was published during their respective lifetimes; some of it was misattributed (another note connecting this to Russ: Mary Sidney's work, in particular, was often attributed to her brother instead. Which is exactly one of the moves that Russ identifies in the suppression game). Some of it was lost and only came to light in the 20th century, or was only acknowledged as worthy then. Almost incidentally this is also a potted history of England in the time, because of who these women were - three of the four being aristocrats, one ending up the greatest heiress in England, and all having important family connections. You don't need to know much about England in the period to understand what's going on.
Targoff has written an excellent history here. There's not TOO many names to keep track of; she has kept her sights firmly on the women as the centre of the narrative; she explains some otherwise confusing issues very neatly. Her style is a delight to read - very engaging and warm, she picks the interesting details to focus on, and basically I would not hesitate to pick up another book by her. This is an excellent introduction to four women whose work should play an important part in the history of English literature.
I'm here for pretty much any book that helps to prove Joanna Russ' point that women have always written, and that society (men) have always tried to squash the memory of those women so that women don't have a tradition to hold to. (See How to Suppress Women's Writing.)
Mary Sidney, Aemilia Lanyer, Elizabeth Cary and Anne Clifford all overlapped for several decades in the late Elizabethan/ early Jacobean period in England - which, yes, means they also overlapped with Shakespeare. Hence the title, referencing Virginia Woolf's warning that an imaginary sister of William's, with equal talent, would have gone mad because she would not have been allowed to write. Targoff doesn't claim it was always easy for these women to write - especially for Lanyer, the only non-aristocrat. What she does show, though, is the sheer determination of these women TO write. And they were often writing what would be classified as feminist work, too: biblical stories from a woman's perspective, for instance. And they were also often getting themselves published - also a feminist, revolutionary move. A woman in public?? Horror!
Essentially this book is a short biography of each of the women, gneerally focusing on their education and then their writing - what they wrote, speculating on why they wrote, and how they managed to do so (finding the time, basically). There's also an exploration of what happened to their work: some of it was published during their respective lifetimes; some of it was misattributed (another note connecting this to Russ: Mary Sidney's work, in particular, was often attributed to her brother instead. Which is exactly one of the moves that Russ identifies in the suppression game). Some of it was lost and only came to light in the 20th century, or was only acknowledged as worthy then. Almost incidentally this is also a potted history of England in the time, because of who these women were - three of the four being aristocrats, one ending up the greatest heiress in England, and all having important family connections. You don't need to know much about England in the period to understand what's going on.
Targoff has written an excellent history here. There's not TOO many names to keep track of; she has kept her sights firmly on the women as the centre of the narrative; she explains some otherwise confusing issues very neatly. Her style is a delight to read - very engaging and warm, she picks the interesting details to focus on, and basically I would not hesitate to pick up another book by her. This is an excellent introduction to four women whose work should play an important part in the history of English literature.
April 15, 2024
A very informative text about 4 women alive during Shakespeare's time that also contributed to the Renaissance of writing. While some parts were bogged down with information about British hierarchy, I understand why they had to include it since these women's lives were so intertwined with society and the people they knew.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 14, 2023
Shakespeare's Sisters: How Women Wrote the Renaissance by Ramie Targoff is a great nonfiction that highlights a few of the talented female authors in the 17th century England.
This is such a wonderful collection of female authors, some more well-known than others, that lived during the Renaissance era in England.
It was fascinating to learn more about these talented women, as well as more about British society and history, through their lives and experiences.
There are so many authors, especially those of women, that are pushed off to the side and are forgotten. They deserve a chance in the spotlight, and it is clear from the extensive research, that this author has succeeded in that endeavor.
5/5 stars
Thank you NG and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, Knopf for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.
I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 3/12/24.
This is such a wonderful collection of female authors, some more well-known than others, that lived during the Renaissance era in England.
It was fascinating to learn more about these talented women, as well as more about British society and history, through their lives and experiences.
There are so many authors, especially those of women, that are pushed off to the side and are forgotten. They deserve a chance in the spotlight, and it is clear from the extensive research, that this author has succeeded in that endeavor.
5/5 stars
Thank you NG and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, Knopf for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.
I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 3/12/24.
December 23, 2023
Readers are warned that this is not a book of literary criticism about the works of Renaissance writers, rather it is about the lives of four writers that led relatively well-documented lives. And author Ramie Targoff intends to show us not that these women were exceptional, but to describe their everyday lives, lives that would have been familiar to many women in Elizabethan and Jacobean Britain.
Even forewarned, I was a bit disappointed not to learn more about the works of the women (Anne Clifford, Mary Sidney, Elizabeth Cary, and Aemilia Lanier. Fortunately, there are plenty of resources cited throughout and in the bibliography.
By looking at four women of roughly the same generation, Targoff shows that women writers were not as rare in Shakespeare's day as we might have assumed, and that their lives can be seen as unexceptional, and therefore it's possible, even likely, that more women might be discovered to have been writers.
(Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital review copy.)
Even forewarned, I was a bit disappointed not to learn more about the works of the women (Anne Clifford, Mary Sidney, Elizabeth Cary, and Aemilia Lanier. Fortunately, there are plenty of resources cited throughout and in the bibliography.
By looking at four women of roughly the same generation, Targoff shows that women writers were not as rare in Shakespeare's day as we might have assumed, and that their lives can be seen as unexceptional, and therefore it's possible, even likely, that more women might be discovered to have been writers.
(Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital review copy.)
April 7, 2024
I want to thank Netgalley and Knof Publishing for a copy of this book.
Brief Summary: A nonfiction work examining the biographies and literary contributions of four Renaissance women: Mary Sidney (Countess of Pembroke), Aemilia Lanyer, Elizabeth Cary (Viscountess Falkland), and Anne Clifford (Baroness Clifford; Countess of Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery). These women's lives are interwoven throughout the book as their lives were and highlight the influence these women had on each other works as well as literature at large.
Thoughts: This book starts a little slow as Targoff does a thorough job discussing the entirety of each of these women's lives including discussing their childhoods, socioeconomic status, and relationships. However, around chapter 3 my interest in the book increased because the women began to have greater agency within their own lives.
Throughout the book which of the women I found the most fascinating continued to change with the more information that I learned about each one of them. I think that this speaks volumes about both the subjects of the books and Targoff's writing style. By interweaving the narratives events in time are being kept in chronological order from the reign of Elizabeth I to the Restoration Period. It also allowed Targoff to highlight how each of these women knew and were related to one another. For example, Anne Clifford married for the second time to Mary Sidney's son and Aemilia Lanyer appears to have tutored Anne for a time during her youth. While Anne and Elizabeth moved in the same court circles.
I also really enjoyed how Targoff also highlighted and integrated these women's connections to Anna of Denmark (Queen Consort to James VI and I) and Henrietta Maria (Queen Consort to Charles I). It was particularly interesting to learn about Queen Anna's interest in Anne's court case the advice she gave Anne which helped her hold her ground in the face of pressure from the men around her or how Henrietta Maria aided Elizabeth with religious matters.
Balancing the discussion of world events and biographical information can be a difficult task especially when information is not as readily available for the subject, but Targoff does an excellent job. Particularly with Aemilia who is the least sociologically advantaged of the women discussed throughout this book. I appreciate the archival work that Targoff had to conduct to find her in the historical record later in her life and the later court cases were very interesting.
I think that this is a great book for anyone interested in learning about women-centred history, particularly those who contributed to Renaissance literature I would recommend this book. This book is an excellent combination of literary contribution, biography, and history.
Content Warnings
Graphically described: Chronic illness, Child death, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, War, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of a parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Misogyny
Moderately described: Mental illness
Minor description: Animal death, Vomit, and Suicide
Brief Summary: A nonfiction work examining the biographies and literary contributions of four Renaissance women: Mary Sidney (Countess of Pembroke), Aemilia Lanyer, Elizabeth Cary (Viscountess Falkland), and Anne Clifford (Baroness Clifford; Countess of Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery). These women's lives are interwoven throughout the book as their lives were and highlight the influence these women had on each other works as well as literature at large.
Thoughts: This book starts a little slow as Targoff does a thorough job discussing the entirety of each of these women's lives including discussing their childhoods, socioeconomic status, and relationships. However, around chapter 3 my interest in the book increased because the women began to have greater agency within their own lives.
Throughout the book which of the women I found the most fascinating continued to change with the more information that I learned about each one of them. I think that this speaks volumes about both the subjects of the books and Targoff's writing style. By interweaving the narratives events in time are being kept in chronological order from the reign of Elizabeth I to the Restoration Period. It also allowed Targoff to highlight how each of these women knew and were related to one another. For example, Anne Clifford married for the second time to Mary Sidney's son and Aemilia Lanyer appears to have tutored Anne for a time during her youth. While Anne and Elizabeth moved in the same court circles.
I also really enjoyed how Targoff also highlighted and integrated these women's connections to Anna of Denmark (Queen Consort to James VI and I) and Henrietta Maria (Queen Consort to Charles I). It was particularly interesting to learn about Queen Anna's interest in Anne's court case the advice she gave Anne which helped her hold her ground in the face of pressure from the men around her or how Henrietta Maria aided Elizabeth with religious matters.
Balancing the discussion of world events and biographical information can be a difficult task especially when information is not as readily available for the subject, but Targoff does an excellent job. Particularly with Aemilia who is the least sociologically advantaged of the women discussed throughout this book. I appreciate the archival work that Targoff had to conduct to find her in the historical record later in her life and the later court cases were very interesting.
I think that this is a great book for anyone interested in learning about women-centred history, particularly those who contributed to Renaissance literature I would recommend this book. This book is an excellent combination of literary contribution, biography, and history.
Content Warnings
Graphically described: Chronic illness, Child death, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, War, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of a parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Misogyny
Moderately described: Mental illness
Minor description: Animal death, Vomit, and Suicide
January 21, 2024
Ramie Targoff , Shakespeare's Sisters Four Women Who Wrote the Renaissance, Quercus Books, riverrun, March 2024.
Thank you, Net Galley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.
Ramie Targoff begins with a reference to Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own in which she compares the success men win for their literary efforts in comparison with women of similar talent. Essential to women’s opportunities she believed were money and independent space. Also of importance to Targoff’s effort to bring four women writers into the history they deserve, is Woolf’s reiteration of the story of Judith, Shakespear’s imaginary sister. Judith, it is said, was as brilliant a writer as William, but her sex reduced her to obscurity. Targoff aims to give the four sisters about whom she writes their deserved place in the history of writing. Anne Clifford, Mary Sidney, Aemilia Lanyer and Elizabeth Cary are given their literary due in this detailed account of their lives and work.
Targoff’s book is resplendent with detail. The women’s status, domestic and public lives and writing history and successes, alongside further details of their work, is thoroughly explored . So too is the political, social and economic environment in which they worked. My only quibble about this delightful book is that further detail of the literary context would have, I think, added to even greater understanding of the magnitude of the women’s achievements. (NB. the Epilogue incudes relevant sources).
The material related to women’s role in translating familiar and unfamiliar texts is particularly enlightening. Beginning with a discussion of Elizabeth 1’s translations – a formidable feat which Targoff sees as one of the ways in which she established her credentials to rule – it is demonstrated that the Queen provided a role model for other women writers. Mary Sidney’s poems to Elizabeth and her translations and Elizabeth Carey’s feminist restating of earlier differently interpreted works are significant examples, rich in detail, of the work undertaken by the four Renaissance women writers to which Targoff turns her searching eye.
Shakespeare's Sisters is a well written expose of the way in which four indefatigable women writers of Shakespeare’s time worked against the walls erected to maintain them in their obscurity. They have managed to escape that obscurity through rigorous attention to truth-telling about women’s position in a work which combines academic rigour with a lively and entertaining text which is detailed but accessible.
There is an excellent epilogue in which further reading is listed; each chapter has detailed endnotes; family charts provide valuable information about the women and their families; and colour plates are included in the text.
Thank you, Net Galley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.
Ramie Targoff begins with a reference to Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own in which she compares the success men win for their literary efforts in comparison with women of similar talent. Essential to women’s opportunities she believed were money and independent space. Also of importance to Targoff’s effort to bring four women writers into the history they deserve, is Woolf’s reiteration of the story of Judith, Shakespear’s imaginary sister. Judith, it is said, was as brilliant a writer as William, but her sex reduced her to obscurity. Targoff aims to give the four sisters about whom she writes their deserved place in the history of writing. Anne Clifford, Mary Sidney, Aemilia Lanyer and Elizabeth Cary are given their literary due in this detailed account of their lives and work.
Targoff’s book is resplendent with detail. The women’s status, domestic and public lives and writing history and successes, alongside further details of their work, is thoroughly explored . So too is the political, social and economic environment in which they worked. My only quibble about this delightful book is that further detail of the literary context would have, I think, added to even greater understanding of the magnitude of the women’s achievements. (NB. the Epilogue incudes relevant sources).
The material related to women’s role in translating familiar and unfamiliar texts is particularly enlightening. Beginning with a discussion of Elizabeth 1’s translations – a formidable feat which Targoff sees as one of the ways in which she established her credentials to rule – it is demonstrated that the Queen provided a role model for other women writers. Mary Sidney’s poems to Elizabeth and her translations and Elizabeth Carey’s feminist restating of earlier differently interpreted works are significant examples, rich in detail, of the work undertaken by the four Renaissance women writers to which Targoff turns her searching eye.
Shakespeare's Sisters is a well written expose of the way in which four indefatigable women writers of Shakespeare’s time worked against the walls erected to maintain them in their obscurity. They have managed to escape that obscurity through rigorous attention to truth-telling about women’s position in a work which combines academic rigour with a lively and entertaining text which is detailed but accessible.
There is an excellent epilogue in which further reading is listed; each chapter has detailed endnotes; family charts provide valuable information about the women and their families; and colour plates are included in the text.
February 21, 2024
If you're looking for an introduction to the world of Renaissance England through women's eyes and how they worked to make their voices heard through writing- look no further than Shakespeare's Sisters by Ramie Targoff. She takes the long-held belief that Tudor women didn't read, didn't write, and certainly weren't anything but meek and mild wives and daughters and throws it out the window.
Queen Elizabeth might not have been trying to break the glass ceiling for women, but that doesn't mean other women weren't looking for ways to express themselves. Mary Sidney is someone readers might have heard of- at least because her brother was famous. She took that and ran with it, adding translations and poems of her own to published works of his (some that she only recently got credit for!). Aemilia Lanyer was the first woman to publish a book of original poetry in the 17th century, and she did it while worrying about money for her family because she wasn't nobly born! She made it more shocking by writing a feminist take on the crucifixion- including a poem from the point of view of the wife of Pontius Pilate arguing that if he condemned Christ he is basically erasing Eve's original sin and women are no longer the 'lesser sex'. Elizabeth Carey was the first woman to publish an original play, a feminist take on the Jewish princess Mariam. Anne Clifford is probably the first woman diarist who also wrote down her life and her family's history, all while fighting 40 years of legal battles for her inheritance.
Each of these women were ahead of their time in so many ways, determined to live life as they wanted to. This incredibly well-written and well-researched book gives them back their voices and introduces us to women we may not have known before, but will now definitely want to know more about. The book is designed to tell us more about their lives than to be literary analyses, but at the end we get a great chapter on why their writing is so rarely taught, where we can find their books, and other Renaissance women we might want to read.
I absolutely recommend Shakespeare's Sisters to anyone interested in Tudor England and English literature, or the increasing discoveries of women's lives throughout history, some of which are only recently being brought back into the light.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Queen Elizabeth might not have been trying to break the glass ceiling for women, but that doesn't mean other women weren't looking for ways to express themselves. Mary Sidney is someone readers might have heard of- at least because her brother was famous. She took that and ran with it, adding translations and poems of her own to published works of his (some that she only recently got credit for!). Aemilia Lanyer was the first woman to publish a book of original poetry in the 17th century, and she did it while worrying about money for her family because she wasn't nobly born! She made it more shocking by writing a feminist take on the crucifixion- including a poem from the point of view of the wife of Pontius Pilate arguing that if he condemned Christ he is basically erasing Eve's original sin and women are no longer the 'lesser sex'. Elizabeth Carey was the first woman to publish an original play, a feminist take on the Jewish princess Mariam. Anne Clifford is probably the first woman diarist who also wrote down her life and her family's history, all while fighting 40 years of legal battles for her inheritance.
Each of these women were ahead of their time in so many ways, determined to live life as they wanted to. This incredibly well-written and well-researched book gives them back their voices and introduces us to women we may not have known before, but will now definitely want to know more about. The book is designed to tell us more about their lives than to be literary analyses, but at the end we get a great chapter on why their writing is so rarely taught, where we can find their books, and other Renaissance women we might want to read.
I absolutely recommend Shakespeare's Sisters to anyone interested in Tudor England and English literature, or the increasing discoveries of women's lives throughout history, some of which are only recently being brought back into the light.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
January 7, 2024
It seems as though a gazillion books (give or take a few) have been written about Elizabethan England, but this one intrigued me because it explored a subject new to me, female writers. Author Ramie Targoff says in her Epilogue that she went all through her studies in English literature, including a PhD, without reading any literature by women written during the time of Shakespeare. Because of this, her book is important as a work of research as well as very entertaining reading. Targoff sets the scene with Queen Elizabeth I, reminding readers of the broad points of her life, but then concentrates the rest of the book by focusing on four extraordinary women: poet Mary Sydney; Aemelia Lanyer, whose book of poetry offers a distinctly (and surprising) feminist viewpoint; Elizabeth Cary, the first published female playwright in England, and Anne Clifford, a diarist whose work helped save her own inheritance and chronicle the lives of her family. Although most of the narrative is about the work of these writers, there are several quotes from each one to give us a sense of what wonderful artists they were.
Targoff's style is very readable, but like most books about English history, the relationships and lineages are often difficult to follow. I've read several books about this time period, but these women all came from a slightly lower tier of nobility than others I've read. Some of the women's relationships intersect, others do not. It didn't help that Targoff chose to alternate chapters between the four women rather than telling the complete story of one and then moving on to the next. I can understand the choice, but for me, the complete stories would have worked better.
Extensive notes and bibliography are included, making this book an excellent choice for college level English classes, but is accessible and entertaining for the lay person as well.
Many thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this advance reader copy.
Targoff's style is very readable, but like most books about English history, the relationships and lineages are often difficult to follow. I've read several books about this time period, but these women all came from a slightly lower tier of nobility than others I've read. Some of the women's relationships intersect, others do not. It didn't help that Targoff chose to alternate chapters between the four women rather than telling the complete story of one and then moving on to the next. I can understand the choice, but for me, the complete stories would have worked better.
Extensive notes and bibliography are included, making this book an excellent choice for college level English classes, but is accessible and entertaining for the lay person as well.
Many thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this advance reader copy.
February 22, 2024
Ramie Targoff's Shakespeare's Sisters is an important look at the lives and works of four women writing at the same time as Shakespeare in Renaissance England. Readers may be aware of Mary Sidney who was a poet, but may not have been aware of Elizabeth Carey the playwright, Anne Clifford the diarist or Aemilia Lanyer the poet. And you wouldn't be remiss if you didn't, as until the 1990s nearly all texts by women Renaissance writers were either unpublished, out of print or their authorship was obscured in some way. So far, so patriarchy.
Targoff's work is fairly chronological, and takes a biographical look at what we know of these women's lives, what they wrote and how they appeared in print to others who knew them or knew of them.
Aemilia Lanyer's story and poetry was especially interesting as she was from the middling classes - connected to the royal courts by way of her musical family.
I also found it fascinating that all four women used their writing to present and centre the experiences of women and even to put forth feminist views in defence of women's rights - I loved a particular passage from Lanyer's Salve Deus:
"You came not in the world without our pain, Make that a bar against your cruelty;
Your fault being greater , why should you disdain Our being your equals, free from tyranny?"
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book - it wasn't overtly academic or taxing but was full of hugely important and absorbing information. It's genuinely exciting to think of what other gems historians and archivists will uncover now there's a field of history dedicated to women and their exploits - as Targoff says, "the more of these voices we can uncover, the richer our own history becomes. The future of the past is full of women."
The publisher sent me an advanced reader copy of this book for review but all opinions are my own.
Targoff's work is fairly chronological, and takes a biographical look at what we know of these women's lives, what they wrote and how they appeared in print to others who knew them or knew of them.
Aemilia Lanyer's story and poetry was especially interesting as she was from the middling classes - connected to the royal courts by way of her musical family.
I also found it fascinating that all four women used their writing to present and centre the experiences of women and even to put forth feminist views in defence of women's rights - I loved a particular passage from Lanyer's Salve Deus:
"You came not in the world without our pain, Make that a bar against your cruelty;
Your fault being greater , why should you disdain Our being your equals, free from tyranny?"
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book - it wasn't overtly academic or taxing but was full of hugely important and absorbing information. It's genuinely exciting to think of what other gems historians and archivists will uncover now there's a field of history dedicated to women and their exploits - as Targoff says, "the more of these voices we can uncover, the richer our own history becomes. The future of the past is full of women."
The publisher sent me an advanced reader copy of this book for review but all opinions are my own.
November 29, 2023
When I saw this title and synopsis, I immediately wanted to read it. I am not normally drawn in by nonfiction, but I love historical feminism and reading historical diaries!
This was a captivating, detailed account of the lives of women writers during the Renaissance and the barriers they faced, even when equipped with wealth and privilege.
I knew of Mary Sidney, but had not heard of the other writers discussed in this book. I found myself deeply inspired by Anne Clifford's dedication to her legacy and getting what was rightfully hers, Mary Sidney's beautiful and invoking psalm translations, Aemilia Lanier's feminist-focused Biblical stories and advocacy for female equality, and Elizabeth Cary's female-led plays!
Did you know Aemilia was the fourth ever published woman writer in England? And that she has been falsely attributed as Shakespeare's lover for hundreds of years?
While dense at times, this is a beautiful read and well-worth your time! There are so many interesting tidbits on culture and traditions; it's absolutely chocked full!
There was no sancitity for women during the Renaissance, even in death and no identity even with status, but still, somehow pen and paper can last lifetimes.
Thank you for NetGalley for a free copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
This book will be published on March 12, 2024, so keep an eye out!
This was a captivating, detailed account of the lives of women writers during the Renaissance and the barriers they faced, even when equipped with wealth and privilege.
I knew of Mary Sidney, but had not heard of the other writers discussed in this book. I found myself deeply inspired by Anne Clifford's dedication to her legacy and getting what was rightfully hers, Mary Sidney's beautiful and invoking psalm translations, Aemilia Lanier's feminist-focused Biblical stories and advocacy for female equality, and Elizabeth Cary's female-led plays!
Did you know Aemilia was the fourth ever published woman writer in England? And that she has been falsely attributed as Shakespeare's lover for hundreds of years?
While dense at times, this is a beautiful read and well-worth your time! There are so many interesting tidbits on culture and traditions; it's absolutely chocked full!
There was no sancitity for women during the Renaissance, even in death and no identity even with status, but still, somehow pen and paper can last lifetimes.
Thank you for NetGalley for a free copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
This book will be published on March 12, 2024, so keep an eye out!
April 5, 2024
Shakespeare's Sisters
By Ramie Targoff
During the English Renaissance – the Elizabethan era – literature created by men such as Marlowe, Shakespeare and others was thriving. Yet little has ever been introduced to us about the successful women writers of the period.
Targoff sets out here to introduce us to four women who, in spite of the limitations of social mores of the times, were obviously well educated (perhaps auto-didacts) and successful writers in a time when educating women was frowned upon.
The four women were Mary Sydney, Aemilia Lanyer, Elizabeth Cary, and Anne Clifford. These four women represent a cross-section of English society: the aristocracy; the bourgeoisie; the immigrants who came to England as court entertainers. While each of these women had husbands and children and households to run, they all managed to find the time and places to continue their writings. They wrote translations from many languages into English; poetry, and plays. They were prolific in their writings and made a major contribution to the literature of the period.
Targoff opens a window here and shows the reader a much fuller picture of English creativity at the time. By introducing the women's perspective, Targoff has given us the ability to truly see the English Renaissance as a whole. This is an eye-opening book.
By Ramie Targoff
During the English Renaissance – the Elizabethan era – literature created by men such as Marlowe, Shakespeare and others was thriving. Yet little has ever been introduced to us about the successful women writers of the period.
Targoff sets out here to introduce us to four women who, in spite of the limitations of social mores of the times, were obviously well educated (perhaps auto-didacts) and successful writers in a time when educating women was frowned upon.
The four women were Mary Sydney, Aemilia Lanyer, Elizabeth Cary, and Anne Clifford. These four women represent a cross-section of English society: the aristocracy; the bourgeoisie; the immigrants who came to England as court entertainers. While each of these women had husbands and children and households to run, they all managed to find the time and places to continue their writings. They wrote translations from many languages into English; poetry, and plays. They were prolific in their writings and made a major contribution to the literature of the period.
Targoff opens a window here and shows the reader a much fuller picture of English creativity at the time. By introducing the women's perspective, Targoff has given us the ability to truly see the English Renaissance as a whole. This is an eye-opening book.
February 11, 2024
I have often commented on the fact that there is not enough representation regarding female writers, and this book illustrates that point. Author Ramie Targoff introduces readers to four incredibly gifted, unrecognized women (to me, at least; serious scholars may be well acquainted with them.) Mary Sidney, Aemilia Lanyer, Elizabeth Cary, and Anne Clifford were brilliant, talented women living and writing in the shadows of men, glimmering like fireflies amid the darkness of the expectations of their times. They were met with recognition when their work was published, and for some years after, but they have been lost to history, and perhaps would have remained so if not for Ramie Targoff. This is not a book for the casual reader; it is an epic history of some of literature's most accomplished minds, a book meant to be explored and savored. It is a fantastic book; Targoff keeps her readers engaged as she educates them, and I for one was not bored at all despite the length of the book. I have already recommended Shakespeare's Sisters to friends, and encourage anyone interested in women's literature, and literature in general, to read this book.
March 12, 2024
Everyone knows Shakespeare; the myth, the man, the legendary playwright who encapsulated the late Tudor, and early Jacobean eras with witty plays and soulful sonnets. However, Ramie Targoff makes it clear that he was not the only writer of the Renaissance. In Shakespeare's Sisters: Four Women Who Wrote the Renaissance, Targoff brings to light four women whom history seems to have nearly forgotten, hidden in Shakespeare's shadow.
Well-researched and compelling, I devoured this book from cover to cover and it has me fascinated by the Renaissance era and wanting to know more about more female writers during this era in England's history. Targoff's Shakespeare's Sisters: Four Women Who Wrote the Renaissance is a must-read for any history buff with a fascination for England's Renaissance period and anyone who wants to read a detailed memoir of an era in women's history.
Thank you, NetGalley and Quercus Books for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Well-researched and compelling, I devoured this book from cover to cover and it has me fascinated by the Renaissance era and wanting to know more about more female writers during this era in England's history. Targoff's Shakespeare's Sisters: Four Women Who Wrote the Renaissance is a must-read for any history buff with a fascination for England's Renaissance period and anyone who wants to read a detailed memoir of an era in women's history.
Thank you, NetGalley and Quercus Books for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
April 7, 2024
Shakespeare’s Sisters is an in depth look at four women and their writing during the renaissance, a period in which women were never really acknowledged for their contributions to the literary world.
Ramie’s historical analysis is interesting while still being easy to follow and is packed with a ton of information and fact. Her research is thorough and well structured which makes this a very enjoyable read, for both an experienced history reader as well those new to the genre.
However, the only area I wish had been focused on more is the actual samples of these women’s writing. While we are treated with snippets and excerpts, I would have appreciated even an appendix which allows readers to see some of the works in full, such as the sonnets or translations. While the information on the women themselves was in depth, I felt the actual attention to the work and interpretations of the writings to be minimal.
4/5 stars.
I was provided an ARC of this book by Penguin Random House.
Ramie’s historical analysis is interesting while still being easy to follow and is packed with a ton of information and fact. Her research is thorough and well structured which makes this a very enjoyable read, for both an experienced history reader as well those new to the genre.
However, the only area I wish had been focused on more is the actual samples of these women’s writing. While we are treated with snippets and excerpts, I would have appreciated even an appendix which allows readers to see some of the works in full, such as the sonnets or translations. While the information on the women themselves was in depth, I felt the actual attention to the work and interpretations of the writings to be minimal.
4/5 stars.
I was provided an ARC of this book by Penguin Random House.
January 28, 2024
Women were writing in the renaissance even though history didn’t discover that until recently. Their work was either overlooked or ascribed to a male contemporary. The shear amount of research that went into this volume is amazing and enlightening. The stories of four women in the 1500 and 1600s translating some works and creating original works of poetry, plays, novels, and history is inspiring when considering that women were not normally educated to read and write and limited to what they were allowed to do or own or say. The lineages of the characters and their relationships to each other were confusing since so many families married into each other over the centuries but the information in this book is invaluable.
Thanks to NetGalley and Alfred A Knopf Publishing for the ARC to read and review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Alfred A Knopf Publishing for the ARC to read and review.
March 27, 2024
Any woman born with a great gift in the sixteenth century would certainly have gone crazed, shot herself, or ended her days in some lonely cottage outside the village, half witch, half wizard, feared and mocked at. So says Virginia Woolf referring to Shakespeare's fictional sister, Judith in A Room of One's Own. This inspired Ramie Targoff's title: Shakespeare's Sisters
Targoff writes eloquently of four 16th-century women who authored various works, and their struggles to accomplish. The women have differing interests, personalities, and living situations--all richly described by Targoff. The author includes history and customs of the time to support understanding of her subjects' endeavors. By limiting the scope of the book to these four women, the narrative is clear and easy to follow yet comprehensive for each of them.
Targoff writes eloquently of four 16th-century women who authored various works, and their struggles to accomplish. The women have differing interests, personalities, and living situations--all richly described by Targoff. The author includes history and customs of the time to support understanding of her subjects' endeavors. By limiting the scope of the book to these four women, the narrative is clear and easy to follow yet comprehensive for each of them.
April 10, 2024
Fascinating glimpse into the lives and works of four women writers (16th c English) who worked at a time when women were considered merely the property of men. Mary Sidney - poet, Aemilia Lanyer - first woman to publish a book of original poetry, Elizabeth Cary - published the first original English play by a woman and my favorite - Anne Clifford, diarist who spent over 40 years in legal battles to regain her rightful inheritance. The book reveals a ton of interesting details about the culture, religion and political struggles of the times, putting these four incredibly bold women into the prevailing history. How they fought against the patriarchy to be heard, published and retain what was rightfully theirs are the most incredible parts of their stories. All this while they were dealing with difficult marriages, raising children and running households.
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